Tennis: East of Scotland women win with scintillating performance

There were contrasting fortunes for the men's team, though. Facing Sussex in group two at Cromer a couple of three-set defeats proved crucial in a 4-5 setback. The men now tackle Norfolk. who were opening-day losers against Yorkshire.

Heroes for the East women were Sarah Mcfadyen and Mhairi Brown who dropped a mere five games in six ties; strong back-up came from Aileen Davis and Katie Rowley as well as Liana Park and Sonia Vickers. In planning for today's match against Hereford and Worcester, East women had to decide whether to give an early outing to Leigh Kasperek, the 18-year-old from Craiglockhart who is also a cricket internationalist in preparation for perhaps tougher tests later this week when captain Brown will be unavailable.

Double winners for East men were Alan McDonald and Steve McGuckin but Sam McNeill and Ross Murdoch, as well as Graeme Dyce and James McKie, suffered the frustration of third-set losses in clashes with opposition pair James Cuthell and Thomas Pocock.