Gina Niland's consistency at the head of the national rankings was matched, with confidence, by her dominant record in the Carlsberg Irish Close championships at Donnybrook last evening.

The undisputed Irish number one qualified for a unique, four-ina-row title bid with a straight sets semi-final win over Federation Cup colleague Yvonne Flynn. It may not have been vintage Niland, but she steered her game clear of some erratic play during the earlier parts of both sets with maturity, enabling her to finish off the job in under the hour, 6-3 6-4.

Flynn was unable to sustain good spells when she seemed to be getting into groove. It came as no surprise when Niland closed down the match with authority winning four of the last five games.

Claire Curran confirmed her superiority on natural grass last week over big hitter Lesley O'Halloran on the artificial surface in the other semi-final.

David Mullins gave quite a polished display of authority to out manoeuvre Joe Green 6-2 6-3. This proved a reverse of last week's County Dublin Open result, and Mullins can feel pleased with his showing coming as it does in such close proximity to this evening's semi-final meeting with Conor Taylor.

Taylor had every reason to boast after beating the number two seed and Irish non-playing Davis Cup captain Peter Wright 6-2 6-7 6-2.

Owen Casey dismantled a meek challenge by Robert Collins.