National Inter-Club – Collintown’s Inter-Junior team’s progress
Collinstown’s Inter/Junior team took on their neighbours Kilbeggan in the much talked about Lough Owel course in Mullingar, last Saturday. The weather made playing conditions difficult to say the least, Lough Owel is a monster of a course in calm conditions so add wind and rain to that equation and it was ‘fun’ to say the least!!
The opening pairing of Stephen Ruane and David Penrose took on Kilbeggan’s Johnny Feery and Mickey Cunningham. This game was nip and tuck the whole way with Feery and Cunningham winning the final hole to get a half from the match. Next up was Darren Reilly and Mick Scally and their opponents were John Carton and Kevin Clarke. Reilly and Scally is a very solid doubles partnership as Reilly’s solid pitching is complimented well with ‘Scall’s’ ability with the putter. The pairing worked very well and ran out 4&3 winners in this match. The final doubles match saw brothers Gary and Damien Middleton pair up against ‘The Lawn’s’ Martin Clarke and Martin Loran. This was a right old battle but in the end the Middleton brothers got over the line by a margin of 2&1. This left Collinstown with a 2.5 to 0.5 lead going into the 6 singles matches.
Mickey Cunningham pulled Kilbeggan back into the match by winning the opening singles match 2&1 against our own Mick Scally. But the two point lead was immediately restored when Maurice Middleton beat John Feery on the final hole of their match. Collinstown won another point in the next match when Darren Reilly defeated Kevin Clarke by 2&1.
This left Collinstown 4.5 to 1.5 ahead with 3 matches remaining and only another half point needed for victory. The next match got us over the line when Stephen Ruane beat the soon to be Irish capped John Carton by 3&2. The final two matches on the course also went Collinstown’s way with Maurice Middleton beating Martin Loran 3&2 and Gary Middleton beating Martin Clarke by 4&3. The 7.5 to 1.5 scoreline did not really do justice to the strong showing from the Kilbeggan team but it was a welcome boost to our points difference which could be vital at the end. So after 3 matches we have 4 points and its all to play for.
Compliments to Davy Corcoran and all the crew who look after the Lough Owel course. The course was in top notch condition and continues to grow its reputation as one of the top courses in the midlands.
Our final group match is against Cement in Bellewstown on Saturday 28th June. A win in that match would guarantee qualification for the National quarter-finals. For full details of all results in this competition and up-to-date tables, visit the PPUI website at www.ppui.ie.
The Collinstown Inter/Junior team played the second match of their National Inter Club competition against McBride in the north Dublin course of Erin’s Isle. Our scratch team had played in the same venue the previous week so it was no surprise that the course was once again in pristine condition – a big thanks to Paul Nolan and crew up there.
A gale was blowing across this difficult course as the doubles matches commenced, making scoring extremely difficult. Our counter-parts from McBride handled the conditions much better than the Collinstown lads. Our opening pairing of Stephen ruane and David Penrose went down by a margin of 2&1 to McBride’s Chris Murray and Barry Dyce. Our second partnership of Kevin Flanagan & Martin Carroll also lost by the same margin to Keith Smyth and Pat Gorman. In the final doubles match we managed to get a half point when Gary Middleton and Mick Scally tied with McBride’s David O’Brien and Mark McGuinness. At 2.5 to 0.5 down going into the singles, the Collinstown team had a mountain to climb.
Mick Scally immediately pulled a point back in the singles though with a 3&2 victory over Chris Murray. David Penrose then had a comprehensive victory over David O’Brien by 5&4 to level the match overall at 2.5 each. Captain Gary Middleton beat Keith Smyth by 3&2 but unfortunately this was to be Collinstown’s last point of the day.
Mark Ayres lost to Pat Gorman 4&3 and Stephen Ruane lost to Barry Dyce 5&4. With the scoreline at 4.5 to 3.5 in favour of McBride, everything rested on the final match between Collinstown’s Darren Reilly and McBride’s Mark McGuinness. After a titanic battle Darren eventually lost on the final hole giving McBride a 5.5 to 3.5 victory.
Our next match is against neighbours Kilbeggan in Lough Owel on Saturday 3rd May. For full details of all results in this competition and up-to-date tables, visit the PPUI website at www.ppui.ie.
Last Saturday saw the commencement of the National Inter-Club Championships for 2014. Following the success of our Scratch team last year in reaching the National semi-finals of this competition, the Inters and Juniors decided to enter a team in this year’s Inter/Junior event. A full panel of twelve players entered for the Collinstown team giving team captain Gary Middleton some headaches over team selection for the various matches – an unenviable job I’m sure you’ll agree.
Our opening match of the campaign last Saturday saw us come up against our near neighbours and friends from Lough Owel. This was always going to be a difficult opening encounter, given the depth in talent that Lough Owel have at their disposal at the moment. Collinstown themselves though also have a selection of Inters and Juniors that are of a standard that is very competitive in this format of competition. A high quality match was expected at the neutral venue of “The Lawn” in Kilbeggan – and the match did not disappoint!
Our opening pairing of Declan Penrose and Maurice Middleton took on the formidable partnership from Lough Owel of Lee Stynes and John Sweeney. This scotch foursomes match ebbed and flowed with neither side gaining a clear advantage at any stage. In the end the game ended in a tie which was probably a fair result for both sides. Next up captain, Gary Middleton paired himself with Martin Carroll and their Lough Owel opponents were Darren Creevy and Keith Hope. Gary Middleton pitched to a senior standard in this match and his partner Martin Carroll was very adept at putting away the chances that Gary created for him. The Collinstown pairing ran out 4&3 winners in the end. The final doubles match was between our own Mick Scally and Damian Middleton and they took on Lough Owel’s Dean Dinnegan and Allan Foxe. ‘Scaller’s’ as he is affectionately known is one of the most improved players in Collinstown over the past 12 months and he immediately gelled with young Damien Middleton as they took control of the match. The Collinstown duo would go on to win 4&3 in the end. This gave Collinstown a 2.5 to 0.5 lead going into the 6 singles matches.
First match out in the singles saw Lough Owel reduce the deficit to a single point when Keith Hope beat Collintown’s Kevin Flanagan by a margin of 4&3. But that match was balanced up immediately when Collintown’s Mark Ayres played superbly against John Sweeney to win by a 7&6 margin. Mark’s father Willie Ayres then earned another point for Collinstown when he defeated young Dean Dinnegan by 4&3. This gave Collinstown a 4.5 to 1.5 lead and only another half point was required for victory.
Lough Owel were never going to lie down that easy though and in one of the best matches of the day, Darren Creevy for Lough Owel defeated Collinstown’s David Penrose on the final hole. The next match out was every bit as nail-biting when Collinstown’s Declan Penrose and Lough Owel’s Allan Foxe also went all the way to the final hole. On this occasion though the Collinstown man came out on top and the winning point had been achieved. The final match of the day saw the two captains pitted against each other when Gary Middleton took on Lee Stynes. Somewhat predictably and probably fairly – this match ended in a draw leaving the final score Collinstown 6 Lough Owel 3.
The match was a hugely enjoyable encounter and the Collinstown team would like to thank their Lough Owel counter-parts for a very entertaining match. We would also like to thank Kilbeggan for the manner in which the course was presented and the hospitality shown by the host club. Collintown’s next match in this competition is on Saturday 26th April in Erin’s Isle in Dublin when we take on the team from McBride (Drogheda).