OFFALY BADMINTON: They came , they played, they won!

Seven schools competed in the U14 Round of the Offaly Post Primary badminton competition played in Sacred Heart School, Tullamore. Gallen Community School and Cistercian College Roscrea were back after a few years absence, and soon let their opposition know they were not there just to make up numbers. Several schools were able to field 2 teams, either boys or girls.

U14 Girls: Pool A: The Sacred Heart 1 team of Rocio Sanchez, Avrit Machado, Elizabeth Aubin, and Alyannah Martinez left no doubt in anyone’s mind that they intended to top Pool A. The highest score they allowed in their 1st match against ASCN Clara was 6 points. SHS was even more ruthless against Killina 2, with 6 wins but again, the highest score allowed was 6 points. Síofra Ginty, St. Brendan’s was the only player to pierce the SHS armour. Síofra outscored Rocio 11/7 in 1st singles. SHS held their opponents to low single digits in the other games. The real race in Pool A was to see who the second semi-finalist would be. St. Brendan’s CS, Killina 2, and Ard Scoil Chiaráin vied for the second spot. The Killina 2 team of Róisín Osborne, Eva Rose Kelly, Ava Minnock, Marie Minnock, Lily Grennan and Ciara Rose McNeill drew with St. Brendan’s, represented by Anna Rathwell, Kate O’Brien, Lauren Milne, Eve Kirwan, and Síofra Ginty. Síofra led off with a win for St. Brendan’s. Eva Rose and Eva followed with wins for Killina “. Kate O’Brien added another win for St. Brendan’s. Síofra and Amber scored a third win for St. Brendan’s, but Eva Rose and Marie levelled the match for Killina 2 at 3 wins apiece. When scores were tallied, St. Brendan’s were ahead 56-46. Millie Fleming, Emily Flanagan-Muller, Katelyn Sammon, and Chloe Russell fought hard for Ard Scoil Chiaráin Naofa, were able to score points but got little reward for their efforts. Emily managed a big win against Lauren from St. Brendan’s, but after that, all the wins went the way of the Birr school. Emily scored well against Killina 2 in both singles and doubles, but she and Millie fell short 1 score in a 10/11 loss. When wins were tallied after all Pool Games, St. Brendan’s and Killina 2 were level on 9 apiece. St. Brendan’s had dropped 1 to ASCN, but had won against SHS 1, plus 3 from the draw. Killina scored 6 wins against ASCN and the 3 in the drawn match. So, points mattered again. St. Brendan’s finished on 146, Killina 2 on 134, and despite their lack of wins, ASCN were only 9 points further back on 125. So St. Brendan’s joined Sacred Heart 1 in the semi-finals.

Gallen dominated Pool B against Killina 1, Coláiste Naomh Cormac, and Sacred Heart School 2. The Gallen team of Natalie McIntyre, Hayley Jordan, Jasmine McIntyre, and Niamh Kavanagh dropped one 1 point as they swept to the top of Pool B. Saoirse Nugent, Coláiste Naomh Cormac, was the spoiler when she defeated Jasmine in 3rd singles 11/7. Gallen had two other close encounters when Jasmine pulled off an 11/10 win against Lucy O’Rourke, Killina, and Natalie and Hayley scored the last point in another 11/10 against Nandana Anilkmar and Amna Asif, SHS 2. Hayley had previously outscored Amna 11/9. Gallen was the first Pool B team to reach a semi-final. They were followed quickly by Killina 1. Grace Buckley, Katie O’Toole, Ciara Nugent, Lucy O’Rourke, Maebh Coll and Anna Doyle played for Killina 1. Grace played dangerously in 1st singles, against Sacred Heart School, only earning an 11/10 victory against Nandana Anilkmar. Katie dropped 2nd singles 9/11 to Amna Asif, but the remainder of the team sailed through their games, to win the match 5-1. Killina registered 4 close victories against CNC, when Katie outscored Bláithín Egan 11/10, Maebh outscored Emily Byrne 11/10, and Grace and Ciara outscored Hannah Dunne and Bláithín 11/9. Saoirse and Emily got some revenge back for CNC with an 11/9 win against Katie and Maebh. Killina had no definitive answer to Gallen, and lost 6-0. Sacred Heart and Coáiste Naomh Cormac fought out a 3-3 draw with Sacred Heart scoring a technical win, 54 points to 52 points. Hannah Dunne, Bláithín Egan and Emily Byrne

won for CNC. Chloe Maher, 3rd singles and Nandana and Amna and Chloe and Shauna Scully in doubles, won for Sacred Heart. Other members of the CNC team were Saoirse Nugent and Vytaute Volcauskaita.

