Competitive draughts finals in packed hall
GALBALLY hall was packed to capacity for the county finals of the under 10,12 and 14 Draughts competitions. The event was co-ordinated by Jim Doyle who was assisted by his wife Clare and helpers who looked after the refreshments during the evening.
UNDER 10 DRAUGHTS
Here there were seven teams in action. In Round 1 Kilrush/ Askamore A team defeated their C team on a 18-2 scoreline, while their B team had a 12-8 win over Bree/Davidstown and Tintern had an 18-2 win over Clongeen.
In Round 2 there were wins for Tintern over Bree/Davidstown (9-1) a 10-10 draw between Clongeen and Kilrush/ Askamore and a 16-4 victory for Clongeen over Kilrush/Askamore C. In Round 3 there were wins for Kilrush/Askamore A over Clongeen (20-4) Tintern over Kilrush/Askamore B (146) and Bree/Davidstown over Clongeen on a 14-6 victory.
On to the semi-finals and here there were wins for Kilrush/Askamore A team over Bree/Davidstown on an 18-2 victory and a win for Clongeen over Tintern 14-6. The final featured Kilrush/Askamore A team and a team from Clongeen. The stronger more experienced team from Kilrush/Askamore got off to a great start with Jack Murphy defeating Darragh Bennett (4-0) followed up by Paidi Buttle defeating Josh Butler 4-0 to see them take a strong lead.
Then Eoin Cowman and Issy Butler tied 2-2 but that was cancelled out once again when Cliodhna Tomkins defeated her opponent Cathal Cullen 4-0 and Charlie Kavanagh lost out 1-3 to Niamh Kehoe. Final score 15-5. Subs for the winners were Keily Kavanagh and Conor Mimnagh while Clongeen had Eva Mullins and Isabel Browne as their subs.
UNDER 12 DRAUGHTS
Again there were seven teams in action. Kilrush/Askamore A team defeated Clongeen B team 13-7, Kilrush/Askamore B defeated Clongeen A 12-8 and Bree/Davidstown defeated Tintern A 16-4 and Tintern B defeated Clongeen 11-9. In Round 2 there were wins for Tintern over Clongeen (11-9) Bree/Davidstown over Clongeen (11-9) and Kilrush/Askamore over Tintern 20-0.
The semi finals featured Kilrush/Askamore and Tintern with Kilrush/Askamore claiming the match 14-6. The other semi final featured Bree/Davidstown and Kilrush/Askamore A team, with Bree/Davidstown taking the win on a 17-3 victory.
In the final (Bree/Davidstown names first) Oisin Harte drew 2-2 with Ella Redmond from Kilrush/Askamore. Nathan Doyle then had a 4-0 victory over Cathal Byrne while George Murphy also defeated his opponent Mogue O`Neill 4-0 to put them in a comfortable position.
Matthew Jordan then defeated Maebh Mimnagh 3-1 and Riona Kehoe put the game beyond their opponents with a 4-0 win over Paddy O`Neill. Subs were Cathal O`Brien, Bree/ Davidstown and Rian Buttle for Kilrush/Askamore.
UNDER 14 DRAUGHTS
There were three teams in action here, Kilrush/Askamore, Tintern and Clongeen. Clongeen defeated Tintern on a 16-4 scoreline and Kilrush/Askamore defeated Tintern 12-8.
The final featured Kilrush/ Askamore and Clongeen. Kilrush/Askamore were playing with just three players and so were at a disadvantage from the offset. Anna Tomkins defeated Clongeen’s Philippa Coleman 4-0 but Laura Kehoe lost out 0-4 to Laura McCarthy. Oisin Farrell then drew 2-2 with Katie Kehoe. Clongeen then clinched the title as their players Fionn Daly and Keela Daly did not have any opponents.
Their subs were Abbie Casey and Zoe McDonald.
The winners in the three categories go forward to the Leinster first and second rounds to be held in Carlow this Saturday, April 6.