Pierce Purcell 2024
Our Pierce Purcell team lost to Clontarf on Sunday May 19th. Having beaten Clontarf twice in this competition in the past two years, we were confident the hat-trick was on. Sadly not, with our gallant players meeting a tour de force of Clontarf quality. Sometimes you must acknowledge the better team won on the day. That was certainly the case on a glorious Sunday. We had two matches in each location – Clontarf won both of their home matches well. Bryan Coughlan and Marcus Middleton battled back to all-square having been 3 down and were looking good on the 14th, however, it wasn’t to be and Clontarf finished strongly to win 2&1. The current Barry FitzGerald champions James and Fred Gilbert met a mighty pairing in Clontarf who were par machines. Both Gilberts have won previously at the Malahide Road venue, but it wasn’t their day on Sunday. Their opponents had won the Leinster Pennant in this competition just 2 years ago and were unbeaten.
In Sutton, there were a few, ahem, shenanigans, taking place on the beach and on the golf course – a familiar occurrence on sunny afternoons in Sutton. Gareth Noone and James Kelly were unbelievably strong. They raced into a three-hole lead but caught up with a traffic jam of golfers at the 6th. With very long delays between shots, their rhythm was lost and they were all square at the 9th, having already been on the course for 2 hours 40 minutes. For foursomes, that’s an awful long time! Nevertheless, they got their mojo back on the turn and won 5 holes with ease and quality to close out the match comfortably. Our second home pair were Joe Kelly and David Walsh. The big hitting Suttonians duo fell behind in the field after a strong start and could never quite rein in their opponents who were super steady. The overall result was 3-1 to Clontarf.
It is bitterly disappointing to lose in Round 1 of a competition which we have such great strength. Clontarf will be very hard to beat, and we wish them well – it was a tough draw and a tough result. All of the Sutton lads gave their all. We will see glory in this illusive competition one day. It is coming.