An immensely popular and highly involved club member, Tapiwa joined Donnybrook LTC in 2015. He quickly engrossed himself in team training, club events, league tennis and, of course, the social side of the club.

Tapiwa will chair the well-established Men’s Committee which focuses on league tennis, social tennis, new members and organised internal events for the senior men's category (18 years+). The efforts of this hard-working committee will then be fed into the main club committee, which the Men’s Captain also sits on. 

Commenting on the appointment, outgoing Men’s Captain Ian Hemmingway said: “Tapiwa was a natural choice for Men’s Captain. I’ve already worked with him on several events and sub-committees. The strategy, consulting and project management skills he possesses as an experienced finance professional will no doubt help take men’s tennis at Donnybrook to the next level in 2021.”

Donnybrook men’s tennis stalwart, Peter Morgan added: “Tapiwa is very well regarded by the members and will be a valuable addition to both the club and men’s committees. A club is only as strong as its volunteers so to have someone of Tapiwa’s expertise, enthusiasm and esteem heading up men’s tennis is fantastic.”

Members who wish to give back to their club in any small way are encouraged to contact any member of the men’s or club committee. We can never have enough volunteers to lend a hand (even on a once-off basis) with the many events and activities which are planned in 2021.

Welcome Back Aerial View

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Courts cleaned and resanded so in great condition to welcome you all back. Book a court and enjoy a game of tennis in the sunshine. Hand sanitisers mounted on the walls throughout the Club entrance. Temporary rules circulated to all. Please take a moment to read.

Sunday October 6th saw Donnybrook’s Over 45 class 1 team and Over 35 class 3 teams both come out on top in their respective clutch Senior League matches.

Conor O’Neill’s Over 45 C1 team recorded a comprehensive 3-0 win against Fitzwilliam 1 to finish second in their group. An away semi-final against either Templeogue 1, Lansdowne 1 or Carrickmines 1 on Sunday Oct 13th is their reward. Detailed results view for all matches is available here>

Playing squad: Conor O’Neill (captain), Jerry Sheehan, Jimmy McDonogh, John Sheridan, Manus McClafferty, Paudie Collins, Teddy Daly,  Victor Drummy, Peter Morgan (sub week 1), Russell Boland (sub week 1).

Landed with the toughest draw of the round, Donnybrook’s Over 35 Class 3 team came up against Stackallen 1 who had sailed through the group stages winning 15/15 matches. Undaunted by this record, captain Peter Johnston lead from the front recording a straight-sets win with partner Ravi Reddy Manumachu in match 1. With the tie at 1-1 all eyes turned to Russell Boland and Robbie O’Flynn who edged a tight encounter 6-7 6-4 4-6 to take the tie 2-1 for Donnybrook. This win means a quarter-final spot and automatic promotion to Class 2 for next year’s Senior League. Detailed results view for all matches is available here>

Playing squad: Peter Johnston (captain), Ravi Reddy Manumachu, Robbie O'Flynn, Russell Boland, Kieran O'Donoghue, Enda Bannon, Peter Clarke (sub week 4,5), Odhran O'Reilly (sub week 1), Tapiwa Sibindi (sub week 2), Alan Horgan (sub week 2), Manus McClafferty (sub week 2), Dave Allen (sub week 1), Gerry Conheady (sub week 4).

Donnybrook's Over 45 Seconds Team endured a difficult campaign playing at class 2 but coming up against many club's first teams in their group. Well done to all involved and thank you to the 2019 Senior League captains – Conor O’Neill, Peter Johnston and Eoghan O’Meara - for their exceptional work running the teams.

The Men’s Senior League kicked off on September 1^st and runs every Sunday at 11am through September. Donnybrook LTC have three teams competing this year: Over 35s Team 1 at class 3, Over 45s Team 1 at class 1 and Over 45s Team 2 playing at class 2.

