Tour caddie and former professional Chris Selfridge helped Moyola Park seal a famous comeback victory and their place in the Final of the AIG Barton Shield.
The 2012 AIG Irish Close Champion teamed up with Corey Scullion in the narrow wins over Ballinasloe and Castleknock as they advanced to the decider against Nenagh tomorrow morning.
The other final will see reigning champions Roscommon take on Mallow in the AIG Women’s Senior Foursomes after a thrilling day of action under the sun in Carlow Golf Club.
Moyola Park were one of the stories of the day, and having trailed five down in one match and one down in another Hilary Armstrong’s side showed grit and determination to battle back.
Former Irish international Selfridge and Scullion took a half in the opening game of their enthralling semi-final against Castleknock, before Luke Lennox and Dean Crawford took Quentin Carew and Mark Doogue to extra holes.
It culminated with Crawford making his putt on the third play-off hole before Doogue’s putt slid just past to see Moyola Park take victory.
“It’s been a long day, tough match this morning against Ballinasloe and then to come up against Castleknock, one of the strongest teams in Ireland,” said Armstrong.
“Some of us were actually planning our way home tonight so sometimes you just get lucky, in golf it’s never over until it’s over.”
Nenagh defeated Lee Valley in the quarter-final and then faced off against Millicent with that semi-final coming down to the last. David Reddan’s inspired chip helped them to secure a half on 18, and the victory.
“We have a strong team and a good steady base and we are looking forward to tomorrow,” said Nenagh Captain Eanna Jones.
“Brilliant, it’s the first Barton All-Ireland they have gotten to now in a long time, we were beaten in the Senior Cup quarter-final last year, so good to come back, same group of players, doing a lot of work. Great opportunity.”
Defending champions Roscommon were the first to book their place in the AIG Women’s Senior Foursomes Final. The Connacht outfit had beaten Malone earlier and it was Maeve Kelly and Carmel Walker who made it a clean sweep for team captain Annie Timothy’s side, with a dominant win over Co Louth in the semi-finals.
“Absolutely fantastic, it’s great to be back here again this year defending our title from last year,” said Timothy.
“We’ve been knocking on the door for a lot of years and last year the girls were successful in bringing home the pennant and this year we hope to defend successfully as well.”
Mallow stand between Roscommon and that defence, the Cork women came through a long day of play with their semi-final against Naas going the distance in each of their three matches. However it was Lynda Maher and Carmel Kearney who sealed the win in the end.
“It’s an amazing experience to be here number one, and to make the All-Ireland and then to get through to the quarter-final, the semi-final and now the final tomorrow,” said Mallow captain Edel Callanan.
“I just can’t wait now to get home, get some food, get them to bed and back out in the morning.
“We’ll take on anybody at the moment, my ladies are fit and fighting and ready to go tomorrow.”
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