TENNIS: Skipper Tolson stunned by Oxon drop (From Oxford Mail)

TENNIS: Skipper Tolson stunned by Oxon drop

11:00am Friday 22nd July 2011 in Sport By Mark Edwards

Oxfordshire women’s captain Emma Tolson admitted to being left shocked after her side were relegated from Group 5B.

Confidence was high going into the week, with Oxon determined to halt a run of relegations that had seen them plummet from Group 1.

But three defeats saw them finish bottom, and drop to Group 6.

“We were all in shock to be honest,” she said.

“It seemed that so many things conspired against us.

“We had the same players available all week, whereas the strengths of other counties varied – and we seemed to get the rough end of the stick.

“Losing 5-4 to Staffordshire on the first day was a real hammer blow as the match hinged on several final-set deciders.

“And they were at full strength that day, and then lost their best players for the rest of the week.”

Tolson felt that the difference between winning and losing was minimal.

“I don’t want to make excuses as it was a poor week for us,” she said.

“But we found that at this level one or two players made a huge difference to teams – and that seemed to work against us.”