It’s half time in the Under 15 Leinster final and Greystones find ourselves 3:2 down before heading to Roganstown in a couple of weeks for the second leg.
Davie and Ben would have been hoping to take a lead to Roganstown but we played a very strong team here today and, while we might have won 4:1, we might also have lost by the same margin.
First out today was Ruadhán Murray who had been quite excellent in his first two matches for the team, winning early on both occasions but today Ruadhán came up against a good player in excellent form. Ruadhán won the first hole but from there, through a combination of some excellent play by his opponent and a few bad bounces, he found himself behind the 8 ball at five down through seven holes. He didn’t give up however and halved the next five holes before loosing the thirteenth after bouncing straight left off the fairway to behind a tree. One point on the board for Roganstown 6&5.
Milo Doyle was out next and, despite loosing the first Milo was in great form today. He immediately pulled his deficit back with a win on the second and was two up after six. His tee shot on the seventh found the bunker on the corner and when he left the ball in it after his first bunker shot in the bunker it looked like he might loose the hole. His second bunker shot however almost pitched in the hole and stopped within three feet for a tap in par and an unexpected win. The ninth and tenth were traded, Roganstown winning the ninth and Greystones winning the tenth to maintain the three hole lead but Milo’s opponent was dogged and he then won the eleventh, back to two. Twelve was halved and Milo played the thirteenth well to win and get back to three up. Losses on fourteen and fifteen had Davie and Ben on tenterhooks but they needn’t have worried. Milo won the sixteenth and birdied the seventeenth to close out the match 3&1.
Marc Lawless would be the first to admit that early on in his match he didn’t quite have his A game today and he found himself three down after just four holes. Marc being Marc however he stayed in the match and won the fifth, sixth and seventh ( holing a twenty footer ) to get back to all square. The match remained all square at the half way point before, once again Roganstown forged a three hole lead with wins on ten, thirteen and fourteen. Three down and four to go Marc was in bother but typical of him he battled back, winning the fifteenth, sixteenth before birdying the seventeenth to once again square the match. Marc hit a great drive up eighteen and was well ahead of his opponent. The flag was on the lower tier today and the Roganstown boy hit a fantastic shot to fifteen feet. Marc pulled his approach slightly and his ball found the top tier, leaving Marc a really tricky putt. He hit a good putt to twelve feet. Roganstown’s putt stopped within a couple of inches of the hole so Marc faced his twelve footer to keep the match alive. He hit a super putt and was walking it into the hole from six feet !!. Off to the nineteenth. Marc’s tee shot was unlucky to just fall into the bunker right while his opposition’s ball was just shot right of the green with the pin on the front. Marc’s bunker shot ran out to fifteen feet while the Roganstown ball was pitched to four feet. Marc had to watch his putt roll agonisingly past the hole and his opponent kept his nerve to hole out and secure the very hard fought for point.
William O’Riordan was out number four today and faced an excellent young player. This was a very tight match with seven of the first ten holes halved and, after a win with a birdie two for Roganstown on the eleventh, the match was still all square. Never one to be over awed by anything William stuck to his guns, winning the twelfth to go one up and then holing a long range putt for a half on the thirteenth. He held another tricky putt on the fourteenth to extend his lead before winning the fifteenth to go dormie three up. He secured the half he needed on the sixteenth to win a much needed point for the team
Toby Murphy was our anchorman this afternoon and, like Marc, played well but probably didn’t quite have his A game today. He was slogging it out, fighting like a dog to stay in the match and turned all square. A win on the tenth got his nose in front but this was short-lived as he lost the eleventh and twelfth to go one down. His tenacity was to the fore as he ground out halves on the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth but on seventeen his tee shot went away right and he ended up having to chip out to the thirteenth fairway. Toby’s third shot caught a tree at the fourteenth tee box and he was lying four after chipping on the green. A textbook par for the Roganstown man was enough to win the hole and the match 2&1.
So we all had off to Roganstown for the second leg on Sunday October 9th, trailing 3:2 but with all to play for. Tee off will be 13.00 on the 9th.
Many thanks to all the supporters who came out to support the lads this afternoon.
