The following is a report from Giles Kerr, who was captain of the Sandycove team competing in the All Ireland Tennis Masters event yesterday. This features doubles pairings at age levels O70, O75 and O80.

Played in beautifully sunny conditions at Castleknock LTC each team played five matches with every point won counting towards their overall club’s performance..

Though played in a very friendly atmosphere the tennis was also very competitive with at least one former Davis Cup player, several current vets internationals and many vets interpros featuring.

Our O75’s pairings performed excellently, topping their section while our O80’s were just pipped into second place in their group; the O70’s had a tougher time of it despite some good performances.

The overall position saw Belfast Boat Club retaining the title they won last year with Sandycove in third place. The points won table was;

Belfast Boat Club-195
Castleknock-192
Sandycove-184
Templeogue-181
Fitzwilliam-173
Carrickmines-155

Our players on the day (in alphabetical order) were Bill Brennan, Michael Butler, John Carroll, Dermot Finucane, Des FitzGerald, Giles Kerr, Des Murray, Ken Peare and Brian Walsh.

The tennis was followed by lunch and presentation of the trophy to the winners.

Special thanks and congratulations to Michael Butler who organised the whole event to perfection.

Giles