Cork Senior League 2002-2003 2002-2003 Section I Played Won Lost Result Total Beech Hill I 6 40 20 15 55 Harlequins 6 41 19 12 53 UCC Y 6 22 38 6 28 Ballincollig II 6 9 41 0 9 Section II Played Won Lost Result Total CIT Red 8 57 23 19 76 Kinneigh 8 49 31 17 66 Ballincollig I 8 43 36 10 53 UCC X 8 40 40 12 52 Beech Hill II 8 10 70 0 10 Cork Senior League Final Well last week saw the final match in the league. Beech Hill versus CIT Red in what turned out to be a very exciting encounter was played at the neutral venue of Harlequins. The CIT team of Mark White, Dave O'Rourke and PJ Hurley looked very strong after their 6/5 semi-final win over Harlequins. Beech Hill tails were up following their 6/4 win over Kinneigh particularly as Milos Soukup, like his opponent Mark White, had not lost a singles throughout the entire league campaign. So the final showdown went on. Mark had previously lost to Milos on the one occassion that they met at the Munster Open but he turned the tables this time and in the process recorded three more singles wins for CIT. PJ Hurley also had a fine performance beating Linda O'Sullivan and Philip Shaw. However the dogged Beech Hill team hung in there with Milos recording two singles wins while Philip and Linda won one each leaving the score 5/4 in CIT favour after the singles. It was at this stage that Beech Hill showed great tactics with the surprise pairing of Milos & Linda defeating Mark and PJ to tie the match at 5/5. The partners for the deciding doubles was drawn by the match referee Dan Foley and the Beech Hill partnership of Philip Shaw & Milos Soukup ran out 3/1 winners over PJ Hurley and Dave O'Rourke. All in all a great contest and a fitting climax to what I hope was an enjoyable league. Many thanks to Dan Foley for officiating at the match and to Michael Healy of the CTTA who was on hand to present the prizes and also to the spectators who turned up. Next year it should be possible to grade the leagues better now that the strengths of the clubs and the players involved is known. Many thanks to all of you for your cooperation and patience with me in what was a learning exercise in running the leagues. Yours in Sport Tom Elliott League semi-finals Well both league semi-finals were held recently and they proved to be close and exciting affairs. In the first match between Beech hill and Kinneagh the tie went all the way to the wire. Beech hill lead 5 to 4 after the singles with 3 wins for Milos Soukup and one each for Louise Long and Philip Shaw but Milos and Philip Shaw closed out the match by winning the doubles 3-1 against Alan Hurley and Owen Kelly. Result Milos Soukup (Beech hill) bt Alan Hurley 3-0, bt Darren Buttimer 3-2, bt Owen Kelly 3-0 Louise Long (Beech hill) bt Darren Buiitmer 3-1 Philip Shaw (Beech hill) bt Alan Hurley Alan Hurley (Kinneagh) bt Louise Long 3-0 Owen Kelly (Kinneagh) bt Philip Shaw 3-2, bt Louise Long 3-0 Darren Buttimer (Kinneagh) bt Philip Shaw 3-1 Milos + Philp (Beech hill) bt Alan + Owen 3-1 Beech Hill 6 Kinneagh 4 The match between CIT Red and Harlequins was also very exciting and ended in a draw requiring an extra doubles to sort out. Harlequins lead 5 to 4 after the singles and with Tom Elliott and Dan Foley 9/5 up in the fourth game of the doubles things looked serious for CIT. But Mark White and PJ Hurley produced excellent forehands to rescue the tie and in the extra doubles Mark and Dave O'Rourke were too good for Tom and Bertie Levinge Result Tom Elliott (Harlequins) bt PJ Hurley 3-0, bt Dave O'Rourke 3-2 Dan Foley (Harlequins) bt PJ Hurley 3-0, bt Dave O'Rourke 3-0 Bert Levinge (Harlequins) bt PJ Hurley 3-2 Mark White (CIT Red) bt Tom Elliott 3-1, bt Dan Foley 3-0, bt Bert Levinge 3-0 Dave O'Rourke (CIT Red) bt Bert Levinge 3-2 Mark + PJ bt Tom + Dan 3-1 Mark + Dave bt Tom + Bert 3-0 Cit