February

Last weekend was a busy week on the inter-county scene with two Wexford teams in action in the Leinster class 3 inter-county championships.  On home turf in Ramsgrange Community College New Ross club member Ralph Stone was in sparkling form for the first team who defeated Wicklow 6-1, but lost out in the final game to Kilkenny by 5 games to 2.  Ralph was unbeaten on the day winning all four of his matches when teaming up with one time Monaseed club partner Philip Wadding in the men’s doubles and Taghmon star Gillian Murphy in the mixed doubles. 

Meanwhile the young New Ross quartet of Orla Deegan, Amy McGuinness, Eoin Mernagh and Wayne Redmond were playing away in Carlow with the county under-19 squad who were gaining much needed additional practice and experience ahead of the under-19 inter county championship.  Unfortunately it was very much an under-strength youth team minus the services of Elaine Dunne and Donal O’Keefe that took on the experienced Carlow and Laois outfits and it was no surprise that they lost both matches by six games to one.  It was not all doom and gloom however as Orla Deegan enhanced her singles reputation and raised a few eyebrows when she defeated her Laois opponent 11-7, 11-9 in the ladies singles.  Orla’s performances this season have resulted in recognition by the Leinster provincial selectors and she is currently attending training and trials with the Leinster under-17 squad.

A disappointing weekend also for under-13 star Laura Lynch who lost out in the semi-finals of the All-Ireland under 13 girls singles and doubles competitions held in Colaiste Phobal, Roscrea on Saturday and Sunday last.  Laura had been showing good form of late and despite a fine 11-2,11-1 quarter final defeat of Connaught star Orla Creaven she was well below her best in the semi-final on Sunday when losing to the number one seed Ciara Predergast 11-6, 11-0.  Laura and partner Kate Mullery were the number two seeds in the girl’s doubles, but again both were well below their best and made a tame exit in the semi-final to the Ulster pairing of Emma Calow and Caroline Davis 11-3, 11-9.

On the home front the ladies novice team continue to impress in the Wexford ladies league and followed up their fine away victory over Olympic with a home success over a game Clonard team.  New Ross started this match brightly and took both opening doubles in two sets to race into a 4- 0 lead.  Clonard fought back however to take the first of the reverse doubles and in the last match of the night Frances Murphy and Mary Kavanagh just managed to hold out to win in three sets and leave the final score at 6-3 in favour of the home team.  New Ross team: Theresa Fenlon (capt), Frances Murphy, Fiona Phelan and Mary Kavanagh.

In the division 3 men’s league the home side entertained local rivals Tereerath, but lost by 7 games to 2.  This was always going to be a tricky game against the divisional favourites and recent Waterford division 1 runners-up, but is another case of where the score line does not do justice to the home side.  All games were close and exciting, but the more evenly balanced visitors had just too much overall strength on the night.  Ralph Stone and Martin Regan secured the two points for New Ross when they won a marathon opening 3 setter by 2 sets to 1.  New Ross team: Ralph Stone, Martin Regan, Billy Bennett (capt) and Adrian Delaney.  Terrerath team:  Seamus Creane, Jimmy Sinnot, John Joe Murphy and Sonny Cahill.

The highlight of the Badminton year took place on Saturday and Sunday last with the staging of the All-Ireland Senior and under 15 badminton championships in the Balydoyle Badminton Centre.  In the under 15 grade Laura Lynch from New Ross defeated Ciara O’Donohue 11-5, 11-4 in round one of the girls singles before losing 11-4, 11-6 to the highly rated Dublin player Kellie O’Flynn.  In the girls doubles the withdrawal of the second seeds Elaine Dunne and Jenny Irvine left the bottom of the draw wide open and Laura and partner Ciara Prendergast took full advantage of the situation to progress to the final of the girl’s doubles.  Receiving a walkover from the number 2 seeds Laura and Ciara defeated Sarah Walsh and Ciara O’Donohue 11-3, 11-2, before completing a very impressive semi-final victory of 11-1, 11-0 over Susan Herbet and Alison Murphy.  Irish international stars and the number one seeds Erin Keery & Gemma Richie were always going to be too strong in the final, but their young under-13 opponents did make them work for their success particularly in the second set before losing 11-1, 11-2.  Overall this was a major achievement for the New Ross and Ennis stars who still have two more years to compete at this level to try and turn their All-Ireland silver to gold. 

