Tramore march on to decider

WHEREAS Tramore have captured the Barton Shield on three occasions, Mitchelstown were contesting the national finals of any competition when they took on Ballina in the semi-final of the Irish Junior Cup at Castlerock, Co Derry, yesterday.

Predictably enough, Tramore qualified for the final of the Barton with a two-hole win over Athenry and now meet Warrenpoint, who had six holes to spare over Enniscorthy, in today’s decider (10.30am).

However, Mitchelstown were outsiders against 2008 champions Ballina in the Junior Cup semi-final but responded magnificently to the challenge to claim a relatively comfortable victory by 3½-1½.

They now take on Lurgan, who had a remarkable 3-2 win over Co Meath in a final set to start at 11am this morning.

The tail-end of Hurricane Katia had passed over and conditions at the excellent Castlerock links overlooking the North Atlantic were well nigh perfect for the opening day of the Chartis Insurance-sponsored festival. Tramore owed their Barton Shield win over Athenry largely to the efforts of Chris Butler and Declan King who had two holes to spare over Mark King and Michael Lane.

Butler boasts a proud Tramore tradition given that he is a grandson of former club professional Christy and a son of Paddy, a member of the side that completed the Senior Cup-Barton Shield double at Killarney in 1992.

Chris, 35, a bricklayer by trade, admitted that he done “absolutely nothing” in golf prior to this but his partner King was quick to point out that “he has won almost every gross prize in the club this year”.

“We’ve been putting an awful lot of effort into it this year because we got to so many semi-finals and finals in Munster and we kept getting beaten,” said Butler. “So we told ourselves: if we put in the effort, we have a good chance and thankfully here we are now in the All-Ireland final and hopefully we can go on from here.”

The picture was anything but rosy from a Tramore perspective early on as Butler and King fell three behind after five and in the second match Alan Thomas and David Kiely were two down after four against Conor Waters and David Byrne.

However, the first pair won three in-a-row from the 6th, went ahead with a birdie at the long 14th and after Butler produced a superb bunker recovery at the 16th to less than a yard from the cup, King holed to give them the two hole advantage they retained to the finish.

Thomas, a son of the former Waterford soccer goalkeeper Peter and a boys and youths international who tried his luck in the pro game before being reinstated amateur a couple of years ago, and David Kiely, fought back in style to draw level by the 17th and so ensure the Co Waterford club’s place in the final.

Tramore and Warrenpoint will field unchanged sides today as will the Junior Cup finalists Mitchelstown and Lurgan. 17-year-old Sean Lane was once again a star for the North Cork club as his clash with Liam Casey of Ballina fluctuated from the outset. Lane cruised into a two-hole lead early on, fell one behind at the turn before quickly reeling off four wins that saw him home by 3 and 1.

John Cahill was one under for the front nine on his way to winning the top match at the 15th against Jonathan Kelly and the third Mitchelstown point came from John Maguire, who defies convention by using a cack-handed grip but still hit some glorious iron shots in beating Kenneth Lawrence, also by 4 and 3.

This was a fine performance by Mitchelstown who now look a good bet in the decider against Lurgan. They owe their place in the final to 16-year-old Michael McSherry, who won both the 18th and 19th against Co Meath’s Michael Gaynor, who had the misfortune to three putt both holes. Another member of their side, David Magee, plays football for Irish League side Glenavon and he returned to Belfast last night for training. But he will be back in Castlerock in good time this morning to chase further sporting glory.