RTC
Last updated
03 August 2010
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RTC
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Laois
League Abbeyleix
Tennis Club hosted the Finals of this year’s Laois League finals; the annual
interclub competition for Tennis Clubs in Carlow, Kildare and Laois.
Sixteen teams from Abbeyleix, Athy, Carlow, Portarlington, Portlaoise and
Rathangan competed in three divisions in June and July to qualify for the
finals. Portarlington won Division
2A final while The host club, Abbeyleix took
won the other two divisions. At
the well attended finals, Brian Kelly, of the organizing committee, thanked the
clubs and his committee for their support. He
also thanked all the teams for their sportsmanship throughout and congratulated
all the finalists and Leisa Fitzgearld, Chairperson of Abbeyleix who presented
the prizes. Leisa and her committee
had their facilities in superb condition.
Laois League Committee members: David Robinson, Brian Kelly, Trish Geoghegan and Padraig Doyle The clubs brought plenty of supporters and they enjoyed the grandstand view of courts one and two afforded by the new balcony; while others kept and eye on proceeding on the other courts from the vantage of the clubs beautiful summer house. Emily McDonald , Leisa Fitzgerald and their team excelled themselves with a constant supply of refreshments throughout the night and after the competition the teams and their supporters sat down to a veritable feast of home baking. Brian Kelly thanked Abbeyleix and Emily and her team for the hospitality
and he acknowledged the role the team captains played in keeping the competition
on the tight schedule set by
Division
2A Portarlington
beat Abbeyleix:
2 matches all;
35 – 26 games
(L.D. 8-11,
M.D. 11-4,
1st Mix. 11-0,
2nd Mix.5-11) Portarlington and Abbeyleix met in the Div 2A
final and while Portarlington; who qualified in first place, had taken 5 of the
8 matches between the sides in the league stages, all were very close
encounters. The final was no
different, going down to a count back on games won after it finished all square
2 matches each. However Port with 35
games against the 26 of Abbeyleix came out the deserving winners.
Division 2A Winners Portarlington: Barry O'Reilly, Vilma Butkuviene, Club Captain Trish Geoghegan, Team Captain Sally Donnelly, and Jack Geoghegan The ladies’ doubles which was played on court
one kept a packed house riveted to their seats.
Only after wresting a couple of late games that were finely balanced on
deuce did the Abbeyleix ladies Pat Fogarty and Siobhan Fennelly secure an 11-8
victory over the valiant Portarlington pairing of Vilma Butkuviene and Sally
Donnelly of Portarlington. Siobhan’s
determination and drive may have given Abbeyleix the edge.
She retrieved many shots that appeared to be lost and kept encouraging
her captain Pat Fogarty who covered the base line with a cool precision.
Determined as Abbeyleix they found the port pair difficult to put away.
Sally hit some beautiful backhands lobs and passed her opponents down the
line quite a few times while Vilma played a blinder at the net.
Division 2A runners up Abbeyleix: Terry Carroll, Siobhan Fenelly, Pat Fogarty (Capt.) and Ciaran Walsh There was a reverse of fortunes in the men’s
doubles as Portarlington pair of Jack Geoghegan and Barry O’Reilly drew clear
of Terry Carroll & Ciaran Walsh going to a lead of 9-2 before having to
defend against a comeback. They
eventually brought the game to an 11-4 conclusion.
The Abbeyleix pair used what little space they could make on the
Portarlington side but Barry and Jack had most of the bases covered.
Barry scored at the net with a number of beautifully controlled drop
shots, some off very fast ball while Jack was direct, fast and clinical,
throughout. His serve had speed,
width and depth. So before playing mixed doubles the teams were
level in matches but Portarlington men had given them a slender three match lead
and it was obvious from the intensity of the play in the mixed matches that
everyone knew that each game might be vital.
In the 1st mixed Vilma and Jack combined to beat Pat and Terry with some
ease. Despite meeting with a strong
defense, their winning margin of 11 games, ensured Portarlington the victory.
However, they had not secured the win
until well near the end of the second mixed which was a much closer affair.
Here, the Abbeyleix pair, Siobhan and Ciaran, conceded only 5 games to
Portarlington. Siobhan repeatedly
returning balls that a professional might well have conceded.
She was low accurate and full length from the base line testing for her
opposition and making space which Ciaran exploited to full effect.
That said it was a hard earned victory in the face of a resolute defense,
however even with their win in this
match Abbeyleix found themselves 9 games adrift of the deserving winners,
Portarlington, in the end.
Division
2B Abbeyleix
beat Portarlington: 2 Matches all; 39-28
games
(L.D. 11-2,
M.D. 7-11,
1st Mix. 10-11,
2nd Mix.11-4) Abbeyleix
and Portarlington Teams were once again on court to decide the division 2B
title. Portarlington must have been
favorites to win having beaten all opponents in the league.
However, Abbeyleix raised their game for the occasion and ensured this
was another tight contest. Again the
teams finished with two wins apiece but Portarlington were forced to concede the
title when they could wrest only 28 games from Abbeyleix.
Division 2B winners Abbeyleix: Liam Fitzgearld, Sinead Stone (Capt.), Michelle Stone, Niall "ernie" O Donnell, Garry Lutrell with Abbeyleix Chairperson Liesa Fitzgearld In
the first mixed contest Jonathan Mc Donagh and Ashling O’Hora of Portarlington
took on their Niall “Ernie” O Donovan & Michelle Stone of the host club.
