Following recent losses to the ice and snow, normal service and Donal’s service resumed at Enniskillen, with a full round of matches completed over Monday and Wednesday.
Monday Night
The night’s first match pitched last year’s Autumn League most winning pairing against each other as Captians Matt Dillon and Andy Elliot saw their new teams go head to head. It was first blood to Andy’s Aces as Matthew McGann and the in-form Sonja Hateboer opened proceedings with an impressive comeback from 3-0 down to win 8-4 against Daire Dillon and Martina Boyd. However, Andy’s lead did not last long with Matt and Mary Griffin out rallying Andy and Yvonne Masterson to restore the balance. A hard fought 7-5 win for Claude Bersot and back on court Bridie McCaffrey left Matt’s Backhanders trailing by 2 games at the end of the mixed. When Bridie and Yvonne stormed to an 8-4 win in the doubles Andy’s Aces led by 6 but the remaining matches all went the way of the Backhanders helping Matt to the minimum 49-47 overall
The second match saw Maine’s Magicians take on the current league leaders, Louise’s Smashers. Despite Louise’s Smashers putting up a valiant defensive fight against some heavy serving it was Maxines Magicians who squeezed through 7-5 in each of the four mixed to lead by 8 at the interval. With Nadine Stewart starting to recapture her form from previous leagues the Smashers were able to briefly close the gap to 6 but a strong win for captain Maxine and sub Hannah Cousins in the ladies doubles secured a 53-43 win for the Magicians to see them go top of the table after four weeks out of the scheduled nine.
Wednesday Night
With the weather beating Tennis for the first three Wednesday nights the players were just glad to get some competitive tennis under their belts. First out the blocks were Lizzie’s Lobbers who recorded a 52-44 win over Redmond’s Rockets. While sharing the spoils in the mixed doubles at two matches apiece it was the smooth angles from Paddy Gillen and Ann Mooney that secured the crucial 8-4 win in the third match giving Lizzie’s Lobbers a narrow 2 game advantage at the break. With two more 8-4 wins for Clive Funston and Hugh Maguire and the fresh as ever Paddy Gillen and Johnny Guette in the men’s doubles Lizzies Lobbers closed out an impressive 8 game win. Tonight’s match also saw John Callaghan record a superb league debut victory in the mixed with fellow debutant Priscilla Fawcett recording a timely draw in the doubles to mark a remarkable short settling in period to league tennis for both players.
With gaining valuable points, winning seven out of eight matches on the night, it was the two key 9-3 victories from the Meek Marvels pairings of Dominic Burns and Enid Redmond and Ann White and Jenny Cruikshank which saw the Marvels move to the top of the Wednesday league. With perfect weather, Jenny (Fourcoats) Cruikshank was able to layer down and produce some of her best tennis for many years with an important personal 16 game haul on the night, as the Marvels posted a 58-38 victory over the Kissin’ Cousins. The only win for the Kissin’ Cousins on the night came courtesy of captain Mark Cousins, despite a heavy smack on the lips from the power driving Ken Yang, and super sub Seamus O’Connell, who once again emptied out the whole trick box in an exciting 7-5 win over the strong pairing of Ken and Cyril Boyd.
