Well it was a big ask and in the end our Under 15s weren’t able to pull off a “miracle in Malahide” this afternoon despite their best efforts.
The task was made as difficult as it was by virtue of the agonising defeat in the first home leg of the final in Greystones earlier this month when we lost 4:1. On that day Marc Lawless lost out by a margin of 3&2, William O’Riordan went down 4&3 while both Jamie Anderson and Dylan Holmes both lost their matches on the eighteenth. Jack McGovern held firm on the day to clinch a 2&1 win to give a glimmer of hope to the team. The real difference on the day was on the greens with the Malahide players coming to grips with our greens from the get-go while our players seemed to struggle.
To be fair the team set off today for Malahide full of fight and determination to not roll over and to their credit each and everyone of them gave their all over the two legs.
To make matters worse for the team Jack McGovern had to withdraw from the team for the second leg of the match due to a shoulder injury.
First out today was once again Marc Lawless who was getting three shots. Marc started well with a win on the first but his opponent found his rhythm and got himself into a good position with wins on the third, forth and sixth holes to go two up. Marc pegged him back to one up with a good win on the seventh but the Malahide man responded with wins on the eighth and ninth to get to three up. The tenth and eleventh were traded and then Marc pushed hard claiming both the twelfth and thriteenth holes to be back within touching distance. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be Marc’s day and loses on fourteen and fifteen sealed the deal for Malahide 3&2.
Our second man out today was Toby Murphy who didn’t play in the first leg but has been a stalwart of the team over the season. Toby was giving three shots to his opponent and it was nip and tuck for the first nine holes with Toby winning the second and fifth while his opposite number won the third and the seventh. All square after nine holes.
Our number three today was Jamie Anderson who made it clear from the off that he was going to do his damnedest to avenge his loss from the first leg with wins on the first two holes. He wasn’t going to have it all his own way however. He lost the third and won the fifth before loosing the seventh for the match to be all square through seven. Wins on eight and eleven saw him back in control however and he was playing some very solid golf.
William O’Riordan struggled a bit today off the tee and despite and excellent win the the second and a stunning half on the forth involving a fantastic up and down, found himself one down after five and three down and the turn. Despite his very best efforts he wasn’t able to recover and his opponent only needed and half on the tricky fourteenth to win the match 5&4.
Almost simultaneously, Toby, after a very difficult back nine watched as his opponent, not for the first time on the day, held a raker of a putt on the fifteenth to win the match 4&3.
The top match saw a rematch for Dylan Holmes who was once again giving one shot to his opposition. This was a match of the highest quality with holes being won and halved with birdies. Malahide took the early lead and were two up through four holes but Dylan steadied the ship and more with wins on the fifth, sixth and eighth holes to go one up. Malahide won the ninth to have an even match once again standing on the tenth teebox. There was nothing to separate either player over the first three holes of the back nine but Dylan who, like Jamie was eager to avenge his loss in the first leg, hit some magnificent shots to win the thirteenth and fourteenth and held a two hole lead with four to play when called in.
Jamie halved the twelfth and but a fine win on the thirteenth had him three up with five left to play. He and his opponent halved the fourteenth and Jamie was looking odds on to win his match on the fifteenth when called in.
All in all we should be extremely proud of this team and they have certainly given us lots of great golfing moments this year. Hard luck to managers Peter Anderson & Karl Holmes and to the entire squad.
