Strong finish sees Irish ladies and boys top the second flights

IRELAND produced strong finishes in both the European ladies and boys team championships in Germany and the Czech Republic respectively at the weekend to clinch an unusual double.

In both contests they ended up in ninth spot, winning the second flight the best they could do after failing earlier in the week to secure one of the top eight places for the matchplay phase.

And what pleased the country's golfing chiefs more than anything was overcoming Celtic cousins Scotland to wrap up in style in the womens' contest over Germany's Frankfurter course and Wales in the boys' showdown over the Astoria course at Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.

Mary McKenna, nine-times Curtis Cup player and captaining Ireland for the first time, was delighted with

the way her side stuck to their task and she could not have asked more in the 4.5, 2.5 victory over a Scottish team which contained four members of next week's GB&I Vagliano Trophy side taking on the continent of Europe at Co Louth.

After sharing the foursomes with Scotland, the Irish moved into top gear to see off their opponents in the singles.

Tricia Mangan the sole Irish player in the Vagliano team, recorded a fine 2&1 victory over Curtis Cup golfer Vikki Laing who had the fourth hole in one of her career at the 11th in that match.

But she still had to play second fiddle to the Ennis star.

Claire Coughlan was at the top of her form in overcoming former British girls' champion Claire Queen by 3&2, being three under par in the process and newcomer Maura Morrin, who works in a Curragh stud, did not put a foot wrong in defeating Claire Hargan by 5&3 to ensure Ireland concluded the week on a happy note.

Spain clinched the crown for the second time when they beat Sweden by four matches to two with one halved. France beat Wales by the same margin to take bronze and England ended in seventh spot after beating Finland 6-1 on the final day.

Meanwhile, in the boys' event Ireland overcame Wales 3-2 in a match every bit as tight as the scoreline suggests.

In the end the hero was Aaron O'Callaghan from Douglas who notched victory at the third extra hole of a sudden-death decider against Carl Wakeley.

It was level at two matches apiece when O'Callaghan delivered the goods to secure ninth spot for his country. Limerick's Cian McNamara and Lurgan's Gareth Shaw gained the other points for Ireland.

Italy won the boys' title when they beat Austria 4-1 in the final while France took the bronze medal with success by the same margin against The Netherlands. England finished fifth and Scotland seventh.