Blue skies and evening heatwaves. Typical weather for the Enniskillen Autumn Tennis League which got up and running last Monday night. Sponsored for the first time by financial advisory firm PFP Wealth this year’s competition gave debuts to nine new players and saw the return of a number of former club members to league tennis. The league involves upwards on 70 club members playing doubles and mixed doubles in a team format over the next ten Monday and Wednesday nights with the top four teams progressing to finals week at the end of November.
Monday Night
Starting with a bang, the opening match saw a thrilling contest between The Wealth Watchers, captained by Mary Griffin, and Claude Bersot’s Market Rallies. It was the Wealth Watchers who took control through the mixed doubles with Louise McGann’s scorchio forehand proving too hot to handle as Louise and partner Jason Burns pushed through to beat Scott Hubbard and the returning Eilis Bogue 7-5 in the opener. Winning three of the four mixed matches by 7-5 gave the Wealth Watchers a four game advantage at the halfway stage with a notable win for Gareth Mellor and Michelle McTeague in their first ever league match. However, the Market Rallies lived up to their name with a superb comeback in the doubles. Led strongly by Captain Claude, who won his mens doubles, match with Reggie Ferguson 9-3, it was the final 9-3 doubles win by Scott and Andy Elliott which sealed the victory 49-47.
The night’s second match was a much more clear cut result with Seamus O’Connell’s Nest Eggers heavily outscoring the Supersavers by 56-40. The Nest Eggers were given the perfect start as the in-form Sonja Hateboer partnered by Paul Lendrum over powered Lisa Greaves and Donal Burns in the opening mixed doubles with Sonja going on to accumulate an impressive 20 game haul on the night. Normally a slow starter in the leagues Paul showed an early level of consistency which augurs well for his team over the coming weeks. The match also saw a fine league debut from Emmett Stewart who secured two impressive 6-6 draws against particularly experienced opponents.
Wednesday Night
The first match on Wednesday saw Dominick Burns’ Pension Planners take on Mark Cousins’ Future Prospects. The match started well for the Pension Planners as Dominick and Jenny Humphreys gelled immediately to give the planners an 8-4 lead from the start. Combined with a similar result for newcomer Peter Neill and Carol McCusker the Planners looked secure. This last result was particularly impressive as Peter had to switch serving arm to overcome an injury. However the Pension Planners early lead was not to last as Johnny Guette and Bennie Sheridan proved too strong for Niall McGandy and Hazel Dineen winning 9-3 leaving scores all tied up at the half way stage. With Johnny playing up at three for the first time he needed to bring out his A game. Defending the back of the court with power and aggression he more than met the challenge to record a 20 game score on the night for his team. The Pension Planners top seeds Dominick and Martin Hamblin then fought out a titanic 6-6 draw against John Griffin and Tony Ringland with no one willing to blink and all four men holding serve through the match. However fortunes can rise and fall and it was the Future Prospects Bennie Sheridan and Aine King who closed out the match in style winning 9-3 to give the Future Prospects the perfect 55-41 start to the league.
The week’s last match had Michelle Kennedy’s Money Matters taking to the court against Liz Murphy’s Interest Earners. All four mixed doubles matches finished tight at 7-5 but courtesy of three wins it was Money Matters who led by 4 games at the half way point. With two of the three debut players playing each other on court three it was first blood to Andrew Jackson as he and James Morrison edged out Kiruben Permaul and John Callaghan with Andrew hitting a number of fine passes down the tramlines. The matches third debutant, Nathan Green, lost out narrowly 7-5 in both his matches but looked at home playing at two and will bring plenty of points home for his team over the coming weeks. However in a week of league debuts and comebacks it was left to the experienced hands of Money Matters Michelle Kennedy and Martina Boyd to bank the decisive win in the doubles as their 9-3 win gave the Matters an opening 52-44 win.