Wexford are slowly gaining a growing reputation at under-age level and this was further reflected in the results from Terenure on Sunday in the Leinster under-17 championships.  Early morning success in the qualifying group over Offaly and Kildare secured Wexford a place in the top section for the afternoon sessions.  Wexford beat Kilkenny in the semi-final before losing narrowly 3-2 in the final to Carlow.  Local player Orla Deegan was one of the Wexford stars on the day winning all 4 of her singles and doubles matches.  Full panel: Orla Deegan, Amy McGuinness (New Ross), Marianne Carroll, (Taghmon) Donal O’Keefe (Olympic), Craig Healy, Robert Miller (Clonard), Joey Doyle Davidstown. Team Manger Anne Carroll.

In the domestic leagues New Ross suffered a major setback in the Waterford mixed league when losing 5-1 away to Lismore.  New Ross were minus Orla Deegan who was away with the county under-17 squad and with Karen Henessey and Laura Lynch also not available Helen Moore was drafted in to complete the team.  New Ross however were well below par in all games with exception of the first ladies where Rosemary Burke and Brideen Lynch were to win the only point for the visitors. 

The top two in the ladies novice league met in New Ross on Monday night when Taghmon were the visitors.  With the outcome of the league possibly to be decided on the result of the game it was always going to be tense and exciting and so it turned out.  The New Ross first ladies of Theresa Fenlon and Frances Murphy maintained their unbeaten record to secure the opening two points, but Taghmon hit back to win the second ladies to leave the score at 2-2.  Taghmon took the next game in three sets before Frances Murphy and Bernie Merrigan won the last game of the night also in three sets to leave the final score at 5-5 and both teams still very much in contention and all to play for in the weeks ahead.

In the Wexford Division 3 Men’s league New Ross lost their second successive game when going down 5-4 away to Tagmon. Victors on the night for New Ross were Ralph Stone and Martin Regan in the first men’s doubles and Martin secured his second victory of the night when he teamed up with Adrian Delaney to win the second of the reverse doubles.

It was a successful trip north for Laura Lynch last weekend to the headquarters of the Ulster Badminton Federation in Lisburn, County Down as she achieved her first singles success on the grand prix circuit with victory in the girls under 13 singles competition.  Laura had come close on several occasions during the season, but eventually achieved a reward for her dedication and hard work with a trilling three sets victory over the number one seed and local favourite Emma Calow.  Laura was seeded number 2 in the event and despite this being her first time playing in the very open Lisburn arena with its twelve badminton courts arranged in rows of three she settled quickly in her qualifying group to win all her matches and qualify for the semi-finals on Saturday evening.  In the semi-final she was playing the un-seeded Laura Kennedy, while Emma Calow was also up against another un-seeded player in Tracy Watson.  Laura was very much on top throughout her encounter and was never in trouble winning comfortably in two sets 11-2, 11-3. The other semi-final was a much closer affair with the number one seed recovering well from a first set loss to win 5-11, 13-11, 11-7 and set up a first ever meeting with her Wexford and Leinster opponent.  The final itself on Sunday morning was a trilling encounter played in a very sporting manner by two extremely fit young athletes.  Laura was the first to settle and won the opening set 11-5, before the Ulster star hit back to take the second set 11-8.  The third set was a real thriller with the game level on five occasions before Laura managed to get the last vital three aces to win 13-10 and secure her first major open singles victory.

In the local county leagues Taghmon and New Ross met in a top of the table clash in division two of the ladies doubles league.  New Ross had won the home encounter by 6 games to 4 but this time Taghmon reversed the first round result and secured a fine 6-4 success.  Karen Hennesey and Orla Deegan achieved new Ross only victory in the second ladies.  Brideen Lynch and Rosemary Burke lost in two straight sets to the Kehoe sisters Siobhan and Deirdre, while in the reverse doubles all games went to three, but Taghmon took the two points in both games with victories for Siobahn Kehoe and Gillian Murphy over Karen Hennessey and Brideen Lynch, while Deirdre Kehoe and Helen Ryan were successful by the margin against Rosemary Burke and Orla Deegan.  The result leaves the division wide open with both teams having identical points and one game to play against bottom of the table Olympic.

