Chris Brady and Anto McGrattan retained their Antrim Junior B Doubles title at St Paul’s on Sunday in a tight tie break. Their Roddy McCorley counterparts Sean Patterson and Danny Conn pushed them all the way and the result could have have gone anyway.
The Davitts pairing were slick and dominated from the start building up a commanding first game lead 10-1. Good kill shots and high intensity play from the Davitt pair put the Roddy boy’s under immense pressure but as the game developed the Roddy’s duo started to claw their way back into the game. However the early lead proved to be decisive as the Davitts pairing edged their way to a 21-14 first game win.
The second game saw the Roddy’s storm back strongly and it was the Davitts duo who found themselves on the back foot. In a total reversal of the first game the Roddy’s took a stranglehold on the game and despite Christy and Anto’s best efforts the Roddy’s ran out game winners 21-13 thus forcing the game to a tie break decider.
The Roddy’s started the tie break in lightening fashion and raced into an 8-0 lead. At this stage they were well on top but Christy and Anto forced their way back into the game and with the game tied at 11-11 it was anyone’s game for the taking. The Roddy’s then kep edging two points in front but the Davitts pair kept coming back to level the game. With Roddys leading 19-17 Christy and Anto gave one final push. With the deficit cut to a single point three side wall, front wall kill shots from Christy saw them take the match and retain their title.
Peter Carleton was out of luck in the U21 singles final when he fell to Michael Armstrong of Rossa. Despite his best endeavours he was never able to get himself into the first game and Michael Armstrong raced to a first game win 21-6. The second game saw Peter settle into his stride and with some nice kill shots he started to assert his presence on the court. However, Michael had just that wee bit in reserve and whenever Peter threatened to dominate he pulled out the fire power to take the second game 21-14 and the Antrim title.
