What a super campaign our Five Milers had this spring/summer of 2026. We entered 2 teams this year, captained by Helen Stunnel and Fiona D’Arcy. We had quite a large sign up from new members and also great commitment from Class 7 and 8 players to sub when needed.
Our last 2 Games were away, with Sandycove 1, playing Newtown Park, and finishing with a 3-0 victory, and Sandycove 2 were away to Shankill, winning 2-1.
Round up from Sandycove 1
Final matches of this year’s 5 mile league took place in the glorious sunshine in Newtownpark tennis club.
3rd pairing Louisa Kennedy and Jeanne Kelley took a very comfortable 6-0 6-0 victory to get Sandycove on the board.
2nd pairing Helen Stunell and wonderful sub Mary Donohoe also won in straight sets securing the win for Sandycove.
The icing on the cake was the 1st pairing victory of Anne-Marie Drohan and Esme Simington who battled for just under 3 hours to secure a 3-0 win for Sandycove in 3 fantastic sets.
Well done ladies and special thanks to all the subs who stepped in to play for the team over the tournament.
Round up from Sandycove 2
Sandycove 2 headed to Shankill, with all to play for, as they had only dropped 1 point in the campaign to date. Through Injury and holidays, Kathy Endersen and Jessica Legge subbed in at 1’s and confidently won in 2 sets. On Court 2, Rachel Craig and Margaret Brannigan (sub) hoped to continue Rachel’s unbeaten record in 5 Mile, fortunately, we did.
Court 3 was proving a little trickier, with Barbara Stack and Bridin Smith playing a very close 1st set unfortunately ending in 7-5 in favour of Shankill. With the momentum going Shankill’s way, the girls found it hard to take back control. Nevertheless, another win for Sandycove 2, which put them at the top of their Section.
Based on such a positive performance, we had hoped we had done enough for Sandycove 2 to get into the Grand Final, consisting of 4 teams, unfortunately, a record number of teams – 26 (!) -entered the competition this year, and although Sandycove 2, topped their table and shared the same points as 2 other teams in the Grand Final, it came down to games won and we lost out!
A Fantastic Campaign from Fiona’s Team, Maria Actida, Rachel Craig, Serena Casey, Barbara Stack and Bridin Smith. A special mention to super subs Lyndsay McMillan and Jessie Legg who stepped in on short notice 3 times during the campaign.
Thank you to all those who subbed during the campaign, Fiona Kelly, Clare Byrne, Aoife McDowell, Dee Lyons, Arwen Cusack, Lyndsay McMillan, Jessica Legge, Kathy Endersen, Mary Donohoe and Margaret Brannigan.