Red 6 Harlequins 5 The league final between Beech Hill and CIT Red will be held in the neutral venue of Harlequins on next Wed. 2nd April at 7.30 pm. I suspect this could be a close and exciting encounter as well. Review:04-02-03 Kinneigh still Top the table in section two this week even after being narrowly defeated 6-4 by C.I.T. Red. The Kinneigh team of Alan Hurley, Donal O'Leary and Darren Buttimer surprised the C.I.T. lads, David O'Rourke, Mark White and PJ Hurley. PJ not playing regularly this season lost all three and with junior Alan Hurley putting in an excellent performance against David O'Rourke the match could have gone either way. However it was unlikely that the partnership of O'Rourke and White would be beaten in the doubles and that went to form, with Kinneigh's first defeat of the season and a victory for C.I.T. C.I.T. are 7 points behind with two games in hand, one of them against Kinneigh again, this time at home. UCC still have to play both Kinneigh and C.I.T and are currently in third and could easily catch the leaders. In section 1 Harlequins have a 7 point lead over Beech Hill but Beech Hill have a game in hand. Harlequins have only one game left and that is against Beech Hill. The League Finals placings will be between these two teams. There are a good few years of experience notched up at Harlequins and the top spot is there for both sides. UCC in third look as though they will finish there and will play off for a position in next seasons First Division. Review: New Year All things square at the Round House!: Kinneigh and Ballincollig were in action again after the New Year break. This was the second meeting of these two teams with the last result being a very close victory for the lads from the Wild West. This match was even closer, Kinneigh got off to a very bad start withAlan Hurley loosing his first match to an inform David Buckley. Owen Kelly showed disappointing form but recovered enough to equal the score with a victory against Colin Shields. Darren "The Blaster" Buttimer lost to Killian Healy and it appeared the match was swinging in Ballincollig's favour. Alan recovered well to beat his rival defender Killian Healy a result that has swung one way and then the other all season. Owen looked to be struggling against Buckley and even switched to a defensive bat during the match. It made little difference as Buckley was not to be denied his first competitive victory against his former coach. Owen continued his poor form to loose his next match against Killian, the second time he has failed to beat Killian in the league. It was up to former Munster U21 Darren Buttimer to put in his performance of the season and shrugging of the Christmas excesses beating Colin Shields and then to upset Buckley's excellent run of form to put Kinneigh 5-4 up at the doubles. The Ballincollig pairing of Healy and Buckley worked well together and Kelly and Hurley never looked like taking the victory for Kinneigh. So all things were square at the Round House! Kinneigh remain top of the section with Ballincollig moving into 3rd place. CIT are in second but with a game in hand against Kinneigh to come. Review: week 3 Harlequins appear to have a strong grip on Section A but with Beech Hill I only having one result recorded this could all change. Ballincollg and UCC share 2nd place but Ballincollig have a one game advantage. C.I.T. White are struggling at the bottom of the table. The B Section is currently topped by Kinneigh with UCC only one point behind but with both teams set to play C.I.T. the lads from the Tech are looking like tough opposition for everyone. Kinneigh will meet C.I.T next Wednesday with UCC making the long journey west to the "round house" the following week. Things are likely to look very different by Christmas. Kinneigh winners