Pitch & Putt IrelandNational Inter-Club Quarter-Final Preview
A look ahead to proceedings in Lakeside & Ryston this weekend
WE’VE reached the quarter-final stages of the 2014 National Inter-Club Competitions with a total of eight matches involving 16 teams taking place this weekend across two venues namely Ryston in Kildare and Lakeside in Tipperary. Communications & Press Officer Jason O’Connor takes a look ahead to proceedings in both venues this Saturday.
Scratch Gents
Beginning in Ryston, there is an all Munster clash between defending champions St Annes and the team they defeated in last year’s semi-finals, Tipperary combination Lakeside/Riverdale. The Cork club were 6-3 victors in that particular match and despite losing their first match to Tramore this year, recovered to record wins over Hillview and Collins/Fermoy to finish second in their group with their fellow Cork side taking top spot in the table on match difference. Lakeside/Riverdale also lost their first match in the Group Stages to Bruff but then recorded wins over Parteen and Tipperary Hills with a point in their final game against Clare Road & Cill Na Mona enough to gain second spot in the table overall.
The other game in Ryston sees Erin’s Isle take on Tipperary Hills. The Dublin club won their first two matches with Old County and Bellewstown before going on to draw their remaining matches with St Bridgets and Collinstown in finishing top of Group A on points difference. Tipp Hills were the third team to advance from Group C as victories over Parteen and Clare Road/Cill Na Mona were enough to see them through to this stage. Down in Lakeside meanwhile, Saturday sees Limerick’s Bruff take on Old County of Dublin. Bruff had a 100% record in the Group Stages winning all four of their matches and they do look a formidable prospect ahead of the knockout stages. Old County needed victories in their last two matches with Bellewstown and St Bridgets to get into the quarter-finals after they lost and drew their first two encounters with Erin’s Isle and Collinstown respectively.
Round off the Quarter-Final line-up there is the meeting of Collins/Fermoy and St Bridgets of Kildare. Victories over Hillview and Tramore were enough for the Cork combination to get here despite a Group Stage loss to St Annes while St Bridgets for their part defeated Collinstown and Bellewstown in their first two matches, drew with Erin’s Isle before losing out to Old County in their last Group Stage fixture.
With a place in Finals Day on the line for all eight teams hopefully the cream will rise to the top and give us some action packed and drama filled encounters.
Inter/Junior Gents
THE same venues as the Scratch Competition are in use with an even four/four split between both provinces. Last year’s runners-up Deerpark take on Bagenalstown of Carlow down in Lakeside. Deerpark were undefeated in their campaign recording wins over last year’s inaugural victors St Annes, Castleisland and Tralee before drawing their final encounter with Collins that saw them missed out on top spot in the Group on match difference. Bagenalstown are the side who enter this encounter with a 100% record however as wins over Cunnigar, St Bridgets and St Patricks gave them a seeded spot in the draw for the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere in Lakeside Clare Road take on Collinstown. The Clare side recovered from a loss to Parteen in their first match to record wins over Tipperary Hills, Majestic and Lakeside to top Group D outright. Collinstown meanwhile defeated Lough Owel, Kilbeggan and Cement to advance to the last eight with a loss to McBride the only blot on the copybook of their Group C campaign. Up in Ryston, McBride play the hosts of the two quarter-finals down south in Lakeside. The Louth club won three and drew one of their Group Stages encounters defeating Cement, Collinstown and Kilbeggan and drawing with Lough Owel. Lakeside just piped Tipperary Hills for the second spot in Group D on match difference. Wins over Parteen and Tipp Hills were enough for them to get through despite losing out Majestic and Clare Road in their other encounters.
The final quarter-final tie in Ryston sees last year’s semi-finalists St Patricks of Wexford take on Collins of Cork. The latter were undefeated in their Group A campaign, defeating Castleisland, Tralee and St Annes with a draw over Deerpark in their other game enough to see them get top spot in the table on match difference. St Pats defeated both Cunnigar and St Bridget’s to reach the quarter-finals for the second successive year with defeat over Bagenalstown in their last encounter denying them the opportunity to take top spot in Group B.
We wish all 16 teams the very best of luck in both Ryston and Lakeside in trying to reach Finals Day on Saturday, September 27th at a venue TBD. Please note that the Semi-Finals and the decider in both competitions will take place on the aforementioned date.
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