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April saw the end of the Ulster club domestic season with the cup finals at Lisburn. This followed a successful league season in which 24 teams competed and a further 5 competed in a Masters league. The Premier division went right to the wire with both the leagues only being decided on the last game day seeing Mid Ulster claim the title over Belfast Boat Club 76ers. This was quite the feat for the Mid Ulster club only formed in the last couple of years and taking the title out of Belfast. The was the first time in two decades since a team from the Mid Ulster region held the premier division crown. Of note through the season was Peter McNeice who won all 8 of the matches he participated in for South Lake A.
In Division 1 meanwhile Ballynafeigh A ran away with the title being undefeated and missing out on merely 13 points in the entire season and 35 points ahead of the next closest competitor in the form of Lisburn Racquets B. This included top seed Graeme Stewart who went the entire season winning 45 out of 45 games and Aimee McConnel who won 21 out 22 games.
In Division 2, Lisburn Racquets C pipped Ballyearl B by 6 points after being neck and neck until the penultimate game of the season where Lisburn won out 10 – 5 in a top of the table clash between the two sides. The teams were barely separated the whole season with only a bad result ever separating the two as they battled it out for the top spot from the first game day. Special mention to Gavin McQuitty and Christopher Mitchell who won 100% of their matches, featuring in 6 and 8 matches respectively for Lisburn Racquets C.
In the Masters league, Lisburn also saw success again confirming their title on the final day of the season being pushed close by Windsor on this occasion.
In the knockout tournaments, Mid Ulster A faced Belfast Boat Club A in the Cup and Lisburn Racquets C played Ballyearl B in the plate at finals day in Lisburn at the racquets club. Mid Ulster ran out 9 – 3 winners in their tie were there were a number of tight matches with Mid Ulster often having the edge following on from their excellent league season. Meanwhile, in the Plate, a strong Lisburn Racquets C faced off against Ballyearl B winning 12-0. Here Ballyearl B put up a fight but unfortunately for the squad from Newtownabbey they struggled to get over the line and show the clinical edge they had shown throughout the season. This ended an impressive season for Lisburn Racquets C who will hope to continue their form into next season.
