Ireland finish second in the Home Internationals 2010

Ireland finish second in the Home Internationals 2010

Ireland had their highest finish in this event since 2005. A new look Irish team had two Home International debutants at four and five in the form of Nathaniel Healy and Kieran Murphy and both were to win key matches on the way to Irelands second place.

Ed Cunningham, playing at number two, was out of sorts for his first match against David Walters of Wales and went down in straight games but he recovered to find his best form in a long time to come back from one nil down against James Hopgood of Scotland and record a 2-1 victory.
Patsy Fitzgerald, playing at three, had a good weekends performance. Having won his first two matches was unlucky to go down 2-1 to an in form Jamie Burch of England. Patsy finished with the most triple peels of the Irish (3), despite an unorthodox and nerve racking like finish to his match with Chris Williams of Wales.
Nathaniel Healy was disappointed with his results against Wales and England in particular but did well to win 2-0 against Martin Stephenson and secure an overall 5-0 whitewash of Scotland.
The Captain, Andrew Johnston had a mixed bag of results. Making one error against an in form Ian Burridge of Wales was costly and allowing Robert Fulford back into the match resulted in a 2-1 loss for the Irish.
Undoubtedly the Captain’s player of the tournament was Kieran Murphy from the Newcastle Club. Making his senior debut he acquitted himself in style, displaying focus, determination and skill. Kieran followed team orders diligently and was rewarded by winning all three of his matches including the highly ranked Mark Avery from England.
England were the overall winners, proving too strong for everyone again. This event was an important stepping stone in building a new team for the future.