at Beech Hill Team Kinneigh got off to a shaky start with Owen Kelly suprisingly loosing the first set to Stuart Shellard. On table two Alan Hurley confidently beat Kim Sin Yap to put the first points on the board for the away team. With a recovery from Owen Kelly to take the match to 3-0 Kinneigh had the start they wanted. When Kinneigh No.3 Ivan Shorten took a set against Beech Hill No.1 Benoit Beaufort, the men from the round house looked unstopable. Benoit recovered his composure and assured Beech Hill their first home win. Owen Kelly moved the score to 3-1 beating Kim Sin Yap and Alan Hurley had an excellent battle against Stuart Shellard with each player getting the measure of each other.With the score on 4-1 to the visitors Ivan Shorten assured that Kinneigh would not be beaten this night with a victory over Kim Sin Yap. Beaufort met Hurley with Hurley frustrating Beaufort with some close touch work and use of angles. Evenly matched the game attracted some interest from the subdubed home crowd. With points being shared there were an inordinate number of nets and edges creating a battle of wills and concentration that Hurley managed to conquer and move Kinneigh across the 5 point margin and garentee victory. Benoit was back in action against Kelly but didn't appear to have fully recovered from his titanic battle and did not show the same form as before. With a 3 set to 1 win in the doubles for Hurley and Kelly Kinneigh claimed a 9-1 victory to put them however briefly at the top of Section II. Snippits UCC (Gary Noonan, Linda Mountjoy, Jean Santry) lost to Beech Hill I 9-1, with a win in the doubles for the students. UCC took seven of the team matches against Ballincollig II in section B. Harlequins don't give an inch The only match that UCC took in their 9-1 defeat to Harlequins was that of Scott McGowan. This was only managed when Scott to the fifth and final set 21-19 against Dan Foley, and yes they were playing up to 11! Kinneigh League Success by Kinneigh Reporter 6-11-02 The first match of this seasons Cork Senior League took place at the newly renamed "Round House" at Kinneigh. Ballincollig I, made up of Killian Healy, David Buckley and Eoin McNally returned to the club that they trained at all last season. However their return was not to be victorious as an unbeaten record by Alan Hurley showed his excellent early season form. Owen Kelly was suprisingly beaten by Killian Healy who took revenge for his defeat over the weekend in the Munster Rankings. Kinneigh's third player Victor Anderson made a welcome return to competitive play and put in a good performance taking a number of matches close. It may take some time for Victor to adjust to the new ball and the 11 point game. Look out when he does as for one so out of practice he is likely to become a force to reckon with throughout the season. Kinneigh were 5 - 4 up going into the doubles and with solid performance from the inexperienced pairing of Hurley/Kelly Kinneigh made it 6-4 and a welcome first victory for the Team Kinneigh side. The next match is away to Beech Hill II on the 14th November RUMOURS B SECTION Beech Hill Vs CIT RED. I heard Anna D'Arcy won two of the matches against the CIT lads, Go Anna! A SECTION 9- 1! Harlequins showing their intent early and with Ballincollig winning 8-2 against C.I.T. White it looks as though Ballincollig Vs Harlequins on the 24th of this month is going to be an important match for this section. Ballincollig II will have UCC to deal with first on the 20th and Harlequins will be first, away against C.I.T. on Monday (11th) The Preview After an absence of nearly three years the Cork Senior League is back and kicking with two sections with 5 teams in each. The first fixtures take place on Monday night at C.I.T. Beech Hill have two teams entering for the