We had both the Senior League and Floodlight League teams in action over Sunday and Monday. Thanks to all those who subbed in to support both league campaigns. In summary, we had 3 wins and 1 loss in the Senior League while in the Floodlight League we had 1 win and 2 losses.

In the Senior League, both O35s teams are now through to the play-offs with one match to spare while our O45 and O55 teams are in contention going into the last week. We have our O35 2nds and O45s at home this Sunday at 11am if you would like to come down to support.

Winter League Report
O35s 1st team vs Carrickmines 1
Week 4 saw the Men’s 1st team welcome Carrickmines on a sunny Sunday morning with plenty of entertaining matches on offer.

Cormac and Robbie made it four straight wins but got an early wake-up call dropping the opening set against a pair that couldn’t seem to miss! Our lads steadied the ship though and soon took command coming through to win 2/6, 6/1, 6/3. Over on court two Neiland and Cooney were in no mood to mess around and dominated nearly every exchange in a straightforward win 6/1, 6/1 but with bigger tests to follow they need to maintain this level. Super Subs JP Begley and Alan Casey were 1st off court with a solid display of doubles and looked right at home playing on the 1st team winning 6/1, 6/3.

With a 3-0 win we have qualified for the play-offs with a match to spare and now attention needs to be turned towards the business end of the campaign.

035s 2nd team vs Castleknock 3
The O35’s second team travelled to Castleknock on Sunday morning and got to play on the new indoor courts. The O55’s team were just walking off victorious and gave a few valuable pointers on how the courts were playing.

First off court, unusually for them, were Dermot Bennett and Steve McGoohan winning 6-2, 6-2. Dermo produced some pure champagne tennis that left onlookers pondering what could be the secret behind the extra fizz on his forehand and pop on his serve… Next off were the ever solid Alan Warren and Des Noctor winning 6-4, 6-0. They are making a habit of enjoying bagels on a Sunday morning… Tom O’Higgins and super sub Liam Hurley won well in a hard fought first set coming through 6-4. They then raced to a 5-0 lead in the second. Tom took a few extra minutes in the final game to practice his serve and test his stamina for his upcoming floodlight league campaign but turned on the style in the last few points to earn the second bagel of the day.

Top of the group with 12 points from 12 the team is at home this Sunday to Celbridge at 11am.

045s team vs Malahide 1
This was a crucial match against a very strong Malahide team who sat at the top of the table. Colin Grant and Mark Fourie continued their strong form to secure an excellent 6/2, 6/4 win at 1st doubles. Brian O’Gorman and John F came up against a strong pairing who had a fast start to win the 1st set and while we showed more promise in the 2nd Malahide held firm to win the second 6/3. Philip Craig and Colin Wardlaw took command of match 3 winning the first set 6/3 before the Malahide pairing found their form going on to win the 2nd and 3rd sets 6/1, 6/1.

055s team vs Castleknock 1
The STC Men’s Over 55 Class 1 team arrived at Castleknock LTC at 9.30am via the scenic route thanks to Paul Ivory’s driving and Paul Kilduff’s navigation skills. The three matches were played indoors in their magnificent new tennis facility. After one hour of play, Castleknock 1 were 5-4 up in the first set of all three matches but STC were not done yet. No. 3 doubles Iain Walker and sub Jim O’Hanlon were up against a former inter-pro player and lost in 2 sets. Next off were no. 1 doubles Pauls Kilduff and Ivory, who won in two close sets 7-6 7-5. No. 2 doubles Roy Bailey and sub Tim Eaton wrapped up the Sandycove 2-1 win with a 7-6 6-4 victory. STC now have 5 points from 9 points and remain in strong contention with two matches left to play.

Floodlight League Report
Sandycove started the Floodlight League campaign last Monday evening and had a mixed set of results. The 1st and 3rd team lost 2-1 in really tight matches while our 2nd team had a strong 3-0 win. Thanks to Ivan, Robbie, Jocelyn and Steve for subbing in.

Good luck to everyone playing this coming Sunday and Monday.

Paul and Greg