It was a tough weekend for the men’s teams with only the 1sts coming out on top. We had to draw on the strength in depth of our club as 13 subs were required and that follows on from an incredible 17 players that played on our top 5 teams last year being unavailable to play league this year. While our Lady Captain, Fleur, correctly suggests our ladies teams may “bask in our fabulousness” following all of their fantastic wins our mens teams are in a slightly different position but are playing some fabulous tennis nonetheless!

1sts – Won 3-2 away to Laytown/Bettystown 1sts in Class 2.
There were straight set wins at No 2 and No 3 singles for Rory Curtis and Harry Owens respectively and at No 2 doubles for Reon Ferreira and Brian O’Gorman. The 1sts have now won all of their matches. They are joint top of their table and are odds-on to make the play-offs.

2nds – Lost 5-0 at home to Donnybrook 1sts in Class 2.
They were really up against it in this match but all games were very competitive with Jocelyn O’Callaghan in particular putting in a superb performance taking their No 1 singles to three sets. With 3 points so far we are looking for some divine inspiration!

3rds – Lost 3-2 away to Celbridge 2nds in Class 3.
Paul and Will Fitzgerald won No 1 doubles and Ken Browne and Paul Ivory won No 2 doubles. The team now has 4 points and probably only need one more point to stay in Class 3.

4ths – Lost 4-1 at home to Carrickmines 4ths in Class 4.
Paul Kilduff and Colin Wardlaw were in a tight game at No 1 doubles but then won 10 games in a row to cruise home. Harry Wall was unlucky to lose a marathon 3 set match at No 2 singles. With 3 points achieved so far the team now need a couple of good results to stay in Class 4.

5ths – Won 3-2 away to Malahide 7ths in Class 5.
Tom O’Higgins led from the front again with another great win at No 1 singles and Tim McNichols also had a great win with our Treasurer, Carl O’Hagan at No 2 doubles. The team are in an incredibly tight group with only 1 point separating them all. Two good results are needed to make the play-offs.
It has been pointed out to me that Cian O’Higgins won his match at No 3 singles for the 5ths away to Malahide 7ths yesterday. By all accounts it was an epic game with Cian winning 6-3 7-6 .That gave the team a 3-2 win rather than a loss as previously reported. Apologies for the error and congrats to Cian and the team on the great win! The 5ths are top of their table.

6ths – Lost 3-2 away to Stratford 1sts in Class 6.
Robbie McCaffrey was awarded a walkover when his opponent forgot to show up at No 1 singles. And 14 year old Caoimhin Cronin played superbly to achieve his first win in senior league at No 2 singles. Unusually Pat Leamy lost out at No 3 singles to what must surely have been a complete ringer! The team have 8 points and have a chance of making the play-offs.

Overall, we have three teams in the running to make the play-offs, one team that looks safe in its class and two teams that need a few points to stay in their class.

Many thanks to everyone involved in organising and participating this weekend, especially all of our subs. There are no games next weekend due to the June bank holiday but the best of luck to everyone the following weekend in round 4.

Colin