U14 Boys: Colaiste Naomh Cormac 1 sailed through Pool A with a perfect score, three 6-0 wins. Players for CNC were Harry McQuade, Liam Kilmartin, Cody Kenny, Eoin Lambe and Cody Mahon. St. Brendan’s team of Aodhan Carroll, Calum Hunt, Oscar Boyd, Dara Franks, Jack Collins and Damien Zielinski got as close as 8/11, but couldn’t break through into an 11 point win. The Cisterian College Roscrea 2 team, Linus, Conor O’Brien, Daithí Gantly, Tom Gillman, and Donal Ryan, never broke the magic 11, their highest being 9 in 2nd singles. Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa represented by Charlie Dignam, Sean Mullen, Ryan Fleming, Danny Molloy, and Matthew Moran, barely managed scores against CNC. As in Pool A Girls, the real race was for runner-up. Cistercian College 2 and St. Brendan’s 1 both scored 6 wins against Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa. When the two teams met in the head to head, the race hotted up. Jack Collins, St. Brendan’s outscored Tom Gillman, CCR 2, 11/9. Conor O’Brien, CCR 2, levelled with an 11/5 win against Damien Zielinski. Donal Ryan, put CCR 2 ahead with and 11/9 win over Oscar Boyd, St. Brendan’s. The next two games went down to the wire, 11/10 with Dara Franks winning for St. Brendan’s in 4th singles, and Tom Gillman and Conor O’Brien CCR 2, winning 1st doubles. With both teams’ supporters on edge and cheering their team on, Oscar and Dara, St. Brendan’s, outscored Linus and Daithí Gantly, CCR 2, 11/7, a 3-3 draw. CCR 2 were slightly ahead on points, 57/52. Cistercian and St. Brendan’s each had 66 points against ASCN. Cistercian scored 29 points against CNC 1. The last Pool Match was CNC v St. Brendan’s. St. Brendan’s knew what they had to do, score at least 31 points for a draw and 32 points to finish runners-up. When the scoresheets were handed in, there was a discrepancy. One sheet had St. Brendan’s at 1, the other sheet had St. Brendan’s at 3. Players were questioned, the scorekeeper was questioned. They finally agreed the score was 1, St. Brendan’s 31 points. St. Brendan’s and CCR 2 each had 9 wins and 154 points, so for the third time this season, a 1st doubles replay was needed to separate the two teams. The original score was 11/10 to CCR and Tom Gillman and Conor O’Brien won the play-off for CCR. Pool 2: Pool B finished very straightforward. Coláiste Naomh Cormac swept their three matches, 6-0. The Cistercian College Roscrea 1 team of Rónán O’Neill. Sam Maher, Charlie England, and Paddy Holohan, scored 37 points against Charlie O’Donoghue, Stephen Newton, Jack Longworth, and Jayden Flaherty, CNC 2. Joshua Tooher and Brian Leonard were the subs for CNC. CNC’s other 2 opponents were held to 12 and 13 points total. When CCR 1 met St. Brendan’s 2, Barry Bennett, Jack O’Connor, Cillian Burke, Declan O’Meara and subs Philip Larkin and Alan Corrigan,, CCR 1 scored a 6-0 win. Fourth singles and first doubles both went to 11/9 with Paddy outscoring Declan, and Rónán and Sam outscoring Barry and Jack. Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa’s players Nathan Kelly, John Carroll, Liam Fitzpatrick, and Corey Melia broke CCR’s scoring streak when Corey outscored Paddy Holohan, 11/8. Despite the win, ASCN only managed 36 total points. The battle for the wooden spoon pitted ASCN 1 against St. Brendan’s 2. The pairs were level on points going into the match. Barry Bennet, St. Brendan’s outscored Nathan Kelly 11/7. John Carroll, ASCN bested Declan O’Meara 11/5. Philip Larkin, St. Brendan’s put his team ahead, 11/8 against Liam Fitzpatrick. Corey Melia left the match level 2-2 with an 11/3 win against Alan Corrigan. Both doubles finished 11/10. Barry and Declan, St. Brendan’s, won 1st doubles, and Liam and Corey, ASCN, won 2nd doubles. Even though both teams lost 6-0 to CNC, ASCN had taken the 1 win from CCR, so following the draw against St. Brendan’s, Ard Scoil Chiarán finished third in the pool.

