Battle-hardened Nenagh claim Pierce Purcell title
AGE proved no barrier to another Nenagh success as the club claimed their fifth success in the AIG Pierce Purcell Shield and their second in three years.
Connacht champions Athlone had 80-year-old Tadhg Mannion in their ranks, but Nenagh also had five pensioners in Packie Ryan, Toddy Hogan, Denis Corrigan, Jim Gleeson and Paul Maloney as they ran out 4-1 winners.
Convincing wins for Gerard Clifford and Tom Quinlisk and David Hickey and Martin Reddan left the Tipperary men just one point short of victory and while they were down in two matches, James Reddan and Pat J Hogan delivered the decisive point with a 5&3 win over Paul Burke and Declan Corcoran.
“We are delighted,” said Nenagh’s Paddy Peters who co-managed the team with Jim Flynn and gave the Munster club an eighth successive win in the greensomes competition.
“To win an All Ireland no matter what your sport, is a great achievement. It will take a couple of days to sink in. Right now we are getting ready to celebrate.”
Nenagh’s local knowledge – honed by competitive friendly matches with host club Thurles earlier in the season – proved to be worth its weight in gold.
But the club’s matchplay tradition was also key to their success in a competition they had previously won in 1989, 1991, 1998 and 2016.
“We play a lot of matchplay in our club and that’s the basis for all our
teams,” added Peters.
“Your throat could be cut in it, it’s so competitive. It’s really fantastic. A lot of our achievements in matchplay come from that.”
Nenagh beat Newbridge 4-1 in the semi-finals as Athlone battled their way to a 3-2 win over Ballyclare thanks to a 19th hole win by Declan Corcoran and Paul Burke.