The closing stages of the Lakeland Veterinary Junior Closed Tournament were held at Enniskillen Tennis Club last weekend. Always a popular event in the tennis calendar, this year proved no exception and was well supported by an ever expanding junior membership at Enniskillen LTC.
In the U18 boys singles, Daire Dillon underlined the improvements he has made to his game against the experienced Scott Gilbride. An upset seemed on the cards when Daire levelled the match taking the second set 7-6, but he was narrowly beaten 10-7 in the championship tiebreak. However, it was Scott who emerged on top in this round robin and in his final year as a junior, it was no more than he deserved. To cap a highly successful week, Scott partnered Conor McShea to take the U18 doubles. The most entertaining match in this event was undoubtedly the victory of Daire Dillon/ Matthew Duffy against Joshua Hanna/ Graeme Hobson and the match was only clinched in a 10-7 final set championship tiebreak.
The senior mixed doubles was a finely balanced affair, with both semi-finals going to three sets. Joshua Hanna and Laura Griffin clinched a win with an ace from Joshua Hanna to take the match 11-9 in the final set. Matthew Duffy and the ever improving Alison Glass narrowly overcame Scott Gilbride and Claire Reihill by a similar margin in another classic encounter. The final was won by Joshua and Laura in more decisive fashion 6/2 6/4.
The senior girls singles was a family affair between Hannah Cousins and her sister Sarah. With the match tipping one way then the other, it was Hannah who came out on top taking the match 10-7 in a final set tiebreak.
The U16 boys singles was a high class affair between top seed Jared Monaghan and number two seedHeadon Hughes-Jordan. On this occasion, it was Headon who came out on top taking the match 7/5 6/4 and Headon doubled up with another singles win at U14 level.
The decisive match in the boys U14 doubles was between David Casey/ Jared Monaghan against Sean Dillon and Ronan McKeever. Strong attacking play was a feature of this match and Sean and Ronan came out on top taking the match 6/4 6/4. Steady improvement from David Casey during the past year will no doubt pay dividends in the months ahead.
The U14 girls doubles saw Hannah Cousins and Laura Griffin taking the honours with wins over Alison Glass/Claire Reihill and Sarah Cousins/ Eimear Smyth. However, it was young Eimear who caught the eye and the quality of her performances fully justified the decision to play up to this level.
The U12 boys singles was in the balance till the very end, with Oliver Guette clinching victory in the final set tiebreak 10-7 over Fergal Quinn. Both boys have the potential to feature prominently in junior events over the coming years, and they now have an impressive array of shots in their armoury.
The most entertaining match in the U12 girls singles was between Dearbla Dillon and Sasha Funston. Both girls have shown an outstanding commitment to the game and have improved markedly in recent months. In spite of injury earlier in the year, Dearbhla has now bounced back to her best and only just failed to take the title in a third set tussle. Hannah Sharkey also showed great improvement in her narrow win over Amy Griffin. Sasha achieved the double when she teamed up with Amy Griffin to take the U12 doubles.
Aran Dillon showed off his volleying skills when he partnered Dylan Funston in the novice boys doubles. The two boys remained unbeaten in this event but had to overcome strong opposition in Luke Dillon/ Fergal Quinn and Oliver Guette and Tom Hughes-Jordan before taking the title.
In the novice boys singles, Conor Rippey was playing in his first closed tournament and earned a place in the final by beating Dylan Funston in a very tight match. Having lost the first set in a tiebreak 6-7, Conor bounced back to take the second set 6-2, before clinching the third set championship tiebreak 10-7. In the final, Conor won another close match 7-6 7-5 counteracting Kyle Hobson’s hard serves with some great returns in an excellent match.
The novice girls singles was won by Aoibheann Cox who was a worthy winner beating Dearbla Dillon in a nerve jangling encounter 7/6 7/5.
Presentations were made by Innes Redmond of Lakeland Veterinary Services, sponsor of this event. Tributes were paid to the many juniors taking part for their sportsmanship and for the hard work they have put in over the past year. Special mention was also made of club coaches Matthew and Louise McGann, who have been instrumental in improving the standard of junior play at the Enniskillen club in recent years.
