Double Badminton success for Colaiste Naomh Cormac

Coláiste Naomh Cormac U-19 boys and girls badminton teams finished a day’s play in Sacred Heart School (SHS) Tullamore with both of the winners’ trophies on Thursday January 20th.

The girls’ team of Emily Rose Johnson, Caroline Meacle, Sarah Meacle, and Emma Rosney took the direct route to the top. Against Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa (ASCN), Clara, they scored a 4-2 win with victories in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd singles and 1st doubles. The score was identical against SHS 3. The team came into their own against SHS 1 with a clean sweep of all six games. The 14 points left them three ahead of ASCN and SHS 1 who tied on 11 wins each.

Time prevented CNC from playing a semi-final against Killina, so as Pool 1 winners, CNC met Banagher College Coláiste na Sionna (BCCNS) in the final. BCCNS dropped only two games on their way to the top in Pool 2. In four of the six games, CNC held their BCCNS opponents to single digit scores. Coláiste Naomh Cormac finished the day with a 5-1 victory in the final to finish their day with the winner’s trophy. 

The U-19 Boys, Richard Bracken, Richard Casey, Andrew Johnson, James Mahon, and Adam Screeney, played in a league of six teams and took a more direct route to victory. The last match of the day decided the outcome of the competition, but again, the real race was for runner-up.

CNC were ruthless against Killina 1, winning all six games while holding their opponents to single digits in all games. BCCNS, expected to be their toughest opponents, were disposed of 5-1. CNC pulled a lucky shot in the last game to win 15/14. St Brendan’s CS suffered a whitewash when CNC won again, 6-0. Neil Robbins, ASCN took the game to Adam Screeney, but Adam prevailed 15-12 and CNC won again 6-0.

At this stage everyone knew CNC, on 23 points and with a match in hand, would win, but the big questions were by how much and who would be runners-up. The first game in round 5 pitted ASNC against BCCNS, the two candidates for runners-up. If ASCN on 14 points won all six games, they couldn’t catch CNC, and would finish runners-up, but if BCCNS, on 18 points, could win all six games, they would go ahead of CNC. Banagher College had to win at least two games to finish 2nd. When the match was finished, they won five, and CNC and BCCNS were level on 23 points.

CNC had to play on to win. CNC met Killina 2 in the final game. CNC won the first two singles games, giving them 25 points. At this stage the match was declared over and CNC received the winner’s trophy on a score of 25-23. 

Many thanks goes to CNC Badminton coach Judy Bryant for her time and dedication to the teams. The two teams are scheduled to travel to Dublin on February 3rd to play the Leinster Finals Blitz.