Murray’s reign comes to end as big names fall at the South

Holder Pat Murray (Limerick), Stuart Grehan (Tullamore) and Robbie Cannon (Balbriggan), the three players with most reason to feel aggrieved at the announcement of the Irish Home Internationals team before the South of Ireland began, all bit the dust on an eventful day at Lahinch yesterday.

Murray always had his hands full against a resourceful opponent in Bryan McSweeney of Royal Dublin and after battling back to level terms late on in a very tight fourth round encounter, eventually succumbed at the first tie hole of an absorbing contest.

Grehan, the star man in last week’s Interprovincial Championships during which he dropped only a half point in six outings, lived dangerously before getting home at the 19th in the third round against John Conroy of Bray but he had no answer to the steady play of Royal Dublin’s Sean Ryan in the afternoon and bowed out at the 15th.