In the division 3 men’s league high flying Olympic visited New Ross and secured a fine 7-3 victory over the home side.  New Ross were minus the services of Ralph Stone and Martin Regan, but returning to competitive badminton was one time Kilkenny inter county star Joe Ryan.  Joe was in fine form after his layoff with a serious back injury and he and team captain Billy Bennett secured New Ross only win in the first men’s doubles with the other point obtained for the home side in the reverse doubles by Billy Bennett and Adrian Delaney.

The highlight of the domestic badminton calendar took place in Ramsgrange Community College on Saturday night last with the finals of the county individual championships.  Proceedings began at 6:30 p.m. and continued until 10.30 with over 30 keenly contested finals in seven grades.  It was a night of celebrations and personal achievements for many and among them was New Ross under 17 star Orla Deegan who became Wexford’s top ranked ladies singles player when she defeated another rising star Elaine Dunne from Taghmon in the division 1 ladies final on a score of 11-3, 11-2.  It has been an outstanding season to-date for Orla who also added the division 3 title for good measure and is hoping to make the Leinster under 17 team who travel to Nottingham later in the month.  There was also a notable double for Brideen Lynch in the division 1 ladies doubles and division 2 mixed doubles events.  Brideen and partner Rosemary Burke retained their ladies doubles title by defeating the Taghmon partnership of Deirdre Kehoe and Gillian Murphy 5/11, 11-8, 11/3 in a game that was slow to start but improved as both partnerships got to grips with their surroundings.  Brideen then partnered Ralph Stone to win the second division mixed title in impressive fashion with an 11/6, 11/1 success over last year’s winner Miriam Butler (Clonroche) and new partner Seamus Creane (Terrerath).  While Mum was winning her umpteen-title son Alan was winning his first in the division 6 doubles when partnered by Eoin Mernagh.  Alan then doubled his total in the mixed doubles when ably assisted by Amy McGuinness.  Not to be outdone Amy won her second title when she combined with sister Laura to win the division 6 ladies doubles.   While Mum and older brother Alan was keeping the Lynch name to the fore Laura got in on the act and repeated her county charity success over a very game Tara Kehoe from Olympic in the division 5 ladies singles.  This was a very tight game all through, with Laura just holding on to win 6/11, 11/9,13/10.  Laura had also qualified for the division 4 singles final but had to give best to the experienced Karen Vaughey (Ballycogley) although the young New Ross star made a valiant effort in the second set before losing 11/5 11/8.  In the division 2 men’s singles Fin Rooney (Olympic) received a walk over from the injured Noel Carton (New Ross) and Brian Cullen and Adrian Delaney never really got going in the division 4 men’s doubles when losing in two straight sets to the experienced campaigners Seamus Redmond and Richard Byrne (Olympic).  There was also a division 1 runners medal for Ralph Stone and Brideen Lynch in the division 1 mixed doubles and Ralph Stone and Seamus Creane in the division 1 men’s doubles.  The culprit on both occasions was Edward Cousins assisted by Gillian Murphy and J. J. Winters.  Amy McGuinness also had to settle for runners-up spot when losing in two straight sets to Elaine Morrissey from Taghmon in the division 6 ladies singles.  At the conclusion of the event the county chairman Jimmy Butler thanked all the players and organisers for the success of the tournament. Jimmy had a particular welcome for the former Wexford great Jimmy McDonald who was guest of honour on the night.  Jimmy is one of the all time badminton greats and he reminded all players present to get into early training for next season as he was considering making a comeback.

On the league scene the New Ross club’s title chasing novice ladies doubles team came a cropper at the final hurdle away to Davidstown when they were beaten 6-4 by the home side.  The title now looks destined for Taghmon who barring a major catastrophe should clinch the honour in their final game against Clonard.

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