Leinster Girls’ Manager, Mary Farrell, is excited by the potential of her team after they beat Ulster to put their second point on the board in the U-18 Interprovincial Championships at Ballykisteen.
Anna Abom and Hannah Guerin, and sisters Caoimhe and Niamh O’Grady both battled for wins in the morning foursomes while Ellen O’Shaughnessy, Caoimhe O’Grady, Niamh O’Grady and Ella Cantwell all won their singles matches in the afternoon for a 6-3 win on the day for Leinster.
“The matches were very tight as we knew they would be playing Ulster, as always very hard-fought matches so coming into the afternoon, we knew we had everything to do and losing Anna Abom was difficult for us but in fairness the girls pulled everything out of the bag and we’re delighted,” said Farrell.
“We will enjoy this afternoon and chat this evening and looking forward to taking on Connacht tomorrow.”
Munster bounced back from yesterday’s defeat and they beat Connacht 6.5-2.5 with the teams of Caitlin Shippam and Ella Moynihan and Lucy Grattan and Ciara Waldron laying the foundations in the morning foursomes.
Then Shippam, Sadhbh Bullock, Grattan and Moynihan were all victorious in the afternoon for a crucial win and their captain, Kiara O’Keeffe, was thrilled with their composure to get back on track.
“It’s amazing. The girls were really inspired today so ya, it was needed for the confidence but they are amazing, great players,” said O’Keeffe.
“Brilliant bounce back I’m so proud of them, really looking froward to tomorrow.”
Leinster will also face Connacht and Munster will play Ulster in the Boys’ U-18 Interprovincial Championships on Friday.
Leinster completed another double thanks to a strong 7-3 win over Munster with Dylan Holmes and Jamie Anderson combining for a point along with Ciaran Murphy and Adam O’Loughlin in the morning foursomes.
Gavin Tiernan, O’Loughlin, Holmes and Luke Mitchell all won their singles matches in the afternoon and their manager, Vincent Conlon, is pleased by what his team are showing in Ballykisteen.
“Yeah, we had a great win really this morning like its hard keeping track there’s so many matches. There’s very little in it, the margins are so tight,” said Conlon.
“Then in the afternoon we ended up getting seven which was more than we had expected. Munster haven’t lost yet, we are expecting a backlash.
“We’re gelling well as a team and we will give it a bash tomorrow that’s all you can do. Looking forward to it.”
Ulster secured an impressive 9.5 to 0.5 win against Connacht in the other match with Darcy Hogg and Harry McArdle shining bright in the morning foursomes.
McArdle and Corey Scullion secured two of the more impressive singles wins as well and their captain, Jeff Forde, expects a tough match tomorrow against Munster.
“It’s a good to get a win. We sort of struggled yesterday a wee bit disappointed. Regrouped last night and came out this morning and had a good win in the first pairing, which really set us up for the afternoon. Got the points on the board early, gave us confidence and it fed back into the team. A good comfortable win in the end.
“Munster probably came in the favourites this week, lost a couple of players so they are obviously disappointed in that, but we will give it our best shot and hopefully do the business.”
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