first time with Hill II first in action against the REDS of C.I.T. With a squad including David O'Rourke, Mark White, P.J.Hurley, Johnny McCarthy and unknown Michael Krygier the REDS are looking RED hot and early favourites for Section B. Beech Hill will be fielding a squad from Benoit Beaufort, Anna D'Arcy, Stewart Shellard, John Cuffe, Yvonne Hurley and Kim Sin Yap. C.I.T. will also be the venue for a visit from another new club Ballincollig. The second team made up of Mike Spitere, Eoin Hegarty, Stephen Buckley and Anthony Walsh don't look like a second team and will be up against C.I.T. WHITE, calling on Paul Mellamphy, James Mulcahy, Gary Bracken, Will Okasumen and Simon Rui Wong. Anything could happen here with a number of new names featuring in the C.I.T. camp. Later in the week Team Kinneigh will welcome the return of the "Ballincollig Lads," Killian Healy, David Buckley, Colin Shields and Eoin McNally are all likely to think they'll feel right at home on their visit west. But this will be their first visit as the Ballincollig I "away team" to "The Round House" at Kinneigh, they might not get the welcome they expect! Kinneigh see the return of Victor Anderson, Donal O'Leary, Owen Kelly and Ivan Shorten from the infamous "1997 Wackers," they will also be joined by Darren "the Blaster" Buttimer and Alan Hurley, action starts at 20.oohrs. Harlequins, the most successful and oldest club in Cork, are also in action on Wednesday. Up against a good looking U.C.C. "Y-team." The McGowan brothers join the Condron brothers along with Gus Coughlan and Joanne Donovan. Harlequins have a very strong line up once again this season with Dan Foley, Tom Elliott, Bertie Levinge, Fiona Higgins and Paul Cronin. Both sections are looking strong this year and will be difficult to predict, from my point of view I think Harlequins and Beech Hill I look good for the A Section. While C.I.T. Red & UCC X will start as favourites in the B Section. But at this stage of the season no one knows! Spectators are generally welcome at most matches. Section A Harlequins. UCC Y. Ballincollig II Beech Hill 1 Harlequins. 9 - 1 8 - 2 3 - 7 UCC Y. 0 - 10 ? - ? 1 - 9 Ballincollig II 2 - 8 2 - 8 13-Feb-03. Beech Hill I 6-Feb-03. 7 - 3 8 - 2 Section B Kinneigh Ballincollig I CIT Red. Beech Hill II UCC X. Kinneigh 6 - 4 4 - 6 7 - 3 7 - 3 Ballincollig I 5 - 5 ? - ? 10 - 0 3 - 7 CIT Red. PP 8 - 2 8 - 2 12-Feb-03. Beech Hill II 9 - 1 0 - 10 0 - 10 1 - 9 UCC X. 4 - 6 3 - 7 PP 7 - 3 Harlequins UCC Y. Ballincollig II CIT White. Beech Hill 1 Tom Elliott Dan Foley Bertie Livinge Fiona Higgins Paul Cronin Gus Coughlan Scott McGowan Mike McGowan Joanne Donovan Mark Condron Barry Condron Mike Spitere Eoin Hegarty Stephen Buckley Anthony Walsh Paul Mellanphy James Mulcahy Gary Bracken Will Okasumeh Simon Rui Wong Milos Soukup Philip Shaw Loiuse Long Rachel O'Connor Linda O'Sullivan Clare O'Callaghan Kinneigh Ballincollig I CIT Red Beech Hill II UCC X. Ivan Shorten Owen Kelly Donal O'Leary Victor Anderson Darren Buttimer Alan Hurley Killian Healy David Buckley Eoin McNally Colin Shields David O'Rourke Mark White P.J. Hurley Johnny McCarthy Michael Krygier Benoit Beaufort Anna D'Arcy Stuart Shellard John Cuffe Yvonne Hurley Kim Sin Yap Linda Mountjoy Jean Santry Paul Twomey Gary Noonan Joye McKiernan M Civati 1986 - 1997 YEAR LEAGUE CUP TOP 4 INDIVIDUAL 1986-1987 MEASUREX . . . 1987-1988 MIDLETON MIDLETON . . 1988-1989 EGLINTON EGLINTON . . 1989-1990 RTC EGLINTON . . 1990-1991 RTC HARLEQUINS . . 1991-1992 RTC RTC RTC P.PAYNE (HAR) 1992-1993 MIDLETON RTC . F.MOYNIHAN (MID) 1993-1994 MACROOM MIDLETON MACROOM JP MURPHY (MAC) 1994-1995 MACROOM HARLEQUINS BLUE HARLEQUINS YELLOW D.FOLEY (HAR Gr) 1995-1996 MIDLETON UCC SKULLS UCC SKULLS C.McCARTHY (RTC) 1996-1997 WEST CORK HARLEQUINS GREEN ST.ANGELAS S.TWOMEY (HAR Gr)