The two south Essex clubs through to the finals of the Essex County LTA cups suffered defeat at the hands of some of the top players in the county.

Thorpe Bay - who were hosting the day-long event - were defeated following a thrilling game in the Men's Intermediate Cup which had spectators spellbound.

Bay's Jon Lee and Simon Cuthbert lost 21-19 in the third set after having match point four times.

However, Andrew Lawson's magnificent big serve made all the difference for Gidea Park, who found themselves 2-0 up after the first round of rubbers.

Graham Bloomfield and David Tubbs pulled a rubber back for Thorpe Bay but the team ended up losing 3-1 overall.

A disappointed Jon Lee said the problem for Thorpe Bay was that the team lacked strength but would be looking to improve things to make a concerted charge next year.

Westcliff Hard Courts got through to three of the finals but came away empty-handed despite some close-fought games.

In the Men's Senior Cup, Hard's first team faced Clearview's firsts.

Simon Chesher and Lance Owen won a rubber, as did Simon Bonham and Nick Plappert which made it 2-2.

Chesher and Bonham then faced Clearview's Gavin Bradford and Greg Huggett in a tie-break set, which the latter won 7-4.

A tie-break also settled the final of the Ladies' Senior Cup between Westcliff and Connaught.

Tracey Chesher and Fiona Stone, and Gemma Garvey and Vanessa Irvine made it 2-2 before Tracey and Vanessa lost the tie break set 6-0 to hand victory to Connaught.

The decisive player for the Chingford club was Mary Collins - Samantha Smith's agent - who is one of the strongest doubles players in the country.

After the match Tracey said:"We felt that our pairings were right but it was Mary Collins who made the difference in the play-off set."

The Ladies' Intermediate Cup final saw Westcliff Seconds take on Connaught Seconds.

Former County player Caroline Petchey was in excellant form for the Chingford team who were too strong for Westcliff and won 2.5-1.5.

Steffi Rodrigues, Dawn Handelaar, Brenda Corlett and Anna Burton were the defeated Westcliff team who conceded the final rubber.

In the Ladies' Junior Cup Clearview beat Great Baddow 4-0. The Men's Junior Cup first division saw Redbridge beat Cranston Park 2.5-1.5 rubbers, while in the second division final Essex Tennis Centre beat Clearview Thirds 4-0.

The event was organised by Harry Brickwood, Michael Howard, Jamie Willson, Ian Pitt and Lesley Pitt. Ian thanked Thorpe Bay for hosting the event and providing excellent facilities.

He added:"It was a great day's tennis. I was very impressed with the standard of play between Thorpe bay and Gidea Park in the Men's Intermediate Cup final. It was an intermediate final but the standard of play was equal to that of the seniors."

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