Clandeboye land first leg of elusive double

GOLF: If not quite as extravagant as a warning flare being fired over that stretch of water so beloved of songsters and poets, and known to one and all as Galway Bay, Clandeboye's performance in taking the Barton Shield in the Bulmers All-Ireland Cups and Shields finals at Galway Golf Club last evening left nobody in any doubt about their true intentions. Philip Reid reports

Only one step of the mission has been completed; another has yet to be accomplished.

"We've a grand wee team," accepted Chris Moriarty, an Ulster interprovincial and one of four plus-handicappers in yesterday's victorious team, "and we'd love to achieve the double."

Having taken the Barton Shield for a third time, but achieving their first win in the competition since 1965, Clandeboye will today seek to continue on winning ways in their ambitious quest for an elusive double when meeting the host club Galway in the semi-final of the Irish Senior Cup.

Portmarnock, last year's beaten finalists, and Limerick meet in the other semi-final.

Clandeboye, who were shouldering mightily the role of favourites, lived up to their reputation in the Barton Shield.

Firstly, they coasted to an impressive five-hole win over Mullingar in the semi-final and, then, completed the task with a similar winning margin over Nenagh in the final.

In this unique competition in which clubs are represented by two foursomes pairings, but where the aggregate scores of the two matches determine the overall result, Clandeboye - whose four players were a combined plus-seven handicap - proved to be very much the masters.

In the top match, Andy McCormick, a plus-three handicapper and an Irish international who intends to attempt to qualify from the European Tour school later this season, and Trevor Spence, the Ulster youths' champion, finished level with Collwyn Martin and Ronan Maher.

In effect, the match was determined by the outcome of the second match where Moriarty and Irish boys international Johnny Caldwell won by five holes over David Hunt and Paul Burke.

The Moriarty-Caldwell combination established an early advantage and were three-up after eight. However, they endured a difficult patch around the turn. Having lost the ninth with a bogey, to go just two-up, Moriarty put his drive into water on the driveable 302 yards, par four 10th hole. Still, they managed to salvage a halved hole in bogeys, and it didn't take long for the momentum to swing back their way. In fact, when Nenagh's drive on the 14th was pulled into trees, it effectively signalled the end of their quest for a first Barton Shield title.

Clandeboye went on to win the 14th, 15th (when Nenagh were bunkered) and the 16th, with a 15-foot birdie, to close out the match and give them a real confidence boost going into the Senior Cup.

In the dog-eat-dog world of inter-club competition, especially on the national stage when the stakes are at their highest, there is no place to hide.

And, certainly, Shane Gannon of Co Louth proved he possessed considerable fortitude coming down the stretch to win his singles encounter with Malone's Karl Gilbert, the current Irish under-15 champion. It gave the Baltray club the all-important win that booked them a place in today's final, where they will meet Killarney.

Gannon, the Munster boys' champion and son of former international and current Irish selector Mark, was three-down after 11 holes to Gilbert, considered one of the brightest prospects in Irish golf. Gilbert had established his advantage in tough conditions of wind and rain with 11 straight pars.

Much of Gilbert's hard work was undone when they crossed the road for the holes that run by the coast and Gannon, just two years his senior, won three successive holes from the 12th to go all-square. The Co Louth teenager went one-up when holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th. Two halves on the remaining two holes ensured the win, with Ronan Branigan and David Doggett having already won the top two matches for Co Louth.

The overall match, though, was tighter than the final 4-1 scoreline. Doggett only got home by one hole and, while Gannon and Gilbert were involved in a titanic battle, the two matches behind were all-square entering the final phase when called in. Indeed, it ended what was a distinctive Gilbert family affair: Karl's grandfather Rodney was caddying for him, while his father, Jan, was involved in the bottom match.

Killarney also had to work hard to defeat Portumna 3-2 in their semi-final. Although Brendan O'Toole won the top match, Portumna took the next two - with Eamon Dervan and Pat Quinlan winning - and Jason Arthur, the 17-year-old son of team captain James, squared matters when beating John Harte by 4 and 2.

In the end, it came down to the final match; George Vass came up trumps with a 2 and 1 win over Matt Donohue to put Killarney into their first Junior Cup final since 1987 when, coincidentally, James Arthur was also captain.

One way or another, a new name will be engraved on the Junior Cup after today's final, as neither club, despite their rich histories in club competition, has previously won this competition confined to players of a minimum of five handicap who play matchplay off scratch.

There will also be a new winner of the Pierce Purcell Shield, an event which pits five foursomes pairings (comprising players with a minimum individual handicap of 12 and minimum combined of 27) against each other.

Two clubs that grew out of the golfing boom on the 1990s each won their respective semi-finals yesterday: Moyola Park, from Derry, beat Castlewarden 3½-1 ½ while Woodstock reached their first national final with a similar win over Loughrea. The only change in personnel for today's final sees John Condon and Martin Meehan called in to replace Frank Doherty and John O'Connor who suffered a heavy defeat yesterday.

