GEORGE McGILL from Limerick, a former Irish junior champion and now booked for a US scholarship, found Jimmy McDonogh a difficult block to clear en route to the quarter-finals of the Carlsberg Irish Close tennis championships at Donnybrook last evening.

It took McGill almost three hours to rebuff a performance of resilience and quality by McDonogh, the well-known Tennis Ireland coach. McDonogh took the first set against predictions and was always in contention for a surprise win in a marathon 18-game final set.

The Niland brothers, Ray and Ross, had mixed luck but Ross put up stout-hearted resistance against Sean Cooper over two tie-break sets before going out quite tamely in an anti-climactic final set. Top seed Eoin Collins dropped only a game to Neil Wilson.

Gina Niland is top seed in the women's event and looked the part while dismissing the challenge of Cork's Yvonne Flynn 6-1 6-0 while Susan O'Neill had a noteworthy win over US college-based Deirdre Walsh 6-3 6-4.

Another US scholarship contender is Emma Doyle whose accuracy from the back of the court saw off the tenacious challenge of Lisa O'Shea.