Sibley-coached trio miss out on Junior British League qualification

With only one place up for grabs in each group at Grantham it was always going to be a tough ask, especially as many teams imported players from other clubs.

However, the homegrown trio of Livvy Fletcher, Jenny Singleton and Eve Briscoe, helped by the coaching of England number one and club president Sibley, acquitted themselves well.

Lillington opened up with a 3-3 draw against Cardiff with Fletcher defeating Grace Clement and Briscoe and Singleton accounting for Morgan Day-Davies.

They followed it up with a 4-2 defeat to Burton-Uxbridge as Fletcher beat England number 48 Zoe Hewitt and Georgia Harris (55).

Swerve Girls from Middlesbrough were also held to a draw with Briscoe overcoming Jessica Dunn and Kelsey Bradley and Fletcher getting the better of Erin Greensmith (68).

Lillington finished with a 4-2 reverse against Halifax, with Briscoe beating Lancashire’s Chloe Ireland (86) and Fletcher overcoming Sophie Newton.

Free Church’s Emily Beasley finished third in her under-15 girls’ group at the Burton-Uxbridge tournament on Sunday, beating Eve Witteric but falling 11-9 in the fifth to England number 36 Emily Haskell.

Eduardo Bolanos also represented the club in the under-11 singles, losing out to both the eventual winner Lewis Ellams and runner-up Ben Piggott.

n Fletcher, Singleton, Briscoe and Beasley are among 14 talented girls at Lillington Free Church but going into next season the club have no Primary School-age girls, a void they are keen to address.

For any girl interested in joining Free Church, chairman Phil John can be contacted on 811085 and he will arrange a time to meet the coaching team and enjoy an introductory session.