Lucan and CPM served up a match high in drama & entertainment in a packed Glenville on Tuesday night. The same two teams had battled it out in the 2013 final that had went to the wire with CPM prevailing. In that final Lucan had made the perfect start winning the 1st three doubles and the Clondalkin club did not want to give themselves that mountain to climb this year.
In the opening doubles, Keith Maher & Paul Dillon played out an entertaining match with Dean Reid & Shaun McDonnell eventually winning on the 17th. Match 2 though went the way of CPM with the Gorey combination of Sean & Conor beating TomMcMorrow & Damien Creevey on the 16th. The last doubles was a tight affair but it was Lucan who came out on top with Paddy Croke. & Dave Hayden II defeating Andy O’Donoghoe & Paddy Gorey to put the Lucan club 2-1 ahead.
The singles were Lucan achilles heel last year so they needed a good start. The opening match was a see saw high quality affair between Keith Maher & Barry Gorey. Keith had the early lead but Barry stormed back to lead by 1 with 2 to play, but Keith wasn’t beaten and as Barry bogeyed the 17th it was level down the last and Keith was to edge it to put Lucan 3-1 up. Match 2 saw Paddy Croke and conor Gorey battle it out, it was experience versus youth and there was little in it throughout. Paddy putted in from five foot on the last to force tie holes. They both had par’s on the 1st two tie holes and then with Paddy short and Conor large on the elevated 3rd, Conor pitched up close and Paddy then chipped into the hole to seal the win and push Lucan within touching distance of the title. At 4-1 there seemed to be just one winner but this game was far from over. Match 3 saw Dean Reid tackle Damien Creevey, the young Ballyfermot man got the start he wanted and he never relinquished it and won on the 16th to put CPM’s 2nd point on the board.Match 4 was one of the earliest match to finish as Sean Gorey was far too strong for an out of sorts Dave Hayden II as he sealed it on the 13th. Match 5 looked to be heading for the CPM men as Shaun McDonnell established a sizeable lead over Paul Dillon. However Paul fought back well and hit a long birdie on the 15th as he looked to close within 1. However Shaun matched him and when the 16th was halved, Shaun was dormey 2up. Paul won the 17th with a birdie but Shaun made no mistake on the last and secured the half he needed to win the match it was now 4-4. It was Andy O’Donoghoe versus Tom McMorrow, two gritty charecters with buckets of experience, Andy had enjoyed the luxury of securing the winning point in 2013 and he lead early in this one, however Tom fought back to lead by 1 with one to play. The 18th saw Tom big and Andy found the sand, when Andy failed to get out in one, the writing was on the wall and Lucan had reclaimed the title but boy had it gone to the wire. Two well matched sides had really served up a classic and there was little to choose between them.
Tonight though belonged to Lucan who were Inter Champions once again their sixth title in nine years. They will now go in search of the clean sweep in the Gents when the Junior final pits then against the same opposition in Long Meadows on Thursday night