A great start to the Men’s Summer League 2018 with 7 from 7 in round 1, creating optimism across the board for all teams in the weeks ahead. Nail biting accounts of each match provided by the inspired team captains, with an over-reference at times to a minor European final. Indeed, the teams were decked out in blue to support the Eastern province where ever they were on the day! Team of the week, had to be Team 6 for only conceding 4 games across all matches while best dressed team went to Team 4, study the picture carefully to see the fine attire!

Just like Winter League we have a high dependency on Subs to help the teams collect valuable points, so a big thanks to all who subbed last weekend and who are subbing this weekend.
Teams playing at home this weekend are Team 1 (Friday 7.30), Team 6 (Sat 12noon) and Team 2 (Sat, 2pm). Teams 3 & 4 play away on Friday night while Team 5 & 7 play away on Saturday at 4pm. The bar will be open this Friday evening during the 1sts game so please drop in if you can to this and any of the other games.
Best wishes to all for a successful Round 2.
Liam

MEN’S SUMMER LEAGUE MATCH REPORTS, ROUND 1
Team 1, Class 2 – v Laystown / B’town 1, Score 5-0, Points to Date = 5
The firsts kicked off their summer league campaign on Friday evening at home to Laytown 1. The team lined up with Ronan Sweeney, Rob Neiland and Mark Griffin playing singles, and with Steve Gill/Reon Ferera and Brian O’Gorman/Kevin Nowlan (Kevin was subbing for Ivan Brady; thank you Kevin) playing doubles.
While all the matches were well contested, Sandycove managed to squeeze home in all five. A perfect start to the season. Thank you to all the supporters who came down to cheer us on. Next up is home match against Fitzwilliam, again on Friday evening. Support greatly appreciated.

Team 2, Class 2 – v Brookfield 1, Score 3-2, Points to Date = 3
The 2nds won 3-2 away to Brookfield 1sts in Class 2. Luke Hanley showed great composure at 1st singles. His opponent got embroiled in a full blown row with a neighbour over the fence. Security was sent to sort out the neighbour while Luke sorted out his opponent 1 and 4. Luke Bennett had triple break point at 4 all in the 1st set before he broke a string which broke his rhythm going down 4 and love. Colin Grant squeezed through 6 and 3 at 3rd singles. Philip Craig and Mark Cunningham lost out 3 and 1 at 1st doubles in a high quality match. Paul and Will Fitzgerald won comfortably 1 and 1 at 2nd doubles. Many thanks to Philip, Mark, Paul and Will for giving up their Friday evening to sub.

Team 3, Class 4 v Castleknock 6, Score 4-1, Points to Date = 4
Sandycove Men’s 3rd team opened their Summer League Class 4 campaign with a Saturday pre-rugby 4-1 home win versus Castleknock 6. Keith O’Byrne and Mark Cunningham each won their respective singles in 2 sets. Ken Browne and Paul Fitzgerald, and Paul Kilduff and Frank McCooey, won their respective doubles in 2 sets. Paul Ivory had a 3 set battle at number 3 singles which unfortunately went to the visitors. Thanks to Frank and Paul Ivory for subbing in to the team who looked resplendent in their new SLTC club gear.

Team 4, Class 4 v Shankill 3, Score 3-2, Points to Date = 3
After a near miss with the final of the Champions Cup, the Sandycove 4th’s first match was successfully rescheduled to a sunny Sunday morning in Sandycove. The strength and experience of both doubles pairings were too much for Shankill, with a 6-0 6-1 win by Conor (after trekking back from the Leinster final in Bilbao a few hours before the match) and Tim (who had no mercy on his old club mates!), then shortly after, a 6-2 6-4 win by Maurice and Philip. The only victory in the singles matches was Will Fitzgerald, who put in a great performance against a strong hitter at number 2. Next match is away to David Lloyd on Friday evening.

Team 5, Class 6 v LCC 3, Score 5-0, Points to Date = 5
Our first game was in Leinster Cricket Club on Friday night. First off with a victory was the number 2 doubles pairing of Dave Hanley and Dermot Bennett who took on two new members of the LCC. Our strong suspicion was that the opponents may have turned up expecting to play cricket on the evening ,but a win is a win, and our pairing did the business.
Next off were Joe Cunningham and Jim Brady the number 1 doubles pairing who somehow muddled their way to a two set win. All the action now was then taking place on the singles courts. Sub Pat Leamy put in a fine performance including many cross court winners to claim our next win 6.1, 6.1.
Alan Warren brought home the next point. This was a very close match with Alan playing some great tennis particularly in the second set to see off his opponent in a tie break.
With 4 points in the bag all eyes turned to Sam Totterdell who was involved in a titanic struggle at number 2 singles. Sam put in a truly brilliant performance to come from a set down to overcome his opponent in three sets in a match that lasted 2 and a half hours. Well done to Sam who added the icing on the cake on what was a very successful opening night for the team.

Team 6, Class 7 v Rathoath 4, Score 5-0, Points to Date = 5
Seal Team 6 had to travel to Ratoath for our 1st Match! Ratoath made the silly mistake of refusing to reschedule the match (to allow us to watch Leinster in the European champions cup final) which our team captain found very inconvenient! With our tennis match starting at 4pm and the rugby starting at 4.45, young Sean Cronin came up with the cunning game plan of “Let’s just beat them really quickly” so thats exactly what we did.
In the singles, Tom O’Higgins easily won 6-0 6-0. Harry Wall hit some big winners and won 6-0 6-0. Pat Leamy’s opponent couldn’t handle Pat’s pace and had to retire after losing the 1st set 6-2 and 2-0 down in the 2nd set. In the doubles, Sean Cronin and Liam Hurley wrapped up their game very quickly 6-0 6-2 while Tim McNichols and Simon Hugh-Jones breezed by their opposition 6-0 6-0. Sean’s game plan had worked perfectly and we made it to The Auld Stand in Ratoath (a Leinster rugby stronghold) to watch Leinster win the cup. Excellent start to the campaign well done lads!

Team 7, Class 7 v Charleville 5, Score 4-1, Points to Date = 4
The Magnificent 7 rode into Drumcondra a tetchy bunch. Facing a Charleville team( not to be confused with The Home of cheese in Co. Cork) who chose to ignore requests for an earlier kick off due to Leinster’s Heineken Champions Cup bid. Further delays grated on the Magnificent 7, but once the tie got started, Sandycove started fast.

Tony Collison and Nick Mahon suitably melted their respective opponents in straight sets swiftly. Both doubles were the same, Ken Flanagan and Ken Regan gelled perfectly to win in two quick sets over experienced opponents. Wesley Hudson and Fred O’Neill were business like in also winning in two quick sets. Lar Endersen had a tough battle that was the longest match on court. Fine margins, and not to be Lars day. Quick exit for the second half of Rugby. Great opening result 4-1 for Sandycove.