After a superb performance this morning when they beat a very strong Edmonstown team in the semi-final, Jacinta Deane made a just one change to her team for the final against Old Conna this afternoon. Old Conna were going to be tough assignment also, having beaten the well fancied Elm Park in the second semi-final this morning.
Jacinta stuck with the opening pair of Aisling Marmion & Niamh Kielthy who had won their match 5&3 this morning. Aisling & Niamh started as they had finished this morning and streaked into a four hole lead after four holes, before being pegged back one hole when they lost the fifth. The Greystones pair respond to the loss on five with wins on both the sixth and seventh holes and turned five ahead after two well earned halves on eight and nine. It’s never over till it’s over however and ten went to the Old Conna pair – four up. Eleven and twelve were halved but another win for Old Conna on thirteen further reduced the lead – three up.
Trish Shiels came in for Deirdre Ahern for this afternoon’s match to play alongside Sophie Lumley and what a start this new pairing had this afternoon. They won the first five holes in a row and halved the sixth, seventh and eighth before moving into a six hole lead with another win on the ninth. There was no easy way back for the Old Conna pair at this point and Sophie & Trish certainly gave them little opportunity, winning ten and eleven to finish the match 8&7. A super performance.
Our final pair was that of Shauna Siefried & Mary Lockhart. In this match the Greystones pair lost the opening two holes but got back to winning ways on the third to get the match to just one down. Four and five were halved before the Old Conna two hole lead was restored with another win on the sixth. At this point Shauna & Mary mounted an impressive fight back winning the seventh, halving the eighth before winning the ninth to level the match heading for the back nine.
Greystones needed just one point to claim the Leinster South pennant but were going to have to fight hard to get it.
Mary & Shauna won the tenth to get ahead for the first time in the match and maintained this slight advantage till the thirteenth, with halves on eleven and twelve before doubling the lead with a win on thirteen.
Up ahead Aisling & Niamh reasserted themselves with a win on fourteen to get to dormie four up but lost fifteen to be dormie three ahead and when Mary & Shauna also won the fourteenth to go three up it was a case of who might win the last, vital point first.
As it turned out, Aisling & Niamh halved sixteen to win 3&2 at much the same time as Mary & Shauna won the fifteenth to win their match 4&3.
A fantastic performance by Jacinta and the whole team – brilliant stuff, another blue pennant for the club in 2023.
