Badminton in Offaly: Sacred Heart and Coláiste Naomh Cormac win finals

Two girls’ teams and two boys’ teams dominated the U16 Offaly Post-Primary Schools competition when 8 Offaly schools met in Sacred Heart School, Tullamore. Sacred Heart 1 and St. Brendan’s for the girls and Coláiste Naomh Cormac 1 and Cistercian College Roscrea 1, flew through their respective pool games to reach the semi-finals.

Girls competition

Sacred Heart 1, from Pool 1,was the first team to qualify for a semi-final spot. The team of Avrit Machado, Kelly Shirley, Elizabeth Aubin, and Alyannah Martinez met Killina in their first game and were absolutely ruthless, winning all 6 games and allowing their opponents’ highest score to be 7. Banagher College Coláiste na Sionna did better against Sacred Heart. Amy Kelly defeated Avrit Machado in 1^st singles to give Banagher their first point. Holly Sexton only lost on the last stroke of the game to allow a win for Alyannah Martines in 4^th singles. The other 4 games scored heavily in favour of Sacred Heart players.

The game between the Banagher College team of Ailbhe Martin, Aoibhe Doyle, Amy Kelly Holly Sexton, and Freya Maher and the Killina team of Marie Minnock, Eva Minnock, Katie O’Toole, Lucy O’Rourke and Ciara Nugent became the battle for the pool runner-up and a place in the semifinals. Marie Minnock led off with a win in 1^st singles against Ailbhe Martin. Amy Kenny levelled the match for Banagher with a win against Eva Minnock. After that, it was all downhill for Banagher. The closest Banagher came to a 2^nd win was when Ailbhe and Amy scored 9 points against the 11 for Marie and Eva in 1^st doubles.

From Pool 1, Sacred Heart 1 and Killina went forward into the semifinals and Banagher College entered the play-off game for 5^th and 6^th.

Pool 2 featured 4 teams. Coláiste Naomh Cormac, Hannah Dunne, Alana Gellar, Alison Meacle, and Erin Mahon met Amna Asif, Nandana Anil Kumar, Hawi Okello and Hanna Pielach, Sacred Heart 2 in the first game. CNC led off with a win in 1^st singles and SHS 2 followed with a win in 2^nd singles. After that, CNC took charge and won the remaining 4 games. St. Brendan’s CS were even more dominate against Gallen CS, with the team of Siofra Ginty, Aisling Farrell, Rachel Hoare, and Katelyn Canham scoring 11 in all games against Emily Lynam, Irene Egan, Katie Kidney, and Eva Seery. Gallen scored their first win in 2^nd singles against SHS 2 when Irene Egan defeated Nandana Anil Kumar. SHS 2 scored wins in the other 5 games.

When St. Brendan’s met CNC, they showed their real strength. Alison Meacle, CNC, managed a win in 3^rd singles against Rachel Hoare, and the only other close game finished 11/10 in 2^nd doubles in favour of St. Brendan’s. Undaunted by their loss to St. Brendan’s, CNC went forward against Gallen, winning all 6 games. Katie Kidney, with 7 points, was highest scorer for Gallen. Sacred Heart 2 scored better against St. Brendan’s that CNC or Gallen, winning two games. Hawi Okello outscored Rachel Hoare in 3^rd singles, and Hawi and Zainar Safdar managed the last shuttle to the floor to win 2^nd doubles 11/10.

When points were added, St. Brendan’s topped the table with 15, followed by CNC to claim the two semifinal spots. Sacred Heart 2 earned the berth in the game for 5^th and 6^th.

Play offs

Sacred Heart 1 met Coláiste Naomh Cormac in Semifinal 1. Hannah Dunne led off for CNC with a win against Avrit Machado, 15/12. Kelly Shirley SHS 1 followed with a big win against Alana Gellar, CNC. Elizabeth Aubin put SHS 1 back in the lead with a 15/9 win against Alison Meacle CNC. Erin Mahon stepped up and levelled the match for CNC with a 15/13 win against Alyannah Martinez, SHS 1. The two doubles games had everyone holding their breath. The biggest whoosh at the end came from SHS. Avrit and Kelly managed a 15/13 win against Hannah and Alanna. Second doubles was even closer, but Elizabeth and Alyannah managed to put the shuttle to the CNC floor on the last stroke of the game for a 15/14 win to claim a 4-2 match win for SHS 1.

Only two games in the semifinal between St. Brendan’s and Killina generated excitement. Katelyn Canham, St. Brendan’s and Ciara Nugent, 4^th singles, fought a nip and tuck battle before Katelyn finally won for St. Brendan’s, 15/13. The result was reversed when Katelyn and her partner, Rachel Hoare met Ciara and her partner, Katie O’Toole. Killina won 15/12, leaving the match scoreline St. Brendan’s 5-Killina 1.

