The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry let Butterfield Cup slip through their fingers
THE Kerry juvenile doubles played in Killarney and the Munster Butterfield Cup competition played in Thurles dominated the badminton scene last weekend.
This year’s Butterfield Cup was the 70th anniversary of this prestigious Munster competition with Cork defeating Kerry in that first final of the 1946/47 season and regretfully history was repeated on Sunday last but by a much closer scoreline than that first final so many years ago.
Four counties competed last Sunday with Kerry doing battle in round one with Tipperary who won the silver medals last year whilst Cork took on the defending champions Waterford.
What a titanic battle this Kingdom versus the Premier county proved to be with Kerry edging home by 5 games to 4 with the Kingdom wins coming at ladies and men’s singles both 3 set hard fought battles; 1st men’s doubles, another 3 set encounter; the first mixed doubles tie was won in 2 sets but the 3rd and final mixed proved to be another 3 set hard fought encounter to give Kerry their 5-4 victory.
In the meantime Cork had a 6-3 win over the champions Waterford.
With winners versus losers in round 2 saw Kerry taking on Waterford and Cork up against Tipperary.
The Kerry side really clicked against the defending champions with wins at men’s singles in 2 sets;the first men’s doubles tie was won in 2 sets and the 2nd men’s doubles was also a Kerry win in 3 sets and the Kingdom saw Kerry and Cork level on 11 points each; Tipperary were on 8 points with Waterford on 6 points so the scoreline meant that it was to be winner take all between the Rebels and the Kingdom and what an enthralling game this proved to be.
A fighting Kerry side won the 2nd men’s doubles encounter and this was followed by the Kerry ladies in superb fashion by winning both ladies doubles and then the ladies singles went the Kerry way with the Kingdom now leading by 4 games to 2 with the 3 mixed ties left to play.
Kerry hearts were beating overtime. Was the Butterfield Cup due to return to Kerry after a two-year absence? But those doughty Rebels were game battlers and they never give in that easy and that was how the story proved to be. What a dramatic close magnificent game the 1st mixed proved to be with Kerry’s Mary Falvey and Eric Nelligan just going down in a two set tie-break on the scoreline of 22-20 in both sets. It was that close to another Kerry win. At 2nd doubles Maeve Twomey and Tom Bourke lost out by 21-12; 21-18 whilst the teenage sister and brother pairing of Niamh and James O’Flaherty put in a brave performance before losing out in 2 sets 21-19; 21-13.
The final tally saw Cork on 16 points, Kerry on 15, Tipperary 13 and Waterford 10.
As manager Michael Crossan remarked afterwards despite bringing home the silver medals,The Kerry panel was Mary Falvey, Edel Broderick, Maeve Twomey, Sinead Galvin, Niamh Broderick, Eric Nelligan, Tom Bourke, Fergal Hannon, James Flaherty, Jonathan Keane. Manager was Michael Crossan.
WHAT a huge magnificent number of girls and boys tuned out for the Kerry juvenile doubles County Championships at the Killarney Sports Centre on Saturday last. In all 150 players competed and the fare throughout was out of the top drawer and with such an array of top class talent on view Kerry Badminton looks to be on a solid foundation for many tears to come
RESULTS
U-11 Girls Winners: Jessica O’Loughlin & Bella Harman (Kingdom, Castleisland) 21-18, 21-10 Runner-up: Eibhlis Enright & Grainne Bradley (Kingdom) Plate winner: Fiona O’Connor (Listowel) & Megan Brosnan (Annascaul) Runner-up: Grace McGovern & Amy O’Sullivan (Kingdom) U-11 Boys Winners: Aryton Burke & Mint O’Connor (Kingdom) 19-21, 21-16, 21-15 Runner-up: Ruadhan Donovan (Annascaul) & Gearoid O’Sullivan (Listowel) Plate winner: Kieran Moran & Ned Ryan (Dingle) Runner-up: Aidan Fahy (Annascaul) & Connor Kissane (Moyvane) U-13 Girls Winners: Ciara Knightly (Annascaul) & Deina Vesko (Listowel) 21-6, 21-9 Runner-up: Ava McGovern(Kingdom) & Ava McKay (Listowel) Plate winner: Kiana Walsh & Lauren Costello (Listowel) Runner-up: Abbie Moriar ty & Aine Foley (Annascaul) U-13 Boys Winners: Nikolai O’Callaghan & Eddie Healy (Listowel) 21-16, 21-14 Runner-up: Tomas Ashe & Evan McCar thy (Annascaul) Plate winner: Liam Newsome & Oisin Spillane (Annascaul) Runner-up: Patrick O’Connor & Evan Collins (Moyvane) U-15 Girls Winners: Valerie Guiney & Grace Guiney (Listowel) 21-12, 21-11 Runner-up: Mia Trommel (Listowel) & Eva Brown (Moyvane) Plate winner: Abby O’Leary & Laura O’Connor (Killarney) Runner-up: Leanne McCormick (Listowel) & Thia Leniston (Killarney) U-15 Boys Winners: Peter Burke (Kingdom) Christopher O’Donoghue (Moyvane) 21-16, 21-14 Runner-up: Seamus Knightly (Annascaul) & Seamus Bradley (Kingdom) Plate winner: Philip Healy & Kieran O’Donoghue (Listowel) Runner-up: James Smith & Darragh Crehan (Killarney) U-17 Girls Winners: Aoife Bowler & Marie Kennelly (Moyvane) 21-11, 21-16 Runner-up: Dearbhaile Sheehy (Dingle) & Eilish Brosnan (Kingdom) U-17 Boys Winners: Killian Falvey & Colm Moriar ty (Annascaul) 21-11, 21-17 Runner-up: Niall O’Brien (Killarney) & Kevin Keane (Kingdom)
Moyvane Tournaments
All roads will lead to Moyvane in Nor th Kerry on Sunday next where the home club will host their 31st annual Newtownsandes Co-Op sponsored Badminton tournaments for divisions 2 to 5. Always a popular event it is guaranteed that players from all over the county will wing their way to the North Kerry village on Sunday next. The programme is division 5 at 12.15pm; division 4 at 2.15pm; division 3 at 4.15pm; division 2 at 5.30pm.