In a humdinger of a match, played in great spirit the teams traded games
all the way until they reached 10 all. Ernie
was very good at the net and he and his partner Michele ran down the balls to
cover each other’s moves very well. At
the same time Jonathan varied the pace and depth of his play and hit some very
subtle strokes when he could get to the net while his partner Ashling served
superbly, often putting as much pace and depth on her second as her first.
In the tie break Ashling stayed long while Jonathan pushed forward to the
net where he dominated the court to grab the tie break with a series of
excellent smashes. The
margin was wider in the second mixed but this time it was the Abbeyleix pairing
of Garry Luttrell and Sinead Stone who prevailed over John Dunphy and Linda-Gene
Finn, who stood in at the last minute for Michelle Allen, who had suffered a
family bereavement. Garry and
Sinead were quick into their game giving the new pairing of Linda-Gene and John
little time to find their feet. Sinead
and himself proved a very balanced partnership.
Sinead kept the ball in play and when she opened up the court Garry
finished with great accuracy. Their
superb display of tennis was rewarded with an 11- 4 win which meant that, though
level on Matches at one all, Abbeyleix had a six games advantage at the
turnover. So like in the higher
division all the contestants knew that each game could prove vital and even in
defeat the margin of a loss could prove just as important as the margin of a
win. In
the men’s doubles Portarlington had a strong hand with the very athletic
pairing of John and Jonathan and the pair threw down the gauntlet to Garry and
Ernie playing their match at a scintillating pace but at halfway they still only
led by 7 games to 5.
All was still to play for. There
was little to choose between the teams with Garry in blistering form serving 7
aces and Ernie covering everything; staying long one minute and rushing the net
when the opportunity appeared. Both
teams displayed very solid partnerships. When
it came to the crunch the Portarlington pair wore down their opposition to take
the match by 11 games to 7, Abbeyleix doing well to hold the margin to four
points although it might have been even closer.
Division 2B runners up Portarlington: Johnathan McDonagh (capt.), Lind-Gene Finn, Ashling O'Hora and John Donphy At
the same time the clubhouse crowd was being thoroughly entertained by a
captivating ladies doubles between Ashling O’Hora and Linda-Gene Finn of
Portarlington and the Stone sisters.
Ashling’s service was astoundingly accurate and fast but the Stone
sisters coped well and returned the bulk of them; some even with a bit of
interest. Linda-Gene played some
fantastic shots and the final score of 11 games to 2 was a poor reflection of
this hard fought contest, as so many games went to deuce.
The rallies were long and hard with the Portarlington repeatedly asked
serious question of the Stones. However,
the depth of trust and understanding between the sisters meant they covered each
other’s every move with speed, agility and the utmost commitment. With
two matches apiece the Title went to Abbeyleix team by a 9 games margin.
This was a marvelous achievement seeing that when the two teams had met
in the league Portarlington had scored a decisive victory taking all 4 matches
to end the league on maximum points.
Division
3 Abbeyleix
beat Athy: 4 Matches
to love (L.D. 11-3, M.D.
11-10, 1st
Mix. 11-3, 2nd
Mix.11-2) Abbeyleix
and Athy 2 went through the league stages all but level.
They both had three wins and two draws to end on 8 points each.
When they met each other they had finished absolutely even with 2 games
and 28 matches each. So it went to a
count of the games won during the league and again they had the same total of
167 games. In the end the deciding
factor that put Abbeyleix in the number
one slot was that they conceded less games to their opposition than Athy 2.
With both teams winning their semi
finals with some ease
everyone was expecting a very tight contest. However,
Abbeyleix justified their number one billing while the Athy challenge faded
after a strong start leaving Abbeyleix to take the title by a
comfortable margin in the end.
Division 3 winners The Abbeyleixteam of John Moran, Donal Delahaunty, Sue Ramsbottom and Clodagh Mc Donald (Capt.) flanked by Brian Kelly (far left and Leisa Fitzgearkd (far right). The
men’s doubles between Donal Delahunty and John Moran of Abbeyleix and Billy
Murphy and John Costigan of Athy was the closest of the night.
The Athy pair took more time to settle than the home team but after a
short while found their gear and quickly drew level with their opposition.
John Moran was in his comfort zone at all times and played some very
deceptive shots. Like many of the
very best he placed his shots on unattended patches of court with ease.
Likewise his partner Donal appeared in total command of himself and the
court. The ease with which they
played appeared to frustrate their opposition at times.
Despite this Billy and John kept up the work rate and brought the contest
to 10-10. The play was so frenetic
that both teams decided to take on water before returning refreshed to battle
out the tie break which eventually went to Abbeyleix.
Diviobiosn 3 runners up: Athy 2 of Billy Muphy, Aine Doyle (sub for Marion Ryan capt.), Mabel Talbot and John Costigan, flanked either side of Peggy Delaney P.R.O. Athy LTC (center), Meanwhile
Clodagh McDonald and Sue Ramsbottom of Abbeyleix were engaging Mabel Talbot and
Aine Doyle who was subbing for the Athy captain, Marion Ryan, in a very sporting
match. Clodagh played a lovely game
testing the Athy pair with long low full length drives.
She was greatly assisted by the presence of Sue Ramsbottom who only took
up tennis last year on retiring from playing representative football for Laois,
and who on occasion was particularly effective at the net.
While the new athy pairing tried everything they could with Mabel driving
from back line and Aine making some great half volleys while trying to get to
the net, it was all they could do to hold the margin to 8 games. This
meant that Athy faced a huge challenge going into the final round.
To take the title they would need to win both the remaining matches by an
overall margin of 10 games; a large call but not unattainable.
However, both mixed pairings found their opposition too strong and both
matches were lost giving Abbeyleix the title.
PD /END |
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