Following some extremely difficult games in Group H at the European Senior Championships, the Irish Women’s Team claimed a hard fought victory over Finland in a thrilling encounter last night. Ireland had struggled against the higher ranked teams, suffering losses against Bulgaria, Denmark and Serbia.
Victories are not easily obtained at this level – having worked extremely hard to gain a 2 nil lead Ireland had to battle for every point to come out with an exciting 3-2 victory over the Finns. Claire Nelson took the first match in the fifth against ERIKSSON(a player with medium pimples on one side and short on the other!). Amanda Mogey then dispatched Finnish No 1 PUNNONEN with a comfortable 3-0 victory. The Finns clawed two games back, leaving Claire Nelson to face PUNNONEN for the match. Nelson took a 2:0 lead, but the Finn was dogged and produced a fine topspin performance to bring it to a deciding set. Nelson fell behind 4-6 but dug deep and after some long exciting rallies ran out the winner 11-9 to seal the first victory in what was a very tough group. Ireland now await the draw for the play-off matches which decide finishing positions.