O’Hanlon seals Leinster title for Carton House:
CARTON House are gunning for some AIG Senior Cup revenge in Donegal after retaining their Leinster title in fading light at Naas.
Paul O’Hanlon made a sixfooter in the gathering gloom to beat Sean Ryan on the 21st and help Carton House retain their title with a 3.5-1.5 win
The Kildare men beat Dun Laoghaire 4.5-0.5 in a tighter semi-final than the scoreline suggests as Royal Dublin beat Co Meath 4-1.
But it was harder work for the reigning champions in tough, wet conditions in the final with two of the five matches going to extra holes.
While Keith Egan gave Carton House an early lead with a 2&1 win over Richard Knightly at No 1, Hugh Foley beat Darragh Flynn 3&2 to level the scores.
Marc Boucher eventually beat Robbie Hynes at the 20th to make it 2-1 before O’Hanlon sealed the deal in near darkness to avoid the possibility of a Monday finish.
Ryan had a 60 footer for a two at the par-three third but lipped out for birdie before O’Hanlon rolled home his sixfooter for a winning two.
While much now depends on the government’s Covid19 measures, Carton House are now scheduled to face Munster champions Faithlegg in the AIG All Ireland Cups and Shields semi-final at Murvagh on October 17.
Champions Galway face Belvoir Park in the other semifinal and if they get through, Carton House want to be there to avenge last year’s 3-2 defeat at Westport.
“The All Irelands are such a cool occasion so it would be a disaster if they couldn’t take place because of the Covid-19 situation this year,” Carton House’s Irish international Keith Egan said.
“We saw that Galway are playing Belvoir Park and we are playing Faithlegg, who will be tough after their great achievement in winning Munster but we really want our chance of redemption against Galway.”