Townhall Towers set the early pace

The Autumn League sponsored by Pat’s Bar & Grill began to take shape, with week three getting underway last week at Enniskillen Tennis Club. The Townhall Towers took on the Galaxy Hotshots last Wednesday night. Opening the scoring were the two townhall criers Dominic Burns and Moira McAdam who played a screamer taking the match 9-3 against Hugh Maguire and Martina Boyd. JR Dundas and Veronica Bogue stretched the Towers lead by taking a close match 7-5 against Brendan Duffy and Ruth Elliott. Brian Donaldson and Heather Williams combined well to take a well-earned draw over Cyril Boyd and Benny Sheridan. But it was Johnny Guette and Roisin O’Connell who sealed an excellent first leg for the Towers with a 7-5 win over Nick Meeke and Michele Hanna. However, all changed in the second leg with Martina Boyd and Ruth Elliott the shining stars for the Galaxy Hotspots taking their ladies doubles 8-4. Cyril Boyd and Nick Meeke continued the fightback by edging out Brian Donaldson and Johnny Guette 7-5. Overall though, the effort was not quite enough as the Townhall Towers ended the night with an eight point winning margin 52-44.

The weather dealt a poor hand to the Diamond Aces and the Earlybird Baps as the later match that evening was called off due to the heavy rain.

Monday night’s matches opened with a solid performance from Reggie Ferguson and Bennie Sheridan for Midtown Magic who gained a 8-4 win over Allen Reynolds and Catherine Sloane. It was Allen’s first league match for some time and he showed plenty of glimpses of his old form. Euan Gebler and Reggie Ferguson held out for a draw against Allan and Mark Cousins, with Euan’s strong serve putting his opponents under pressure. The ladies doubles capped a fine night for Midtown Magic with 8-4 wins for Jenny Kelly and Lisa Greaves and Bennie Sheridan and Nadine Stewart. These wins proved decisive for the Magicians who went on to beat the Carvery Cuts 55-41 overall.

The other Monday night match was between the Night Owls and the Backbar Baseliners. In a very tight match, Davy Thompson and Geraldine Miller drew 6-6 with Ollie McShea and Liz Murphy. Paul Lendrum and Liz McGuinness put in a big performance for the Baseliners winning 9-3 but this was counteracted by an equally fine win for the Owls by Luke Todd and Kate McManus. So there was everything to play for in the second leg. Once again, Kate made a big impression, when partnering Corrie Cadden, they ran out decisive winners in the ladies doubles. This proved to be the key result of the night with the Owls flying home 50-46 on the night.