Division 1: Highfield V Silver Springs, November 22nd 2014
Saturday November 22nd 2014, Highfield played host to Silver Springs.
Sunday’s Well V Celtic in Sunday’s Well was deferred to 7:30pm Tuesday 25th November.
There will be a presentation after the final fixture in Sunday’s Well.
Celtic are leading the table by 2 points going into it, so this one will go down to the wire.
Highfield were at home to Silver Springs on Saturday evening for their final Division 1 league fixture of the season.
There were some very close matches that on another day could have gone the other way, but on this occasion Highfield sneaked the win, 3-2.
First up to duke it out on centre-court were Donal and James. Both players will be travelling to the Connacht Masters Open next weekend so this was a good chance to build up a bit of momentum going into that tournament.
James proved too accurate on the day, playing some wafer-thin boasts over the timber, and varying his length to good effect to help him win it in 4 games.
Next up Barry and Tommy took to court 1 to do battle.
Barry impressed early on, and took a 2-1 lead, but Tommy’s experience proved invaluable as he turned the tables and dominated the final 2 games. Barry demonstrated marvellous retrieving ability, but Tommy’s measured length and precision angles into the back corners gave him a cushion in the last game, and despite a valiant effort from Barry to make a late comeback Tommy saw out the match to win 3-2.
Next to play were Tony and Geoff on centre-court.
Tony and Geoff have had a close battle in a recent Masters Tournament so this was set to be another tough contest.
At 1-all it seemed like this match was going to go to 5, but Tony took the 3rd and seemed to find another gear to pull away in the 4th to win the match.
The number 2 players were next, and Aidan and Martin (Senior) took to court 1.
Aidan dominated the opening games with powerful drives and picked up the tempo to keep the ball away from his opponent. At 2 games up Aidan looked comfortable but Martin was not finished yet, and staged a remarkable comeback. With patient play, tight drives and by waiting for openings to come before taking the ball in short he clawed his way back to win the 3rd, and 4th games.
The final game could have gone either way, but home advantage seemed to tip the balance in favour of the Highfield player and he managed to come away with the win.
That set up the final match to be the decider, between the number 1 players.
The top seeds didn’t disappoint, both playing many winners keeping the small crowd on the balcony entertained to the end.
Home advantage once again proved advantageous as Martin (Junior) took the match 3 love, but he had to play well to overcome Eddie’s tight lob-serves and quick reflexes around the T.
The results from the matches were:
Highfield 15 – 9 Silver Springs
Martin McDonnell (Junior) 3 – 0 Eddie Murphy
Martin McDonnell (Senior) 3 – 2 Aidan McDonnell
Tony O’Brien 3 – 1 Geoff Wales
Barry Lynch 2 – 3 Tommy Horgan
Donal Coughlan 1 – 3 James McSweeney