Monday Night
Even though the final placings in Monday’s group were largely settled in advance of tonight’s matches there was still plenty to play on the night. In the first match the Francos Specials were looking to maintain their unbeaten status for the full league and maintain their number one seeding for the semis. However that undefeated record was looking decidedly shaky after the Specials, captained by Yvonne Masterson, lost three out of four mixed doubles to trail Seamus O’Connell’s Fine Wines 27-21. Two 8-4 wins for the Fine Wines captain and partner Jenny Kelly on court three and also for impressive pairing of Reggie Ferguson and Fiona Drumm on court four were the highlights for the Fine Wines. Unfortunately that was as good as it got for the Fine Wines as Francos Specials came storming back winning all four doubles by a combined 34-14 to secure the win 55-42. The big winners for the Specials were their top pairings on court one and two with Davy Thompson and Ollie McShea scoring a superb 10-2 win followed by a 9-3 win for Louise McGann and Lisa Greaves.
The nights second match was an altogether more straightforward affair with second in the group, Silverhill Ducks winning seven of the eight matches against bottom of the table Crème Brulees. The four mixed matches were all close affairs with the unlucky Brulees losing 7-5 in all four but once Scott Hubbard and Paul Lendrum posted a 10-2 win in the first doubles the Ducks were in total control. A further 8-4 win for Martina Boyd and Leonie Madigan was the icing on the cake giving Michelle McTeague’s Silverhill Ducks a dominant 57-39 win and the second semi-final qualifying spot.
Wednesday Night
While the qualifiers for the semi-finals from Wednesday’s group were known the seedings were still up for grabs as Eilis Bogue’s Pizza Slicers trailed Sheila Colville’s Chilli Monks by only 5 games going into the last round of matches. First match on the night had Sheila’s Monks looking to post a strong target against John Griffin’s Private Diners. The mixed matches failed to separate the teams but the perfect combination on court four of John O’Callaghan’s overhead smashes and Hazel Dineen’s confident patrolling of the base line finally got the ball rolling for the Monks with an 8-4 win over Mark Cousins and sub Yvonne Masterson. John Griffin and Ruben Permaul gave the Diners a timely boost with their own 8-4 win in the first doubles over Dominick Burns and Marius Blake but the Monks then managed a further two wins to clinch the overall tie 51-45.
The Monk’s scoreline gave Eilis Bogue’s Pizza Slicers a definitive 57 game target in the night’s second match against Innes Redmond’s Early Birds as they tried to take the number one seeding for the group and with it a potentially easier path to the final. The Slicers need not have worried as they opened up in style winning all four mixed matches 8-4 to lead by a comfortable sixteen games at the half way stage. Given their strong showing over the previous eight rounds it was no surprise that it was the court four combination of Anne Smyth’s punishing accuracy and Aine King’s aggressive angles that clinched the final games to move the Pizza Slicers above long time group leaders Chilli Monks with the Slicers goong on to beat the Early Birds by 59-37.
Standings after Week 9
Monday: 486 Francos Specials (QF); 453 Silverhill Ducks (QF); 410 Fine Wines; 379 Crème Brulees
Wednesday: 469 Pizza Slicers (QF); 466 Chilli Monks (QF); 411 Private Diners; 382 Early Birds
