Blake’s of ‘the Hollow’ 125 Years Celebration Spring Tennis League
Monday Night
It has taken until week 6 of the Spring League for the Chardonnays to taste defeat as they went down 52-44 to the Serving Aces. The damage was done in the top seeded games which saw the Serving Aces power ahead with both Donal Burns and Louise McGann hitting top form in the mixed, defeating the previously impressive pairing of James Wilson and Sandra Parker 10-2. Donal eventually accumulated 17 games on the night eclipsed only by partner Louise, bringing in 18 games. To add insult to injury for Chardonnays captain Ollie McShea he was badly crushed 7-5 by his son Conor in the men’s doubles. In the lower seeded matches even Claude Bersot’s orienteering skills couldn’t get the Chardonnays back on track as sub Mark Cousins, partnered and coached on the night by Angela Randall won a tight battle 7-5.
The Chardonnays defeat gave Paul Lendrum’s Perfect Pints an opportunity to narrow the gap to the leaders which they took in impressive style securing a colossal 58-38 victory over the under strength Pool Sharks who are still seeking their first win of the league.. Winning 7 of the 8 matches on the night the Perfect Pints top scorer was JR Dundas who contributed 17 games ably supported by Josie Boyle with 16 games and Lisa Greaves with 14 games. The wide margin of victory gives the Pints a comfortable cushion on the second qualifying place and allows them to concentrate on overtaking the Chardonnays who now lead by only two games.
Wednesday Night
The opening tie on Wednesday was a see-saw battle between Sheila Colville’s Cocktail Knights and Martin Sharkey’s Level 7. As 3 of the 8 matches played finished 6 games apiece and 4 matches were shared 7-5 the deciding match on the night was an enthralling mixed doubles battle between second seeded Knights Brenda Davis and Nicholas Hambly against Level 7 pairing Matthew Duffy and Michelle Kennedy. While Nicholas ran every ball down and Brenda patrolled the baseline with her trademark style it was still not enough to overcome the canny court craft of Michelle and her highly talented partner Matthew whose reputation continues to grow with each performance. Michelle and Matthews 8-4 win was fittingly the difference in the teams when the final scores were added up giving Level 7 a superb 50-46 victory.
Having seen their close rivals, Level 7, winning the opening match, Iain Kennedy’s Irish Coffees knew what needed to be done to stay top of Wednesday’s pool. However the Snug Bugs not having read the script started the match like hornets, drawing one and winning two of the first three mixed doubles to lead by a comfortable eight games. It was at this stage that captain Iain stepped in to stir the Coffees winning the last mixed doubles with his partner Joy Fletcher 9-3 and cut the bugs lead to a less snug two games at the halfway stage. Both Iain and Joy went on to win their second doubles matches 8-4, Iain partnered by the ever ready Martin Dillon and Joy partnered by the ever in demand sub Ruth Elliott. This gave the Irish Coffees an overall 51-45 victory and keeps them 14 games in front of next weeks opponents Level 7. Special mention to Snug Bug Daire Dillon who must wonder what more he can do as he won both the top seeded men’s doubles with partner Scott Gilbride and the second seeded mixed with Helen Cooper by a combined 16-8 and still ended up on the losing team.
Standings after week six of nine with the top two to qualify from each night are:
Monday Nights: Chardonnays 305 games, Perfect Pints 303 , Serving Aces 287, Pool Sharks 257
Wednesday Night: Irish Coffees 309 games, Level7 295, Snug Bugs 281, Cocktail Knights 267
