Ulla Winter League 2021-2022
Date/Time
31 Oct 2021 - 27 Mar 2022
6:00pm - 11:00pm
Categories
FINAL REPORT – Ulla Winter League 2021-2022
The new format for the knock-outs produced a lot of tension-filled tie-breaks which thrilled the gallery of on-lookers in the final week of the Ulla Vitamins Winter League. Eight of the thirteen matches were in a deadlock after the #1/#2s and the #3/#4s had completed their Best-of-Three-Sets shoot-outs. In these circumstances the #2/#3s from each team went out on court to face each other in a Championship Tie-Break, having never played together in the League. Had teams prepared for this moment by practising these pairings beforehand? I know that some did.
© in report = captain
Let me start with our new Section D Beginners. Firstly, it was great to see those new to the game out on court competing. Their #2/#3 tie-break went to 14-All with Sarah Keating and Tess Joslin of the Handwalkers finally winning 16-14 over Jennifer McConnell and Sarah Henchey of the Trapeze Artists. What a finale! Simon Brown© and Michael McLoughlin subbing for Kerrie Fleming were the other Handwalkers and Paul Tibbets and Rebecca Gunning© were the other Trapeze Artists.
The Handwalkers hadn’t topped their section in the round-robin phase of the WL and this was to be the case with all the sections! How many times have we seen that happening over the years?
In Section A the third-placed Pogo Stickers faced the first-placed Strongmen in the Final. The sets were all very close, the standard of play was very high and the contrasting styles were a joy to behold. It was fascinating to watch the power of Aidan O’Brien© and Brian Costello against the guile and speed-on-court of David Ryan and Fintin Byrne. In the end the #2/#3s decided it with Aidan and Sara Ann Kikkers winning out over Fintin and Jim McGrath© by a score of 10/6. Maeve McEvoy of the Pogo Stickers and Damien Purtill of the Strongmen were the other players involved.
In the Section B Final #3 Puppeteers overcame #1 Tumblers. In contrast to Section A, the sets were not close but each team won so again the #2/#3s went out to determine the winner. There was very little in it but in the end Donagh O’Sullivan and Eficio Cocco© defeated Patrick Aherne and Karen McCarthy winning the Championship Tie-Break 10-6. Brian Kelly and Trudy Ryan were the other Puppeteers and Dave Quinlan© and Aileen Aherne subbing for Martina Collins were the other Tumblers.
In Section C there were no tie-breaks required as the impressive second-placed Snake Charmers won out over the first-placed Diabolos who had two players out with Covid. The Snake Charmers were Liam Breen©, Michele Robson, Brian Fitzgibbon and Sally Ann Egleston subbing for Juli Moticka. The Diabolos were Michael Leonard, Deirdre Maguire, Seamus McKeogh subbing for Tommy Geary© and Daphne
Henderson subbing for Norma Power.
The prize-giving ceremony at Reddans was well attended and after the long spell of Covid restrictions it was great to be able to socialise again with members of this fantastic club. Many thanks to all the team captains©. They did a great job of communicating with their teams and sending the scores to yours truly.
Thanks as well to our sponsor Ulla Vitamins, to Ger O’Brien who organised the forty prizes, to Emer Keating who posted the tables on the website, and to our dedicated Club Captain Paul Hogan who was always at the end of the phone to agree with any difficult decisions I had to make! Well, somehow with Covid causing problems, with new courts being laid and with storms keeping us checking the rainfall radar, we managed to complete the Winter League in time. Whew! See you in October!
Alan Williamson
Competition Organiser
SECTION A
Semi-Final matches – Section A
Strongmen v. Fire-Eaters
1&2 – 6/2, 6/2
3&4 – 6/2, 5/7, 9/11 (CTB)
2&3– 10-8 (CTB)
Strongmen win
Pogo Stickers v. Mime Artists
1&2 – 6/0, 6/4
3&4 – 4/6, 5/7
2&3 – 10-5 (CTB)
Pogo Stickers win
Plate Final – Section A
Acrobats v. Ringmasters
1&2 – 6/3, 6/4
3&4 – 2/6, 3/6
2&3 – 10-7 (CTB)
Acrobats (#5) win – Liam O’Donoghue sub for Theron Robson /Ian Fogarty©, Paul Hogan/Agatha Baczkowska
Final – Section A
Pogo Stickers v. Strongmen
1&2 – 7/6, 6/4
3&4 – 6/7, 4/6
2&3 – 10-6 (CTB)
Pogo Stickers (#3) win – Brian Costello/Aidan O’Brien©/Sara Ann Kikkers/Damien Purtill
Strongmen (#1) R-Up – David Ryan/Fintin Byrne/Jim McGrath©/Maeve McEvoy
SECTION B
Semi-Final matches – Section B
Tumblers v. Human Pyramids
1&2 – 7/5, 5/7, 10/4 (CTB)
3&4 – 2/6, 3/6
Tumblers win
Puppeteers v. Tight Ropers
1&2 – 6/3, 6/3
3&4 – 7/6, 4/6, 10/7 (CTB)
Puppeteers win
Plate Final – Section B
Unicyclists v. Jugglers
1&2 – 3/6, 3/6
3&4 – 6/4, 4/6, 10/3 (CTB)
2&3 – 10-6 (CTB)
Unicyclists (#5) win – Frank Mockler/Patrick Seymour/Dermot Nash/Ciara Ryan©
Final – Section B
Puppeteers v. Tumblers
1&2 – 6/0, 6/0
3&4 – 0/6, 2/6
2&3 – 10-6 (CTB)
Puppeteers (#3) win – Brian Kelly/Donagh O’Sullivan/Eficio Cocco©/ Trudy Ryan
Tumblers (#1) R-Up – Dave Quinlan©/Karen McCarthy/Patrick Aherne/Martina Collins
SECTION C
Semi-Final matches – Section C
Diabolos v. Lion Tamers
1&2 – 2/6, 6/1, 8/10 (CTB)
3&4 – 6/4, 6/4
2&3 – 10-3 (CTB)
Diabolos win
Snake Charmers v. Knife-Throwers
1&2 – 6/2, 6/3
3&4 – 5/7, 7/6, 10-7 (CTB)
Snake Charmers win
Plate Final – Section C
Ventriloquists v. Trampolinists
1&2 – 6/3, 6/3
3&4 – 6/2, 6/2
Ventriloquists (#5) win – Conor O’Reilly/Seamus McKeogh for Niamh Daly/Kieran Gallery/Sally Ann Egleston
Final – Section C
Snake Charmers v. Diabolos
1&2 – 6/4, 6/2
3&4 – 6/1, 6/0
Snake Charmers (#2) win – Liam Breen/Michele Robson/Brian Fitzgibbon/Sally Ann Egleston sub for Juli Moticka
Diabolos (#1) R-Up – Michael Leonard/Deirdre Maguire/Seamus McKeogh sub for Tommy Geary©/Daphne
Henderson sub for Norma Power
SECTION D
Final – Section D
Hand Walkers v. Trapeze Artists
1&2 – 2/6, 3/6
3&4 – 6/4, 6/1
2&3 – 16/14 (CTB)
Hand Walkers (#2) win – Simon Brown©/ Sarah Keating/Tess Joslin/Michael McLoughlin sub for Kerrie Fleming