F. R Cathcart Home Design Centre
The annual Junior Round Robin eagerly anticipated by so many of the junior members at Enniskillen Tennis Club has got off to a flying start with well over 40 entrants. This year it has been sponsored by F R Cathcart Home Design Centre and the Round Robin is one of the most popular events in the junior calendar. A staggering 43 matches have already been played in the first two weeks, most of them over half term. There are ten different groups within the Round Robin with four or five players in each group. The event consists of three rounds – round one concludes on the 13th March. Each player is expected to play every person in that group and the number of games won by each player is recorded. At the end of round one, the leading player in each group moves up to a higher group and the player with least points in each group moves down a level. This allows the matches in each round to be varied and the matches tend to become more competitive as the competition progresses. While this event gives our juniors valuable match practice, it is seen as a gentle introduction to the world of competition.
New to this event and leading Group 1 is Joshua Hanna who has done well to win both his matches so far. Hannah Cousins has also been quick out of the blocks with an eyecatching performance over Jared Monaghan. In Group 2, Headon Hughes Jordan completed a hat-trick of wins against strong opposition in Alison Glass, Ronan McKeever and Matthew Duffy. The consistency and never say die attitude of Conor McShea has taken him to the top of Group 3 with excellent wins over Sarah Cousins, Claire Reihill and the ever-improving Sean Dillon. Laura Griffin currently leads Group 4, although the upcoming match with Ruairi McConville is expected to be decisive in this group. Group 5 sees Sean Martin in a strong postion with a win over Graeme Hobson and suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Stuart Rainey. Dylan Funston leads Group 6 with good wins over Tom Hughes Jordan and Adam McShea, although he lost narrowly to Luke Todd. Oliver Guette has won all four of his matches in Group 7 but only clinched the win against Luke Dillon in a nerve racking tie-break. All matches have been completed in Group 10 with Megan Elliott emerging unbeaten, although she was pushed all the way by Aran Dillon and Amy Griffin.
Few matches have taken place in Groups 8 and 9 to date but all matches are expected to be completed by the deadline. Parents of juniors who missed out getting an entry in on time can contact John Griffin, as opportunities may arise in advance of Round 2.
Neil Gilmour Memorial Trophy
The Neil Gilmour Memorial Trophy was presented this year by Helen Gilmour to Laura Griffin. This trophy holds a special place in the affections of the Club, because Neil had been such a popular figure for so many years whilst playing at Enniskillen and represented Fermanagh on many occasions. Club coach, Matthew McGann considered Laura was a worthy winner of this trophy because she has worked so hard on her game over the past year through regular practice and coaching, and she partakes in the full spectrum of club activities and competitions.
