PSOBLTA v Fitzwilliam LTC
Won 7-2
PSOBLTA team 
Fitzwilliam team
The 90th Anniversary year started off with our annual match against the Fitzwilliam LTC in Dublin for the Courtney Salver. The fixture is always entertaining both on and off the court and this year certainly lived up to that!
PSOBLTA team:
- 1st pair: Matt Kirby and Tim Mathewson
- 2nd pair: Chris Clarke and Dom Hemy
- 3rd pair: Jon Basell and Jonathan Cooper
Fitzwilliam LTC team:
- 1st pair: Conor Johnston and Mike Johnston
- 2nd pair: Lorcan Kelleher and James Reidy
- 3rd pair: Michael Coyle and Patrick Doran
Matt Kirby and Tim Mathewson:
- beat Conor Johnston and Mike Johnston 6-1, 6-0
- beat Lorcan Kelleher and James Reidy 6-1, 6-4
- beat Michael Coyle and Patrick Doran 6-2, 6-4
Chris Clarke and Dom Hemy:
- beat Conor Johnston and Mike Johnston 6-1, 6-2
- beat Lorcan Kelleher and James Reidy 6-1, 6-2
- beat Michael Coyle and Patrick Doran 6-4, 6-2
Jon Basell and Jonathan Cooper:
- lost to Conor Johnston and Mike Johnston 6-2, 6-4
- lost to Lorcan Kelleher and James Reidy 4-6, 7-6, 10-8
- beat Michael Coyle and Patrick Doran 4-6, 6-4, 10-8
The weekend started off in eventful fashion, with five of the team meeting at Gatwick airport on the Friday night and enjoying some ‘healthy’ dining at Jamie’s Italian when a call comes through from Jon B that, due to snow, train issues and a healthy dose of bad luck, he was going to miss the flight! However, Jon being Jon, this did not deter him from a game of tennis and especially a weekend in Dublin…after many hours of further travel to Heathrow and spending the night at the airport, he got the first flight out to Dublin to make it in time for the first round of matches (even making it to the club before those that made the Friday evening flight)! It is probably fair to say that none of the PSOBLTA team were full fresh for the 9am start after one sleeping rough and the others talking tactics and testing out whether the O’Briens Guinness is the best Guinness in Dublin…
The tennis was played in great spirits with close matches and overall the PSOBLTA team secured a 7-2 victory – this was a pleasing result after the Fitzwilliam team had won the 2018 and 2017 fixtures relatively comfortable – special mention to four of the PSOBLTA team making their Fitzwilliam debut (Matt, Tim, Dom and Jon).
The afternoon continued in the Fitzwilliam bar watching the Ireland v England rugby, where England triumphed too, giving the English the elusive away double over our Irish friends (note: this has only been done seven times in previous outings: 1999, 1997, 1995, 1989, 1977, 1971 and 1967).
After some fine dining at the Fitzwilliam, the night took its next turn onto the Dublin streets to celebrate. The teams ended up in House nightclub until the early hours, where drinking, dancing and making friends with the locals…
A bleary-eyed Sunday morning followed, where at some points we had doubts that all would make it back home! But once again a cracking weekend with our friends at Fitzwilliam and we look forward to 2020 and trying to match the great weekend enjoyed by all.
Jonathan Cooper – PSOBLTA Match Manager