Offaly badminton season winds down with gold medals and announcement of outstanding juveniles
The last two times Offaly has met Louth in Leinster Badminton, Louth came out on top. This competition was different when the Offaly U15 team of Aisling Mooney, Saoirse Murphy, Ava Dunne, Siún Joyce, Zoe Farrell, Alana Gellar, Stephen Russell, Sean Lambe, Reece Treacy, Conor McEvoy, and Jake Cornally travelled to the Baldoyle Badminton Centre.
Offaly played in a group with Kildare, Meath 2, and Laois, and Louth emerged from the group of Meath 1, Kilkenny 2, and Dublin 2. Stephen, playing singles, got Offaly off to a great start against Laois with a 21/13 win.
Unfortunately, the remainder of the team couldn’t match this performance. Aisling met an extremely strong opponent in singles and didn’t reach double digits in the 21 point game. Stephen and Sean did slightly better, but still lost by a wide margin. Aisling, played doubles with Saoirse, and the girls put in a huge effort and got their score up to 15, but were still on the short end. Reece and Conor did even better with a most respectful 17 points, but still lost to Laois’s 21. Sean and Saoirse finished the match, scoring 13 points, still not enough for a victory. Laois were the match winners, 6-1.
One point on the last stroke of the last game in the match against Meath 2 kept Offaly out of Division 3. Against Meath, Stephen was very competitive, but faded in the last half of the game and lost 15/21. Aisling was on top in her singles from the start and smashed her way to victory 21/13. Stephen played with Jake in this match, but scored no better than against Laois. Aisling and Zoe scored another win for Offaly in 1st Girls’ Doubles, 21/14. Reece and Conor fought hard again in 2nd Boys’ Doubles, but were disappointed with an 18/21 loss. Ava and Alana scored Offaly’s most resounding victory in 2nd Doubles, 21/10.
Then the heartbreak. With the crowd of Offaly supporters clapping every success, Zoe and Reece fought point for point against Meath. First one pair would go one or two points up, the other would equal or go ahead, then it was point for point again. At 20 all, an Offaly mistake cost them the final point and Meath won 21/20.
There is no setting in Juvenile Intercounty badminton. Kildare were seeded number 1 in Offaly’s group and the top half of the team showed why. Offaly used a different line-up, resting some of their players for the match to come. Kildare won the first 4 games by big margins. Conor played singles in this match for the boys and Zoe was the singles player for the girls. Conor and Reece competed in 1st doubles for the boys, and Zoe and Saoirse for the girls. The 2nd doubles did much better. Sean and Jake scored 13 points which wasn’t enough for a win, but at least they reached double digits. Siún and Alana did Offaly proud with a 21/10 win. Sean and Saoirse couldn’t stay with their Kildare opponents and lost by another big margin. Following the lunch break, the final against Louth was played. Stephen set the tone for the match with a 21/12 win.
When Aisling won 21/11, Offaly supporters knew the results wouldn’t be like the last 2 Louth matches. Stephen and Reece were the only blip on Offaly’s scoresheet with a 6/21 loss. Aisling and Zoe got Offaly back on track when both girls used their power to smash to another victory, 21/8. Sean and Conor used long clears and smashe in their 21/12 win. Ava used clears and smashes and Alana used hard drives to gain a 21/9 victory. Zoe and Reece finished with a hard won 21/17 win. With a match score of 6-1, Offaly were Division 4 Gold Medal winners. The U15 competition concluded the competitive year for Offaly Badminton.
Outstanding players
The Outstanding Players for the 2024-2025 Offaly Juvenile Badminton season were announced at the U15 trials. Shannyn Healion and Aisling Farrell were named joint Outstanding Girls.
Shannyn was Runner-up in the U20 Offaly Girls’ Singles. Circumstances prevented her from playing doubles. She was the lead singles player for Sacred Heart School in their U19 Post-Primary School Offaly competition, and played 1st doubles. She led the Sacred Heart team to Runner-up in PPS Leinster Division 3. Shannyn was selected number 1 for the Offaly U19 team, but the county was unable to field a team for the competition.
Aisling Farrell won the OY U17 Singles, and the Division 3 Doubles with Aisling Mooney. Aisling played #1 singles and doubles on the St. Brendan’s CS U16 team, going undefeated in singles and doubles in both Offaly and Leinster. She led St. Brendan’s to the Division 3 PPS title. Aisling played on the U17 Offaly Intercounty team and was selected to play on the U19 team, but the competition did not take place. Both girls helped with the Offaly U15 trials.
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Davids Gibbons and Wyatt Winston were selected as Outstanding Boys’ Players. David has been a committed Offaly badminton player and a member of the Rahan club since he was 8-years-old. He very seldom missed a singles or doublers competitions in all those years, even though sometimes his games in the competitions have been pushed through so he could go play rugby. David was Runner-up in the U20 OY Singles and won the Senior Boys’ Doubles with Shane Thompson. David was 1st pick for the U19 OY Intercounty team. He led the Killina U19 Boys’ team to an Offaly title and to the Leinster PPS U19 Finals. Unfortunately, a power cut in Baldoyle before Storm Éowyn forced both Killina Boys and Sacred Heart Girls home before they had completed their competitions. Wyatt has had little time for Offaly competitions, due to other badminton commitments, but he did win the OY U20 Singles this season. He plays for both Leinster and Ireland, and recently captained the Leinster U17 team in the Celtic Challenge Cup. Wyatt was selected as the best juvenile boy player in Offaly, and David was selected for his continuing commitment to Offaly badminton.