Franco’s Autumn League is now beginning to take shape with 6 weeks of the 9 week competition completed at Enniskillen Tennis Club. On Monday night Jimmy Renfrew and Martina Boyd (Early Birds) continue their run of solid form with a fine win over the equally formidable pairing of Donal Burns and Louise McGann. Ollie McShea played a captains role when partnering Maxine Leary (Seabass Supremes) to overcome Paul Lendrum and Brenda Davis. This gave the Supremes a 2 point lead at the halfway stage. The mens and ladies doubles followed with 2 wins apiece for both teams but it was the wider margins of the Early Birds’ victories that allowed them to edge ahead of the Supremes 49 – 47.
Jerome Nicolle and Alison Glass (Crème Brulees) are now really getting into gear and they came through a tough match against Daire Dillon and Lisa Greaves (The Food Fighters). Jerome has an admirable range of shots and with Alison’s classy net play they will prove hard to beat for the rest of the league. Alex Knowles and Mary Griffin’s decisive win for the Brulees was cancelled out by an equally convincing win by Any Elliott and club night specialist Kate McManus. On the night it was the irrepressible Jenny Humphries ably partnered by Brendan Duffy that won the day for the Food Fighters and they won 51- 45 on the night.
Wednesday night proved a damp squib for the Chilli Squids who had been riding high up until now. But coming up against Francos Specials they met a resilient team with no shortage of talent either. That ‘special’ combination, Davy Thompson and Janet Love edged out Dominic Burns and Hannah Cousins (Chilli Squids) 7-5 in a match full of quality. Cormac Jordan and Josie Gillen tucked away some fine volleys for a convincing win over Hugh Maguire and Ruth Elliott. However, it was Ann White and Carol McCusker who played a key role for the Specials in winning 9-3. Ann is now showing her form of old and with Carol growing in confidence every passing week, they will become increasingly difficult to beat. A well deserved win for Francos Specials 52-44 has temporarily put the skids under the Squids.
The final series of matches on the Wednesday night saw Garth Armstrong and Yvonne Masterson gain a fine win for the Mighty Ducks over Johnny Guette and Jenny Cruickshank (Prawn Kings). Niall McGandy and Anne Mooney had an equally convincing win for the Prawn Kings over Allen Reynolds and Sheila Colville. Innes Redmond and Brendan Duffy (King Prawns) got off to a flyer with a 7-5 win over John Griffin and Marius Blake. Some excellent stop volleys from Brendan were a feature of this tight match and even some powerful driving backhand returns from Marius could not find a way past. The formidable duo of Jenny Humphries and Geraldine Millar (King Prawns) proved too hard a nut to crack for Enid Redmond and Ruth Armstrong and the Prawns were kings on the night winning 51-45.
Franco’s Restaurant Autumn League Results
Monday Played Points Wednesday Played Points
Food Fighters 6 309 Mighty Ducks 6 308
Crème Brulees 6 294 Prawn Kings 6 297
Early Birds 6 283 Francos Specials 6 280
Seabass Supremes 6 266 Chilli Squids 6 267