O35 Team 1
A slow start to the campaign in week 1 with a 2-1 loss to Shankill 3 is a distant memory thanks to consecutive 2-1 wins against Co Wicklow 3 and Glenageary 2. Captain Peter Johnston brings his team to Wicklow Town on Sunday, the winner here will be in pole position for a tilt at progression into the knockout stages. Detailed results are available here> 

O45 Team 1
Two 2-1 wins against Sandycove 1 and Sutton 2 have Conor O’Neill’s class 1 O45 team well positioned with three pool matches still to play. Anyone wishing to see come class 1 tennis at Donnybrook should stick Sunday 22^nd @ 11.30am (vs Castleknock 1) and Sunday Oct 6^th @ 11am (vs Fitzwilliam 1) in their diaries. Detailed results are available here>

O45 Team 2
It was always going to be a tough ask for the O45 T2 because they are up against many clubs’ first teams. Battling performances against Greystones 1 and a very experienced Carrickmines 2 have alas resulted in two 3-0 defeats. Commenting on the team’s effort, revered Donnybrook LTC league aficionado Alil O'Shaughnessy paraphrased Vince Lombardi stating “winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is”. Detailed results are available here>

With 5 of our 6 teams progressing to the playoffs substitutes were thin on the ground as 35 players took to the court last week. Two teams marched on to secure home semi-finals on Wednesday 26th.  

The group stages of the Men's Summer League have now finished and Donnybrook LTC men have delivered beyond all expectations with five of our six teams securing a playoff spot. The knockout stages take place over the next two weeks and all support is very much welcome.

Team 1 – Group winner. Home QF vs David Lloyd Riverview 2 on Sat 22^nd.

A 3-2 win vs Portmarnock 1 on Friday means this team finished the group stages with four wins from five matches. Looking at the class 2 section as a whole, Donnybrook 1 secured the second highest number of points in the group stages. Well done captain Andrew Kirwan. Detailed view of results available here.

Team 2 – Maintained class 2 status.

Having gained promotion from class 3 last season, the brief for Team 2 was to maintain their class 2 status. Completing this mission was particularly impressive given the group in which they were placed contained four club #1 teams. Well done to captain Jerry Sheehan. Detailed view of results available here.

Team 3 – Group runner-up. Away Last 16 playoff vs Sutton 2 on Wed 19^th.

A 5-0 away win for the second week running saw Team 3 secure second spot in their group with a few points to spare. The next target here is to overcome Sutton 2 on Wednesday and thus gain promotion to class 3 for next season. Well done captain Peter Richardson. Detailed view of results available here.

Team 4 – Group runner-up. Away Last 16 playoff vs Templeogue 6 on Wed 19^th.

After a frustrating defeat last week, Team 4 bounced back with a 5-0 win against Deerpark 3. This win left captain Andrew Synnott anxiously sipping post-match pints at Donnybrook as he awaited results elsewhere. News came through about 6pm that second spot in the group had been secured…Andrew’s nerves had long-since steadied thanks to Kieran O’Donoghue’s bar tab. Detailed view of results available here. 

Team 5 – Group winner. Home Last 16 playoff vs Clane 2 on Wed 19^th.

Having secured top spot with a week to spare Team 5 didn’t take the foot off the pedal and recorded a 4-1 win over Trackside 1. An impressive league campaign to date has seen 23 of a possible 25 points claimed. Captain Darragh Connaughton will be hoping to keep this momentum going when Clane 2 visit Donnybrook on Wednesday 19^th.  Detailed view of results available here.

Team 6 – Group runner-up. Away Last 16 playoff vs David Lloyd Riverview on Wed 19^th.

Two narrow 3-2 defeats in the opening two weeks meant that Team 6 needed to finish well…and that they did. A 3-2 win against Sutton 7 was enough to claim a playoff place next Wednesday against a very strong looking David Lloyd Riverview. Best of luck to captain Robbie O’Flynn and team. Detailed view of results available here.

