Home Internationals in Dublin 2005

Thanks to all of you who sent best wishes prior to my trip to Dublin. The weekend was a huge success and I won all three of my matches 3-0 at number 4 string in the team.

(report by Jason Foster)

England Vs Ireland

1.Guy Olby (Kent) bt Eoin Ryan 7-9 9-5 9-1 9-1
2.Karl Hardy (Mersey) bt John Dullaghan 9-1 9-3 9-4
3.Gary Clarke (Warks) bt Michael Cowhie 9-3 9-1 9-4
4.Jason Foster (Herts) bt Paul Linehan 10-8 9-6 9-1
5.Steve Ward (Leics) bt John Gillan 9-4 9-0 9-4

I went 7-0 down in the first game after a nervous start but fought back to
take the game 10-8, the second game was also close which I won 9-6. My Irish
opponent retrieved virtually all of my attacking shots which made it
difficult especially as we were playing on a very warm court but Linehan was
eventually broken down and the third game was taken 9-1.

England Vs Wales

1. Guy Olby bt Steve Evans 9-5 9-4 9-5
2. Karl Hardy bt Mark Jones 3-9 9-5 9-0 9-2
3. Gary Clarke bt Dave Bennett 3-9 9-2 9-7 9-0
4. Jason Foster bt Gary Cairns 9-3 9-3 9-1
5. Steve Ward bt Craig Davies 9-1 9-1 9-6

This match was played on Saturday morning, I had now settled into the
England shirt and completed the task comfortably proving too strong for my
Welsh opponent.

England Vs Scotland

1. Guy Olby bt Barry Sutherland 3-9 9-1 9-2 9-4
2. Karl Hardy lost Tony Burns 3-9 8-10 9-6 4-9
3. Gary Clarke bt John Meadley 9-1 9-2 9-4
4. Jason Foster bt Kevin McKay 9-3 9-0 9-1
5. Steve Ward bt Rab McGill 9-3 9-2 9-5

We won the 2005 Masters Home Internationals with a 4-1 win over Scotland,
Karl Hardy being a surprise loser at number 2 string for England. I beat
Kevin McKay a person I had beaten by a similar scoreline earlier on in the
season during the British Open.

Final Standings

1st England 52 points
2nd Scotland 35
3rd Wales 19
4th Ireland 13

The event was concluded on Saturday night with a presentation dinner at
Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club that was attended by all the players, their
partners and officials.

Other events held at the weekend were the mens Over 40's and womens over
35's home international matches which were also won by England.