Historic Day - Monkstown brings Home 3 Trophies from Summer League Finals Day
What a day for Monkstown at the Summer League finals!
Class 2 Winners - Ladies 1st Team
Congrats to the team on the day, Lisa O’Shea, Kate Grennan, Amy Ryan, Julie Ryan, Lucy Byrne, Aisling Cullen, Rachel McCauley, and well done to Nicky Kinsella, team captain, and Isobel Craig sub for the team in two of the matches.
Class 5 Winners - Men’s 3rd Team
Congrats to the team on the day, Eoin Langford (captain), Declan O’Rourke, Jerome Doyle, Hugo Faughnan, Rob Kennedy, Peter O’Leary, and Greg Ryan, and well done to all the subs/squad members.
Class 3 Winners - Men’s 2nd Team
Congrats to the team on the day, Robin Craig (captain), Scott Barron Jnr, Ciaran Dolan, Jack Gannon, Michael Barron, Gary Kelly and Denis Feighery and well done to the full subs/squad members.
Class 4 Runners Up - Ladies 4st Team
Congrats to the team on the team on the day, Lara Sommerville, Clara McGannon, Ellen Lawless, Arlene Sommerville, Clodagh Murray, Lisa Blake and Sam Haughton. And well done to Lisa O’Sullivan, team captain, team members Sara Stevenson and Sonya Mahood and the super subs who helped along the way, Martina Keevey, Irene Nolan and Isobel Craig.
The day started in Brookfield at 10am with the Ladies 4th team taking on LCC 1st team. LCC proved to be too strong and took the first three matches and the overall win, however, it must be said that Clara McGannon looked like she might be on track for another win as having lost the first set, she was ahead in the second and seemed to have the best of her opponent, and the #2 doubles Lisa Blake and Sam Haughton were ahead in the tie-break of a very close first set… We consoled ourselves with the fact that of the 48 teams in Class 4, only 2 make it to a final, which is not a bad statistic, but it was still hard to lose on the day!
Despite the disappointment for the 4th team, the players were very happy to join the large group of Monkstown supporters on the balcony. And what an incredible display of tennis, playing Wicklow 1st team, Kate Grennan powered home to take the first match for the team, with Rachel McCauley and Aisling Cullen taking the second match. We then suffered very narrow 3 set defeats, for our 1st singles Lisa O’Shea and our 1st doubles Julie Ryan and Lucy Byrne, and the contest was tied at 2 all. And it was all up to Amy Ryan, who kept calm and composed (unlike the crowd on the balcony) in a nail-biting tie-break finish to take the final match 7-5 7-6 and bring home the Class 2 Win for Monkstown… What a great day
And then we headed over to Sutton for the Men’s Finals. Both players and supporters had to battle terrible traffic to get there, with the parades in town, roadworks at the Eastlink and the matches in Croke Park, it was a miracle that any of us made it, but we were so glad that we did. The Men’s 3rd team were up first, in the Class 5 Finals against Donnybrook 5, Robert Kennedy and Peter O’Leary took the first match, followed by Jerome Doyle winning his singles match, Eoin Langford, captain of the team, and Greg Ryan took the 3rd match and the Class 5 title for the club.
With two Monkstown titles already in the bag, the Men’s second team started their matches against Charleville 1, but with only a few games played, the weather turned, and we were treated to a torrential downpour. The supporters made for cover, but of course play continued, two of the singles matches however, Robin Craig and Scott Barron Jnr had to abandon their water-logged clay courts and move to some of the Savanah grass courts. Gary Kelly and Denis Feighery, our 2nd doubles, were the first match to finish, with a win for Monkstown. Our 1st doubles, Jack Gannon and Michael Barron had a tight 3 setter but narrowly lost. Robin Craig took the next win and with Monkstown leading 2:1 we still had two matches on court. Scott Barron Jnr, having lost the first set, took the second set taking his match to a 3rd set. Ciaran Dolan was also in a 3rd and with a super display of Serve and Volley tennis, Ciaran got the win and Monkstown took the Class 3 Title.
And the day finished with great celebrations in McCormack’s that evening with players and supporters toasting the winners. And yes, the Trophies were filled with Prosecco!
A very big thank you to the league players and subs in all the teams who played throughout the campaign. With 3 Trophies and 1 Runner Up, 4 promotions, and with no teams relegated, this must be one of our most successful leagues ever!
And the biggest thank you is of course to all the supporters!
Clodagh & Craig
Club Captains