Well done and thank you to all players who represented the club so well over the last five rounds. Team 1 need to get to the final to gain promotion to class 1. All other teams need to win one playoff match to secure a quarter final place and promotion to the class above. 

A good week 4 overall with all six men's teams still in with a chance of the playoffs. Teams 1,3,5 and 6 have a decent chance of making it out of their pools. Teams 2 and 4 have an outside chance.

Donnybrook 1 – Lost 2-3 vs Naas 2 (away, class 2)

A first loss for Team 1 but the two points secured could prove pivotal to their chances of advancing out of the pool. Donnybrook sit top of this pool with their final match at home to Portmarnock next Friday the 14th at 19.30. All support most welcome. Special thanks to club stalwarts Dee and Peter Morgan who volunteered their 7-seater car to transport the entire team out to Naas on Saturday. 

Donnybrook 2 – Won 3-2 vs Blackrock 1 (away, class 2)

A very good win against Blackrock's number one team. Teddy Daly continued his singles winning streak and the other two points were registered by the doubles of Sheridan/Sheehan and Drummy/McDonogh in straight sets. In fact, Sheridan/Sheehan achieved a 'double-duck' clean sweep 6-0, 6-0.    

Donnybrook 3 – Won 5-0 vs Mt Pleasant 2 (away, class 4)

A very important win for Team 3 that sets us up for a tilt at a playoff place. Special mention here goes to Andrew Cloonan who lined out (and won convincingly in doubles with Russell Boland) despite having two fingers in a splint. Team 3 need three points from Leixlip 1 away next Friday to guarantee a playoff place.   

Donnybrook 4 – Lost 1-4 vs Glenageary 4 (away, class 5)

A tough outing for Team 4 who needed to call on four subs this week. Team 4 still have an outside chance of a playoff spot but will need a big win vs Deerpark next Saturday at 2pm in Donnybrook. Glenageary 4, our other rivals for the second spot, have a more straight-forward finish vs the winless Templeogue 7. 

Donnybrook 5 – Won 5-0 vs Portmarnock 4 (home, class 6)

This juggernaut shows no sign of slowing down. Another 5-0 win sees Team 5 safely through to the playoffs with a home draw guaranteed already.  Our best-performing team so far this year have won 19/20 matches and only dropped 5/40 sets in the process. Week 5 sees a trip to Trackside 1 in Baldoyle on Friday 14th.   

Donnybrook 6 – Won 4-1 vs Lansdowne 7 (home, class 7)

Good wins for Tapiwa Sibindi, Jason Burns and both doubles pairings of David Ward / Peter Clarke and Eoghan O'Meara / Cathal Stanley means three points are needed in week 5 to guarantee advancement to the playoffs. Supporters are most welcome next Saturday @ 16.00 for the visit of Sutton 7 to Donnybrook.  

Barring a complete disaster all six teams are safe from relegation currently. Our class 2 teams would need to get to the final to gain promotion to class 1. All other teams would need to win one playoff match to secure a quarter final place and promotion to the class above. 

Visit the DLTC website for a comprehensive view of all matches and tables. 

Having dispatched a much-fancied USA team 4-3 in Friday’s Quarter final and the hosts Spain by a score of 5-2 on Saturday, Donnybrook’s Owen Casey and Team Ireland went into their first-ever Potter Cup final against France with plenty of confidence.

This confidence proved warranted – Team Ireland were worthy winners on a scoreline of 5-2. Each fixture comprised five singles matches and two doubles matches. The robust Irish team of Owen Casey, Scott Barron, Stewart Doyle, John Rendina and Ross Niland rotated their players across both formats for each fixture.    

Commenting on the win, Donnybrook LTC President Chanelle Dunne said “the members and committee are incredibly proud of Owen and Team Ireland’s win today. He is one of the country’s top coaches and this win will be added to his long list of achievements in the game. Owen has been known to do 10 hours of coaching in a single day at the club so to see him still enjoying the competitive side of international tennis is fantastic – his hunger for the game is remarkable.”   

