It was week two of Francos Spring League at Enniskillen Tennis Club, with Michelle McTeague’s Silverhill Ducks looking to recover from a heavy week one defeat. They were up against Seamus O’Connell’s Fine Wines who themselves were keen to build on their winning start to the league.
Monday Night
After an early 8-4 win for Silverhill Ducks Scott Hubbard and Paul Lendrum was quickly cancelled out by a similar win for Fine Wines Seamus O’Connell and Jennifer Kelly a crucial 9-3 victory for Fine Wines Reggie Ferguson and Fiona Drumm left the Fine Wines ahead by 4 games heading into the doubles. Further wins for Jennifer and Fiona (8-4) and a fine 7-5 win for Sonja Hateboer and Liz Murphy over Ducks Martina Boyd and Leonie Madigan left the Fine Wines in full control. However Silverhill Ducks top men’s pairing of Scott Hubbard and Paul Lendrum played superbly to record a 10-2 win over strong Fine Wines pairing of Jerome Nicole and Martin Hamblin to salvage an unlikely draw on the night and get the Silverhill Ducks league challenge up and running.
Monday’s second match saw Yvonne Masterson’s Francos Specials surpass last week’s impressive opening win with a 58-38 victory over Ken Yang’s Crème Brulees. It was a strong performance across the board with the Specials winning 6 of the 8 matches. Top special on the night was captain Yvonne who amassed an impressive 17 games on the night following a 10-2 win with Rory Houston in the mix and a 7-5 win with Michelle Kennedy in the doubles. Michelle also impressed on the night winning her mixed with partner Kevin Burns 9-3. Tonight’s win put Francos Specials firmly in control of Monday’s group with a lead of 14 games after only two rounds.
Wednesday Night
First match on Wednesday saw the two losing teams from week one battle it out for that all important first win and it was John Griffins Private Diners who came through with an dominant 55-41 victory over Innes Redmond’s Early Birds. With Kate McManus in fine form winning 7-5 with Innes for the Early Birds in the top mixed and Peter Neill and Gwen Wilson giving the Birds an 8-4 win in the bottom mixed it was crucial for the Diners that Keith Miller and Anne Mooney found their feet. This they did in style combining to beat a strong combination of Brian Donaldson and Bennie Sheridan 10-2 giving the Private Diners a 6 game cushion at the halfway stage. The Diners then followed this up in the doubles winning all four matches with Ruben Permaul starting to show the same form which has seen him moving up the league levels. Equally impressive across both of her matches was Vanessa McBrien who is now back after a lengthy injury playing at the same intense competitive level which was her trademark prior to her enforced lay off.
The week’s last match was for leadership of the group and to maintain a 100% winning start to the league. Despite Anne Smyth and Aine King winning the final match of the night 10-2 for the Pizza Slicers, it was Sheila Colville’s Chilli Monks who prevailed winning all seven of the remaining matches to win 51-45. Most impressive for the Monks were Stuart Miller and John O’Callaghan who both contributed 16 games to the Monks cause including a superb 9-3 win over the dynamic duo of Johnny Guette and Emmett Stewart.
Standings after Week 2
Monday: 111 Francos Specials; 97 Fine Wines; 91 Silverhill Ducks; 85 Crème Brulees
Wednesday: 104 Chilli Monks; 99 Pizza Slicers; 97 Private Diners; 84 Early Birds
