Niall at full stretch in battle of Fitzgeralds

TEENAGER Ciaran Fitzgerald went close to pulling off a shock victory against his elder brother Niall in the men’s singles semi-finals in the National Indoors Championships.

Twenty year-old Niall went into the novel family battle between the Greystones pair as a strong favourite at David Lloyd Riverview last night.

However, Niall had to remain on court for a marathon three hours before prevailing on a 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 margin.