Semi-finals: The Sacred Heart 1 team of Rocio Sanchez, Avrit Machado, Elizabeth Aubin and Alyannah Martinez met Killina 1, Grace Buckley, Katie O’Toole, Ciara Nugent, and Lucy O’Rourke in the first semi-final. First singles, Rocio prevailed over Grace, 11/7, win 1 for SHS. Avrit put SHS two wins up by defeating Katie 11/1. Ciara put Killina on the scoreboard 11/7 against Elizabeth. Lucy levelled the score for Killina with an 11/8 win against Alyannah. In 1st doubles, Rocio and Avrit had the inside track, having won both their singles, and they delivered with an 11/7 win against Grace and Ciara, 3-2 for SHS. Second doubles was uncertain. Elizabeth and Alyannah both lost their singles for SHS. Katie lost for Killina, but Lucy won. Both supporters got behind their teams, and the game as well as the supporters was exciting and competitive. After a see-saw battle with one pair up and then the other, Elizabeth and Alyannah won 11/10 to seal the win for Sacred Heart. The second semi-final featured Gallen CS, Natalie McIntyre, Hayley Jordan, Jasmine McIntyre and Niamh Kavanagh against St. Brendan’s team, Síofra Ginty, Amber Mortimer, Eve Kirwan, and Kate O’Brien. St. Brendan’s got off to a flying start with wins for Síofra outscoring Natalie 11/7 and Amber outscoring Hayley 11/9. Jasmine and Niamh levelled for Gallen against Eve, 11/1 and Kate, 11/7. Despite the fact that Natalie and Hayley lost their singles, their doubles game was on a higher level but at the end Síofra and Eve won 11/10. Jasmine and Niamh rescued the match for Gallen, winning 11/4 against Amber and Kate. With a 3-3 draw, points scored were important. Both teams agreed on the points scored in each game, and with total of 59 points to 47, Gallen CS were through to meet Sacred Heart 1 in the Girls’ Final. On the boys’ semi-final courts, Coláiste Naomh Cormac 1 met Cistercian College Roscrea 1 and Coláiste Naomh Cormac 2 met Cistercian College Roscrea 2. The CNC 1 team, Harry McQuade, Liam Kilmartin, Eoin Lambe, Cody Kenny and Cody Mahon won all 6 games by wide margins against CRC 1 players, Rónán O’Neill, Sam Maher, Charlie England, and Paddy Holohan. In the second semi-final, Cistercian College Roscrea 2, Tom Gillman, Conor O’Brien, Donal Ryan, and Linus scored one win against the CNC 2 team of Charlie O’Donoghue, Stephen Newton, Jack Longworth, and Jayden Flaherty. Donal Ryan was the hero for CCR 2 when he won 3rd singles 11/9. The Boys’ Final matched CNC 1 against CNC2.

The Finals: The Girls final between Sacred Heart School 1 and Gallen CS was the first on court. Rocio Sanchez scored the first win for Sacred Heart, 11/8 against Natalie McIntyre, Gallen. Avrit Machado, Sacred Heart, won 2nd singles against Hayley Jordan, 11/7. Jasmine McIntyre, Gallen, fought a tremendous battle with Elizabeth Aubin, but Elizabeth finally prevailed, 11/10. Now pressure was on Gallen, but Niamh Kavanagh rose to the occasion and won 4th singles 11/8 against Alyannah Martinez. The two doubles games were very competitive. When the last shuttle was hit in 1st doubles, Rocio and Avrit won for Sacred Heart, 11/9 against Natalie and Hayley. Second doubles was even closer, but Jasmine and Niamh, Gallen, put the last shuttle on the floor to win 11/10 against Elizabeth and Alyannah. Sacred Heart School 1 will represent Offaly in Division 2 Leinster and Gallen CS will represent Offaly in Division 3. As there was adequate time, the Boys’ Final between Coláiste Naomh Cormac 1 and Coláiste Naomh Cormac 2 played their games to 15 points. CNC 2 got off to a surprise start when Charlie O’Donoghue CNC 2 defeated Harry McQuade CNC 1, 15/11. Stephen Newton, CNC2 followed with a 15/13 win against CNC’s Liam Kilmartin. Eoin Lambe, CNC 1 scored their first win against Jack Longworth, CNC 2. Cody Mahon, CNC1 levelled the match with a 15/10 win against Jayden Flaherty. CNC1 dominated the doubles. Harry and Eoin defeated Charlie and Stephen 15/11. Cody Kenny and Liam outscored Jayden and Jack, 15/7. Both Coláiste Naomh Cormac teams will represent Offaly in Leinster, CNC 1 in Division 2 and CNC 2 in Division 3. The Leinster finals will be played 9 March in Baldoyle, Dublin.