See below last Sunday’s match reports. We had 3 wins (3rds, 6ths and 7ths) in Week 3 and with 2 weeks to go managing subs will be key across all teams.

1st team (3-0 loss to Leopardstown 1)
Sandycove 1st’s lost 3-0 away, to a very strong Leopardstown 1st team on Sunday. Cormac Jennings and Ivan Brady had a good match against a former world number 1 (albeit at the age of u12 and u14!), losing out in tight contest 6-4, 6-3. Rob Neiland and Steve Gill, had a battling performance against a strong pairing mixed with both experience and youth, losing 6-3, 6-3. Last off court were Colin Grant and Paul Curran, who played some brilliant tennis and are the only pairing to take a set off Leopardstown so far this campaign. Unfortunately, they could not take the third set, losing out 2-6, 7-5, 2-6.

2nd team (3-0 loss to Carrickmines 2)
The second team came across a very strong Carrickmines team but fought valiantly in all matches. Jocelyn O’Callaghan and Brian O’Gorman lost the first set but got into a groove and took the second set to a tie break. Unfortunately they came out the wrong side of the tiebreak but the fight back augers well for future battles. Luke Bennett and JP Begley came across a pair of McCooeys that were following in the family tradition in being very difficult to beat. Two tight sets but the McCooeys prevailed. The No 3 pairing of Alan Warren and Shane Gill were playing their second match of the morning and were very comfortable in the environs of Class 3 and very nearly secured a point in a very close two set match. Thanks to Alan and Shane and the practice will be useful as they hopefully head towards the playoffs with the fifth team.

3rd team (2-1 win against Mount Pleasant 2)
The 3rds took home their long awaited first win of the campaign with a 2-1 victory at home over Mount Pleasant 2. Subbing in at third doubles were Cian O’Higgins and Andrew Browne, who were just off the back of a 9:30am game. Battling it out in a stylish game of doubles on court 6, they ultimately lost 6-4, 6-2 against tough opposition. Mark Cunningham and Sam Hanley controlled the game at 2 doubles to win a comfortable 2-setter, 6-1, 6-3. A similar story at 1 doubles saw Paul Kilduff and Philip Craig come in with a commanding 6-4, 6-2 performance to seal the victory for the team. With a full team for the remaining 2 games, you never know what this third team might achieve!

4th team (2-1 loss to Greystones 3)
Injuries and Covid-19 continue to challenge our 4th team who took a well earned point against Greystones 3 away from home. Paul Ivory and Frank McCooey at 1st double won in 3 sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. At 2nd doubles Steve Tilson teamed up Larry Staines guesting for the day and came up short, losing 6-4, 6-1. At 3rd doubles Rory O’Hagan and his partner Declan Keane subbed in for the morning and had valiant defeat 6-4, 6-2. Big thanks to Larry, Rory and Declan for stepping for this one!

5th team (2-1 loss against Deerpark 2)
Crunch time, home to Deerpark 2nd who top the table. In summary we grabbed a key point from them. Our 3rd pairing, Greg McDowell and super sub Conor O’Neill pulled the rabbit out of the hat having lost the first to a Bagle taking the second back 6-3 and finally the 3rd 7-6!! Well done lads. Our 1st and 2nd doubles made the visitors work hard for their wins 6-4, 6-2 against Caoimhin Cronin and Sam Hughes and Shane Gill and Alan Warren lost out on a tight 7-6, 6-4. Happy to take that 1 point, still joint second in the table.

6th team (3-0 win against Glenalbyn 2)
A good 3-0 win against Glenalbyn 2nds. The Bailey boys (Roy and Zach) at 1st double had a temporary brain freeze midway through the 1st set losing 5 games in a row. Zach then had a few harsh words for his father and normal service was resumed with a 6-1, 6-2 scoreline in sets 2 and 3. The Wardlaws (Colin and Alex) also went to 3 sets winning 6-2 in the 3rd. Having a tighter match than their previous matches should benefit them in the later rounds. At number 3 Des Noctor and super sub Denis O’Reilly had a comfortable 2 and 2 win.

7th team (2-1 win against Templeogue 7)
At 1st doubles Tom O’Higgins and Andrew Browne had a convincing win, 6-0 6-0. Stephen McGoohan and Dermot Bennett were up against much stronger opposition at 2nd doubles and after a good start went down 3-6 2-6. At 3rd doubles Cian O’Higgins and Paddy Dempsey continued their good form winning 6-2 6-4 with Cian impressively managing to stay upright for the duration of the match. Après in FitzGeralds went without major incident and the team are looking forward to a top of the table clash v Carraig on Sunday.

A big thank you to all our subs who have supported this at times challenging campaign.

Good luck tomorrow and hopefully the weather picks up.

Greg and Paul