Last week saw the second round of matches played in the Francos Autumn Tennis League at Enniskillen.
Monday Night
First on court were the Bolzanos and Milanos with the Bolzanos looking to quickly build on their impressive week 1 winning start. However the four mixed matches amazingly produced four 6-6 draws leaving all 16 players with something to prove in the doubles. It was the Bolzanos who showed the greater resolve to move ahead in all four doubles matches ultimately winning comfortably 53-43. Big serving from Clive Funston and accurate volleys from Linda Corrigan helped the Bolzanos win the first two matches 7-5 but it was the 8-4 win for Alex Knowles and Claude Bersot which made the win secure. Despite a comeback of sorts from 6-1 down by Matt Dillon and Mark Cousins Alex’s accurate placement and Claude’s sharply angled volleys proved too good for the Milanos pair.
Mondays second match saw Donal Burn’s Margerhitas lay down a marker for future rounds as they stormed to a 55-41 victory over Paul Lendrum’s Ferraras. The first match was a fiercely contested 6-6 draw with Donal finding winners off a number of dropped shots which might in times past have resulted in winners for the Ferraras. Changing to the doubles at the halfway stage the Margerhitas had a slender two game advantage but it was at this stage that Mary Griffin returning superbly at crucial points and Nadine Stewart showing excellent shot selection powered through with a 10-2 victory in the ladies to clinch the victory. There was one bright spot for the Ferraras with the return to form of Martin Hamblin who collected 15 games in winning both his matches.
Wednesday Night
Tonight’s first match had Martin Sharkey’s Chilli Monks looking to follow up on their opening round win playing Niall McGandy’s Billi Billis who were looking to go one better than their first round draw and it was the Billi Billis who started best. Opening wins for top pairings Davy Thompson and Josie Gillen (7-5) and Nick Hambley and Moira McAdam (8-4) had the Billi Billis 6 up but thanks to much needed 7-5 win from Chilli Monks Joy Fletcher and sub Brian Donaldson and a draw in the last mixed between Johnny Guette and Vivienne Kells for the Billi Billis and Chilli Monks Nick Meeke and Yvonne Masterson the Monks were only 4 games down at the halfway point. Unfortunately for the Monks that was the closest they were to get as the Mad Fish pairings in the three top matches came out on top leaving the final score at 53-43 in favour of the Billi Billis.
The weeks final match was one of family rivalries with Veronica and Sean Bogue facing each other on court two while Bernie Cornyn battled against Finn on court one. A credible draw at 6 games each left the Bogue household at peace while a narrow 7-5 win for Finn on court one gave him boasting rights in the Corrigan household until round two at least. However it wasn’t as close in the other matches as in form Mad Fish pairings in the lower courts heavily outscored their Early Bird counterparts 35-13 to give the Mad Fish an impressive 61-35 overall victory. Top scorers for the Mad Fish were team captain Roisin O’Connell and Martina Boyd with 20 and 19 points respectively while mens pairing of Marius Blake and Andy Elliott continued their impressive form from week 1 with victories in both their mixed and doubles
