Gents Senior Leagues: Lucan reclaim senior title

Lucan are once again Gents Senior champions after defeating Loughlinstown in Ierne on Tuesday night. There was a sizeable crowd in Drumcondra watching the action unfold. Lucan made the perfect start with Johnny Price & Keith Redmond getting the better of Tom Mason and JR Crangle on the 14th. The 2nd match was a much closer affair and went the distance it looked like it was destined for tie holes but Loughlinstown missed a short putt and Terry McMorrow & Chris Gallagher claimed a 2nd point for Lucan. In Match 3, Lucan were 4 up at one stage but Loughlinstown fought back superbly and the pairing of Owen Mitten and Hubert Kelly completed the job winning on the 2nd tie hole.
The opening singles saw JR Crangle up against Anthony Malone and the Lucan man made the better start to go 3up, but JR Crangle is a great fighter and he brought himself level and forced tie holes. In Match 2 it was a tight affair as Gary Healy and Terry McMorrow were going head to head, Terry though crucially got ahead and he completed the win on the 17th. Match 3 was another close affairwith Johnny Price up against Tom Mason. Like in Match 1, the Lucan man made a strong start but Mason fought back to get within 1 at some stage. Match 4 pitted the inform Keith Redmond against Hubert Kelly. Keith has upped his game further this year and pitched well in this match to take the lead, it was a lead he was not going to relinquish and he won it on the 15th. Lucan 4-1 up were looking to see who would get the winning point. Anthony Malone narrowly missed a putt to win it on the 1st tie hole and it fell to Johnny Price who sunk the winning putt to defeat Tom Mason on the 17th. It was nice for Johnny who had the winning putt knocked in against him when Lucan lost the final in 2012. However it was good news for them tonight and David Hayden and Chris Gallagher were not required. An excellent advertisement for the game played on the picturesque Ierne course with a large crowd cheering them on. The night although disappointing for Loughlinstown saw them back again competing for titles in the Dublin Leagues and it is wonderful to see them back at the top table and on this evidence their next title won’t be too far away.