Irish Masters Update Rounds 3 & 4.

On a weekend where Division 1 was washed out and most of the games forced to be completed outside the assigned time, it was Division 2 where all the excitement was. Kieran Murphy had an excellent weekend keeping a 100% record for the weekend including a hard fought late comeback against Jane Shorten and two grudge match victories over Danny Johnston and Ben Reeves Smyth.

This years team for the Home Internationals consisted of Ed Cunningham, Andy Johnston, Simon Williams, Patsy Fitzgerald and Gerard Healy playing in that order.

The opposition is never easy at this event, especially at positions 1 and 2. Ed and Andy were a little disappointed to both finish on 0/3. They had chances against their higher-ranked opponents but weren't able to capitalise.

Championship of Co. Dublin (Railway Cup)    Winner - Simon Williams    Runner Up - Patsy Fitzgerald

Doubles Championship (Coronation Bowls)   Winners - Simon Williams and David McGrath     Runners Up - Alice and Ben Reeves Smith

Handicap Singles (Boxwell Cup)     Winner - Martin Stephenson     Runner Up - Carl von Schmieder

Advanced Play (Duff Mathews Cup)     Winner - Campbell Morrison     Runner Up - John Swabey

Mirabeau Trophy    Winner - Jane O'Neill     Runner Up - Gerard Osborn Burke

The team selected to represent Ireland at the Home Internationals, to be played at  Surbiton on 14/15 June is:-

Ed Cunningham (C)
Andrew Johnston
Simon Williams
Patsy Fitzgerald
Gerard Healy.

Best of luck to them.

Scottish Croquet Association v Croquet Association of Ireland
10-11 May 2008
Meadows West, Edinburgh

SCA: Bruce Rannie, David Appleton, Martin Stephenson,
James Hopgood, Campbell Morrison (10 May only),
Fergus McInnes (11 May only)

CAI: Evan Newell, Jane Shorten, Nathaniel Healy,
Danny Johnston, Ben Harris

Match score: SCA 16, CAI 9.

Cunningham and Williams lead the field after day one of the Irish Masters in Herbert Park.

A great days weather helped get the Division One of the Irish masters Championship off to a flying start. Simon Williams and Ed Cunningham are undefeated after two rounds beating Patsy Fitzgerald and Andrew Johnston respectively in close matches. The losers both had clear cut chances to win the match. Both Williams and Cunningham won 2-0 in the afternoon to lead the table. Conor Broderick came back well against Michael O’Shaughnessy to win 2-0 in the morning session.

A revised format combined this years Silver and Bronze Medals held in Carrickmines under sunny skies. 9 players pitched into one block all-play-all, followed by a best-of-three final match between the top two players. Firm hoops challenged any sloppy play but on the other hand the lawns were quite easy-paced.

A familiar looking CAI Juniors team travelled to Nottingham with high hopes of overturning the CA team that won the inaugural competition the year before. This year was a mix of both golf croquet and handicap, the latter representing a great opportunity for us against some of the CA players with low handicaps.

The Irish Youths team battled well before losing out to England 39-22. The match was a mix of both Golf Croquet and Association Croquet creating a good test of all round Croquet skill. Congratulations to the team for a great effort.

Two members of the Council have indicated that they will not stand for re-election at the next AGM, leaving only five. Our Constitution states that there shall be eight members and that a quorum for a meeting shall be five, so that the absence of one member destroys the authority of the meeting.
Besides this formal point, there is a great deal of work to be done in regulating and planning for the development of croquet in Ireland..
Of the present members, four are A class players, whose personal focus is on competitive and international play.