The Ireland Men came up agonisingly short of their bid for an historic R&A Home Internationals double when they lost out to England in their final match at Machynys.
A day after the Boys’ team broke a ten-year wait for glory, the Men were well placed to take home the silverware only to lose 7.5-4.5 and subsequently slip to second in the standings, 0.5 in arrears on scoring difference.
The Women’s and Men’s combined team were right in contention at the start of the day too, however they succumbed to a 12.5-8.5 loss against England.
Beth Coulter and Anna Dawson were the only pair to claim a point from the morning foursomes meaning Ireland trailed 5-2. And as the match swayed back and forth during the afternoon, the Men had the best opportunity to land the silverware.
Liam Nolan’s brilliant 5&4 win was the ideal start but only Alex Maguire and Robert Moran replicated that feat, to bring home three wins.
Elsewhere, Arron Edwards-Hill, Matthew Dodd-Berry, Zachary Chegwidden and Charlie Crockett all won to ensure England retained their Men’s title.
Victories for Emma Fleming and Kate Lanigan kept Ireland right in contention in the Women’s event too but they came up short with England taking the overall title along with the Women’s as well.
However, despite England also claiming the Girls’ and Boy’s Home Internationals as well as the individual Girls’ crown, there was a superb win for the Ireland Boys’ team on Thursday.
Team Captain Peter English says the future is bright as he looks forward to a new batch of players coming through the ranks next year.
“We are delighted to win the 2023 Home Internationals, a triple crown beating England, Scotland and Wales,” said English.
“Looking forward to next season we have four of the current squad available to us. A couple of players of the winter coaching panel still available and a couple of the U16s should be able to step up this year looking at their performances.
“Hopefully they will have a good insight into how their season has gone when they play England in October in the U16 challenge at Carton House.”
Leave a comment