Sudden death heartbreak for Tralee

TRALEE’S bid for All-Ireland glory in the Irish Junior Cup ended in heartbreak at the semi-final stage when they fell at the first tie hole in the third and deciding match at Carton House on Wednesday last.

Team Manager Billy Naughton made one change from the side who beat Co Tipperary (Dundrum) in the Munster final, bringing in Tim Leahy in place of Donie O’Keeffe as the Men in Green took on Castle Golf Club from Rathfarnham at the foothills of the Dublin mountains.

Gareth O’Donnell gave Tralee the perfect start, beating Kevin Moran on the final green in the top match but Kevin Lucey went down to Harry Gleeson on the final green in match number two, to level matters.

It was soon evident that the overall outcome would hinge on the third match involving Tralee’s experienced campaigner Verners Tess and Castle’s Paul Whelan as the two clubs shared the fourth and fifth matches where Tralee’s Danny Leen beat Fergal Moran to take the fourth match while Tommy Smyth beat Tim Leahy 3/2 to claim the fifth match for Castle.

Sadly, for Tralee, with the third match all-square after eighteen, Castle’s Paul Whelan produced the killer-blow at the first extra hole to end the Tralee dream and the Dublin men then went on to claim the national title against Lurgan the following day.

Overall, Munster teams did poorly at Carton house with Cork going down to eventual winners Warrenpoint in the Barton Shield, Monkstown going down to eventual winners County Sligo in the Senior Cup and Muskerry going down to Kildare in the Jimmy Bruen Shield.

There was one success story however, as Nenagh claimed the All-Ireland Pierce Purcell title with an emphatic win over Castlebar to ensure that the title was won by a club from Munster for a sixth successive year!