The Dublin gents & ladies just failed to emulate their under 16 counterparts as they finished second in the Leinster Inter County championships in Cement on Sunday. The ladies were first into action paired with the hosts Louth, they performed steady in the scotch foursomes and the three pairings finished on -2, it left them with a seven shot deficit as Kildare had turned on the style in the morning pairings. In the singles, the ladies performed well especially Ger Ward and Linda Thompson however the trio of Tara Dillon, Marian Byrne and Chrissie Byrne hit top form and it allowed them to stay just in front however in the end the Lilywhites just edged home by two shots. It was a poignant moment when Chrissie Byrne on receiving the trophy dedicated their win in honour of the late great Paddy Slattery, who was well known far beyond the walls of McDonagh and was a true pitch & putt man who is sadly missed from the sport.
The gents were in the opening groups with Down and it served them well as they posted scores of -7, -11 and -6 to post a very competitive -24. This lead for most of the day until Louth doubles finished on -26 and Meath bettered them with -27. The dubs had the advantage to post a good score for the others to chase and in truth, they played well with JR Crangle and Anthony Malone both -6 and Junior Smith -5 their best performers, they finished on -49 and at least let the hosts & holders post a good total in the singles to pip them. Meath the holders could not produce their stunning doubles form and fell well short finishing a distant 4th, however Louth with four players from the host club made no mistake, their anchor man Sean Goggins could even afford to finish with a 5 and they won by three shots. Their captain Ian Donnelly had lead from the front shooting 46 to help their charge.
For the Dubs they got good support from down the M1 and they were delighted with that. There is plenty to ponder in advance of the Hillview showpiece in four weeks time, but lots of positives to take out of this performance and certainly no disgrace in finishing second to a very accomplished Louth team in their own backyard.