Since its inception in 1973, countries such as Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain and the USA have captured the The Potter Cup – Ireland now joins this esteemed list of winners. This was the 47th edition of the Potter Cup, the International Club’s premier team event for senior players. The competition began with the participation of four countries: France, Great Britain, the United States and Spain. These teams have always shown great enthusiasm for participating in the competition as it has grown year-on-year. The competition was held in Biarritz, France, between 1973 and 1979. In 1980, the competition was transferred to the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. 

Team Ireland are through to the last four of the Potter Cup after Donnybrook’s Owen Casey and partner John Rendina clinched their doubles match to see off a talented USA team 4-3. Casey / Rendina took their match 10-5 in championship tie breaker against one-time French Open singles finalist Mikael Pernfors and Tobias Svantesson. Ireland’s other two points were secured by Scott Barron and Steward Doyle who defeated Mario Tabares and Horacio Rearte 6-1, 7-5.

This is the 47th edition of the Potter Cup, the International Club’s premier team event for senior players. The competition is taking place on the clay courts of two of Barcelona’s most prestigious clubs, Real Club de Polo and Real Club de Tenis Barcelona 1899 from May 30th to June 2nd 2019. 

Casey and Team Ireland will hope to extend their stay in the Catalan capital and make it to Sunday’s final, which takes place at 9am local time. Stay tuned to the RCT Barcelona’s Twitter feed to see how Owen and the team fare.  

Having passed the halfway mark most teams are still in with a reasonable chance of a playoff spot. Week 3 (Friday May 24th and Saturday 25th) saw three wins and three defeats across Donnybrook's six teams. 

Donnybrook 1 – Won 5-0 vs Sandycove 1 (away, class 2)

Donnybrook 1 remain top of their pool after only dropping one set on the way to a 5-0 win away to Sandycove. After the win, Andrew Kirwan claimed to have hit the shot of the year in his doubles match but this is yet to be confirmed as we can't find anyone else to back up his claim...watch this space.  

Donnybrook 2 – Lost 1-4 vs Newtown Park 1 (away, class 2)

A tough away fixture to Newtown Park's #1 team. Well done to David Pall who made his league debut for the club and secured an important point at singles 2. 

Donnybrook 3 – Won 3-2 vs Rathoath 1 (home, class 4)

A very close tie where all but one match went to a third set. With Andrew Cloonan absent due to his attendance at the Spice Girls concert, Martin Henihan stepped in and gave his very accomplished opponent a good run. Claremount are running away with this pool so Donnybrook's week 4 match versus Mount Pleasant 2 will go a long way to deciding who makes the playoffs.   

Donnybrook 4 – Lost 2-3 vs Wicklow Town 2 (home, class 5)

Another tight fixture which this team have come out the wrong side of. However, securing two points again this week has helped our chances of making the playoffs - we currently sit joint second in this pool with two round to go. 

Donnybrook 5 – Won 5-0 vs Charleville 4 (home, class 6)

An emphatic straight sets win. Team 6 are heavy favourites to proceed to the playoffs as they sit top of their pool with only one match dropped in three fixtures. 

Donnybrook 6 – Lost 2-3 vs Shankill 6 (away, class 7)

Despite two narrow losses Team 6 are still in with a shout of the playoffs thanks to their doubles partnerships securing  two points this week. 

For those playing or wishing to spectate, below is an overview of Donnybrook Men’s Summer League Fixture list.  

After a strong start to the campaign in week 1, progress is steady this week with three wins and two defeats. Team 6 had no match this week so we had five men's teams taking to the court on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th. 

Donnybrook 1 – Won 4-1 vs Celbridge 1 (home, class 2)

Another 4-1 win for our top team. Donnybrook 1 are now sitting top of their pool after two weeks with 8 points.  

Donnybrook 2 – Won 3-2 vs David Lloyd Riverview 2 (home, class 2)

Another mirror of last week's result. Donnybrook 2 are sitting second in their pool with 6 points now. 

