Masterful Morris earns Limerick ticket to finals
Limerick go through to the national finals at Rosslare next month where they will be joined by Ballybunion in the Barton Shield and Clonmel in the Junior Cup.
Limerick and Cork have met at this stage of the Senior Cup on umpteen occasions and once again this contest could have gone either way.
Neither had any difficulty in disposing of Tramore and Ballybunion in the semi-finals and from an early stage of the final things looked to be going Cork's way. True, Cian McNamara and Pat Murray, both members of the Ireland team for the Home International Championship at Royal St Georges in September, had their expected wins over Mark Ford and Gary O'Flaherty but Dermot Costello and Pat Lyons kept Cork in touch by beating Michael O'Kelly and Mike Kemmy.
That left the outcome resting on the Morris-Cleary clash. They number more than 100 years between them and their vast experience was evident.
Cleary showed his class in the early stages as he ran up four birdies in succession from the fifth and stood four up after 10 holes.
The 11th was halved in birdies but this was the start of something big for Morris as he holed a huge putt for a two at the 12th and got another back with a four at the long 14th. However, things swung back Cleary's way when he took the short 15th in par to stand three up with three to play. But Morris wasn't done for yet, not by a long way.
A fourth birdie in six holes at the 16th left him in with every chance, given the difficulty of Muskerry's final two holes. To his credit, Morris played both beautifully to level the match at which point the heavens opened as the players made their way to the 19th. Both pulled their drives into trees on the left leading to a half in bogeys and the 20th was shared in par fours. The finish came at the long 3rd, one of the "new" holes at Muskerry where Cleary's third found a bad lie in a bunker and Morris duly made his par five to see Limerick through.
Further good news for them is that McNamara, who returns to college in East Tennessee next Friday, will be available for the finals at Rosslare.
Another very exciting match saw Clonmel capture the Junior Cup with the narrowest of final wins over luckless Lee Valley. The margin in Clonmel's favour was 3-2 but only after the two matches that went to the 19th ended in their favour. Pat Johnson got through at the extra hole against Liam Power while Billy McEvoy prevailed there as well against Alan Cashman with the overall result dependent on the outcome. Billy Hewitt also won for Clonmel at the 17th against Ronan Creedon while Lee Valley were in it right to the end thanks to the efforts of John Philpott and Stephen Constant who came through against Brian McLean and Barry McMenamin.
For Ballybunion, it was a case of one out of three having to suffice. They lost in the semi-finals of the Senior and Junior Cups but came good in the Barton Shield, winning both their matches against Tramore and Limerick by a solitary hole. Former South of Ireland champion Peter Sheehan played a crucial part in the two matches in partnership with JD Guiney, coming through on each occasion by one hole against Peter Power and Noel Cunningham and Limerick's Ger Vaughan and Pat Murray in the decider.
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