Finals Night
Last Wednesday night (30th March) saw the Erasers lift the trophy in the final of the Enniskillen Spring League sponsored by Erne Business Equipment.
After seeing off both qualifiers from the Wednesday night pool in the semis it was a tense atmosphere which greeted the Staplers and Erasers at the start of the final. Having met three times in the group stages with one win apiece and one draw it was a fitting set up for the deciding match in this year’s league.
The Staplers got off to the perfect start with Dominick Burns and Ita Hughes combining well to race into a 4-0 lead. However Sonja Hateboer, as Erasers team captain, was not going to be that easily beaten and herself and Donal Burns showed their stubborn side to fight back to tie it up at 4 games all before the Staplers rediscovered their edge to win it 8-4. This set the tone for the remaining three matches in the mixed doubles as all pairings were obviously aware that every game secured could be crucial to the final result. In the second seed tie, Staplers team captain, Moira McAdam playing with her partner James Wilson, bravely matched the Erasers Leonie Madigan and Clive Funston volley for volley finally going down 7-5 but doing just enough to keep the Staplers ahead by two in the overall match. When the fourth seed Staplers Seamus O’Connell and Gwen Wilson came in with a narrow 7-5 win over Iain Kennedy and Vivienne Kells the Staplers were again 4 games up and possibly beginning to dream of victory. However the Erasers strong third seed pairing of Stephen Kettyles and Sandra Parker responded with a nervy 8-4 win over Staplers Cyril Boyd and Bennie Sheridan to leave the tie perfectly poised 24-24 at the half way stage.
The men’s doubles matches were now underway and even though the weather had deteriorated there was no let up in the spirit on display on court. With Clive and Donal both beginning to find their serving line, it was the combination of superb returning and greater consistency which enabled Staplers Dominick and James to hold out for a battling 7-5 victory. The second men’s doubles pitched the experience of Cyril and Seamus for the Staplers against the well balanced pairing of Stephen and Iain and it was the Erasers ability to close off points at the net which took them through 8-4 putting the Erasers ahead for the first time in the match albeit by the minimum two games. It was now over to the ladies doubles to see who would ultimately lift the trophy. The top ladies match had Ita and Moira trying to overcome the highest scoring ladies in the league. While on any other night Ita’s power from the baseline and Moira’s eye for the right shot at the net might have been enough it was Leonie’s and Sonja’s night with Leonie in particular hitting top form at the crucial points with a number of monster smashes in and around the net. Leonie and Sonja didn’t put a foot wrong and went on to record the crucial result of the night winning 10-2 for the Erasers and giving Leonie top individual score of 17 games on the night narrowly edging out the in form Stephen Kettyles on 16. This left only the last ladies doubles match on court 4 with Staplers Bennie and Gwen needing a whitewash against the formidable pairing of Sandra and Vivienne. With many games going to deuce it was one of the longest matches of the night and despite not managing the ever unlikely whitewash, Bennie and Gwen did record an impressive 7-5 win over their fancied opponents. This was enough for a delighted Erasers team leaving them overall Spring League Champions by a score of 52-44.
Semis
The previous Monday had seen the two Monday group qualifiers both secure convincing wins over their Wednesday night opponents. First semi saw the Erasers in control throughout in beating the Dispensers by a wide margin of 39-57. Top scorers for the Erasers were Stephen Kettyles and Leonie Madigan nicely playing themselves up a ranking for the Autumn leagues while Helen Cooper played a captains role in winning her mixed doubles opener against Donal and Sonja without dropping a single point in any of her own 3 service games.
The second semi was closer but only just as the Staplers outscored the Toners 55-41. While the Toners top pairings had the better of the usually reliable top Staplers in both the mixed and the doubles it was the third and fourth seed Staplers who retrieved the match. Top scorer for the Staplers was the never flustered Gwen Wilson, securing an impressive 18 games, but in winning all four of the lower seeded matches by an aggregate score of 33-15 it is the combinations of Bennie Sheridan, Cyril Boyd, Seamus O’Connell and Gwen that the Staplers owed their place in this years final.
Result: Mon 28th SF1 Dispenser 39 Erasers 57 : SF2 Staplers 55 Toners 41
League Final Wed 30th Staplers 44 : Erasers 52