Donnybrook 3 – Lost 0-5 vs Claremont 2 (home, class 4)

A tough week for Team 3. A very impressive Claremont 2 team took this tie comprehensively against a team weakened by a couple of last-minute injuries. This group still very open however - Donnybrook are only two points off 2nd place in the table. 

Donnybrook 4 – Lost 2-3 vs Co Wicklow (away, class 5)

Co Wiclow held their nerve to come out on top in a fixture that went right down to the wire. Donnybrook's singles two and singles three both lost in third set tie breakers. Mark Cloonan's strong finish ensured Donnybrook 4 left with two points and stay second in their pool. 

Donnybrook 5 – Won 4-1 vs Swords 2 (away, class 6)

The difference-maker in this tie was Claudio Viotti. With four matches finished and players already tucking into the post-match sandwiches, 'The Italian Stallion' lived up to his nickname by taking his opponent in the third set after a gruelling 2 hour 30 minute match. This leaves Team 5 sitting top of their pool with 9 points. 

For those playing or wishing to spectate, below is an overview of Donnybrook Men’s Summer League Fixture list.  

 The men’s summer league will run throughout May and June with group matches played on Friday nights and all day Saturday. This year Donnybrook had a very strong panel of gentlemen getting involved – the club fielded six teams spanning Class 2 to Class 7.

A strong start to the competition saw the club finish the first weekend with 5 wins from 6 fixtures, taking 22 points from a possible 30.  

Donnybrook 1 – Won 4-1 vs Fitzwilliam 3 (away, class 2)

Captained by Andrew Kirwan, Team 1 came away with a 4-1 win in Fitzwilliam. Owen Casey’s invaluable experience and some great young talent mean this team is shaping up to have good campaign.

Donnybrook 2 – Won 3-2 vs Laytown / Bettystown 1 (home, class 2)

The undoubted star of the show here was 14 year old Frank Fagan. With the tie locked at 2-2 Fagan clinched it for Donnybrook by taking the third set of his match in style as his teammates looked on. Playing against a very experienced opponent, his ability to hit winners and dominate points was particularly impressive given this was his Senior League debut. 

Donnybrook 3 – Won 3-2 vs Malahide 6 (home, class 4)

Singles got us over the line here. Large clubs like Malahide often have resilient, experienced doubles partnerships and this was evident as Donnybook came out second best in both doubles but won all three singles matches.

Donnybrook 4 – Won 5-0 vs Templeogue 7 (away, class 5)

Captain Andrew Synnott lead the way here by only dropping two games in a straight-sets win with double partner Peter Morgan. The team followed his lead by recording a 5-0 win and getting home in plenty of time for the Heineken Cup Final – an obvious incentive to play aggressive tennis this week!

Donnybrook 5 – Won 5-0 vs De Vesci 3 (home, class 6)

The League Training Programme which ran throughout March and April for class 4-7 players has been a big factor in players hitting the ground running. Another 5-0 win here with all players recording straight-sets wins. Well done and thanks to Peter Morgan and Darragh Connaghton for organising the coaching with Owen Casey and Jimmy McDonogh.  

Donnybrook 6 – Lost 2-3 vs Castleknock 10 (away, class 7)

With a raft of last-minute injuries and challenging availability this week, Team 6 lost their tie but did secure two points which could come in valuable later in the campaign. Special thanks to Conor McAuliffe and Peter Clarke for stepping in late in the day as subs.

For those playing or wishing to spectate, below is an overview of Donnybrook Men’s Summer League Fixture list.  

The Association of Centenary Tennis Clubs (CTC) is an umbrella group of clubs more than 100 years old, including some of the most prestigious clubs in the sport. Initially founded by eight clubs as a pan-European association, the group now have an extensive and truly global membership and are recognised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). All member clubs have a history dating back at least one hundred years, with a significant sporting tradition and social role.