Alice plays her part as England Girls make it eight on the spin

“It’s brilliant,” said team captain Chris Pascall, as her players celebrated a 7-2 win over Ireland – and continued possession of the Stroyan Cup.

It is their 13th win in this championship in 15 years. The weekend’s result gave them a clean sweep in the series at Lanark in Scotland.

They secured three wins from three matches, having previously beaten Scotland 5½-3½ and Wales 8-1.

“The girls have done very well this week, it’s been a good team effort with great team spirit,” added Pascall.

In today’s match, England got ahead early by winning the foursomes 2-1, thanks to the pairings of Emma Allen and Lizzie Prior and of Hollie Muse and Sammy Fuller. But in the singles, the Irish took the early advantage.

“At one point it didn’t look very hopeful and we were up in only one match,” said Pascall. “But the girls turned it round and it was a good all-round result.” In the end England won five of the six singles, conceding just one point to Irish star Olivia Mehaffey.