First day's details

BARTON SHIELD - Semi-finals:

Clandeboye bt Mullingar by 5 holes (Clandeboye names first): A McCormick/T Spence bt P Wallace/D Morgan by 3 holes; C Moriarty/J Caldwell bt C Cunningham/J Morris by 2 holes.

Nenagh bt Ballinasloe by 11 holes (Nenagh names first): C Martin/R Maher bt M Staunton/J Barton by 4 holes; D Hunt/P Burke bt E Barton/D Kealy by 7 holes.

FINAL: Clandeboye bt Nenagh by 5 holes (Clandeboye names first) McCormick/Spence finished level with Martin/Maher; Moriarty/Caldwell bt Hunt/Burke by 5 holes.

IRISH JUNIOR CUP - Semi-finals:

Co Louth 4, Malone 1 (Co Louth names first): R Branigan bt M Bell 3 and 2; D Doggett bt B Brennan 1 hole; S Gannon bt K Gilbert 1 hole; P McCaffrey halved with J Conlon; M Kierans halved with J Gilbert.

Killarney 3 Portumna 2 (Killarney names first): Brendan O'Toole bt G Lynch 3 and 1; R O'Sullivan lost to E Dervan 2 and 1; J Brosnan lost to P Quinlan 2 and 1; J Arthur bt J Harte 4 and 2; G McKenzie Vass bt M Donohue 2 and 1.

PIERCE PURCELL SHIELD - Semi-finals:

Woodstock 3 ½, Loughrea 1 ½ (Woodstock names first): L McInerney/M O'Brien bt V Leahy/M Kennedy 5 and 4; M Kelly/D Lynch halved with B Fahy/J Greally; F Doherty/J O'Connor lost to J Dervan/A Greally 9 and 7; A Coote/R Dormer bt K Greally/D Keary 2 and 1; J Kelly/M Nugent bt J O'Connor/P Murray 5 and 3.

Moyola Park 3 ½, Castlewarden 1 ½ (Moyola Park names first): A Corr/F Archer lost to E Butler/D Bolger 5 and 3; K Beatty/G Caskey bt C Kellett/N Walsh 5 and 3; D Caskey/L Peoples bt S Callery/A Birthistle 5 and 3; A Kearney/R O'Kane bt B Flynn/D O'Neill 4 and 3; M Gormley/J McCloskey halved with J Murray/B Devereux.

TODAY'S PROGRAMME

Irish Junior Cup - Final: Co Louth v Killarney - 8.30: Branigan v O'Toole. 8.40: Gannon v O'Sullivan. 8.50: Doggett v O'Donoghue. 9.00: Kierans v Arthur. 9.10: McCaffrey v Vass.

Jimmy Bruen Shield - Semi-finals: Harbour Point v Claremorris (Harbour Point names first): 9.45: G Tobin/C Kelly v S Gallagher/J McDonnell. 9.55: M O'Flynn/I O'Flynn v K Brett/B McDonald; 10.05: T O'Flynn/J O'Flynn v S Finnegan/J Prendergast. 10.15: F Wright/D Mulcahy v TJ Farragher/S Connolly. 10.25: J Murphy/D O'Connor v M Higgins/N McDonnell.

Warrenpoint v TheIsland (Warrenpoint names first): 10.35: G Durkin/C Campbell Jnr v N Tobin/A Pitcher. 10.45: K Gallagher/K Murphy v D Gaffney/P Cullen. 10.55: B Powell/F Quinn v T Boland/C Ryan. 11.05: T Keenan/J Murray v E Meaney/G Dowdall. 11.15: D McGreevey/G Moan v N Rodgers/B Walton.

Pierce Purcell Shield - Final: Woodstock v Moyola Park - 12.00: Lynch/Kelly v Corr/Archer. 12.10: McInerney/O'Brien v Beatty/G Caskey. 12.20: J Condon/M Meehan v D Caskey/Peoples. 12.30: Coote/Dormer v Kearney/O'Kane. 12.40: Kelly/Nugent v Gormley/McCloskey.

Irish Senior Cup - Semi-finals: Portmarnock v Limerick (Portmarnock names first): 1.30: A Morrow v M O'Kelly.1.40: N Goulding v T Rice. 1.50: N Fox v C McNamara. 2.00: D Kelleher v G Vaughan. 2.10: D Snow v M Poucher. Galway v Clandeboye (Galway names first): 2.20: G McGranaghan v A McCormick. 2.30: T Nolan v C Moriarty. 2.40: S Keenan v C Murphy. 2.50: M O'Sullivan v T Spence. 3.00: D Cunningham v J Caldwell.