The match for 5^th and 6^th was up next, between Banagher College and Sacred Heart 2. Banagher College scored the first win on the last stroke of the game, Amy Kenny 15, Amna Asif 14. Nadana Anil Kumar outscored Aoibhe Doyle 15/9, one apiece. Holly Sexton defeated Hawi Okello, 15/7, 2-1 for Banagher. When Zainab Safdar, SHS 1, defeated Freya Maher, the match stood at 2 games apiece and each team had scored 21 points in their losses. Amna and Nandana scored the 1^st doubles win for SHS 1 but not without a struggle, 15/13 against Amy Kenny and Holly Sexton. When Hawi and Hanna Pielach won 2^nd doubles against Aoibe and Freya, the fate was sealed for Banagher College to finish 6^th behind SHS 2 in 5^th.

The girls final pitted Sacred Heart 1 against St. Brendan’s. Aisling Farrell of St. Brendan’s made quick work of her match against Avrit Machado, SHS 1, with a 15/7 score. Kelly Shirley, SHS 1 did the same against Siofra Ginty, St. Brendan’s, 15/7. Elizabeth Aubin, SHS 1, outscored Rachel Hoare, St. Brendan’s, 15/10. The real crunch game was 4^th singles between Katelyn Canham, St. Brendan’s and Alyannah Martinez, SHS 1. At 14-all, Alyannah’s racquet put the shuttle to Katelyn’s floor to score the winning point and give SHS 1 a 3-1 lead. Aisling and Siofra stepped up for St. Brendan’s and won 1^st doubles, 15/10 against Avrit and Kelly.

Would the match be a draw and go to points or would SHS 1 score a victory. The answer to the question rode on the score of 2^nd doubles. The game between Rachel and Katelyn, St. Brendan’s and Elizabeth and Alyannah, SHS 1 was hard fought and very tense. On the final scoreline of 15/13, SHS 1 scored their 4^th victory of the match to claim the winners’ trophy and a place in Division 2 Leinster. St. Brendan’s will play in Leinster Division 3. Two girls deserve special mention for their performance in the competition. Aisling Farrell, St. Brendan’s, played the entire day with no losses in 1^st singles and 1^st doubles. Kelly Shirley played 2^nd singles and 1^st doubles for SHS 1 and the only loss she suffered was against Aisling and Siofra in 1^st doubles in the final.

Boys competition

The boys competition was played off in two pools of 4 teams. One of the high points of the competition was the play of Wyatt Winston, Tullamore College. Wyatt plays for Leinster and Ireland, so all the other players got a chance so see, or compete against, a player of international standard. Wyattin singles, and with his doubles partner, won all their games in their matches, but that wasn’t enough to elevate Tullamore College to a semifinal spot. The Tullamore College team of Wyatt Winston, Adam Lucyznski, Stephen óg Ryan, Kajus Kavaliaus lost 2-4 to St. Brendan’s team, Piere Savy, Harry Larkin, Sean Hyens, and Adam Molyl.

For TC’s second match, against CNC 2, Aaron Mooney came in for 2^nd singles, Adam L moved to 3^rd, and Nathan Multaney came in at 4^th. The CNC team of Jack Longworth, Jack O’Brien, Bryan Feighery, Tiernan Donnelly and M.J. O’Brien scored the same results against TC, a 4-2 win. Against the Cistercian College I team, Stephen óg and Kajus came back into the lineup for Tullamore College. Even though the Cistercian pair of Ian Chan and Cormac Conneely played as many shuttle as possible to Wyatt’s partner Kajus, Wyatt was quick enough and clever enough to cover for Kajus and Tullamore College won their 2^nd game of the match. The results were a 4-2 win for CCR 1. CNC 2’s best scorer was Jack O’Brien with 8 in 3^rd singles when CNC 2 met CCR 1. CCR 1 went on to win 6-0.

CCR 1 scored the same 6-0 win against the St. Brendan’s team. St. Brendan’s versus CNC 2 proved to be the closest match of Pool 1. Piere Savy St. Brendan’s outscored Jack Longworth, CNC 2, 11/9. Harry Larkin, St. Brendan’s had the biggest win of the match 11/5 against Bryan Feighery, CNC 2. Sean Hynes, St. Brendan’s, worked hard to score 11 to Jack O’Brien’s 9 for CNC 2. Tiernan Donnelly made the breakthrough for CNC 2 outscoring Adam Motyl 11/7. Jack L and M. J. O’Brien fought hard, but could only score 8 against the 11 for St. Brendan’s Piere and Harry. Bryan and Jack O finished the match strongly for CNC 2 with an 11/8 win against Sean and Adam, St. Brendan’s. When all the wins were totalled, Cistercian College Roscrea 1 finished well ahead on 16 points to reach a semifinal. St. Brendan’s claimed the second semifinal spot.

Pool 2 was dominated by the CNC 1 team of Charlie O’Donoghue, Rogan Stirrat, Eoin Lambe, Stephen Newton, and Jayden Flaherty. The Killina team of John O’Meara, Stephen Russell, Troy Feery, and Tadhg Breatnach were the only team to dent the CNC 1 armour. John O’Meara and Troy Feery just slipped past Charlie O’Donoghue and Stephen Newton 11/10. CNC 2 won all 6 games against both Cistercian College 2 and Banagher College. They topped the group with 17 points, so the real battle was for the runner-up spot. Two points can make a big difference in a match. Banagher College met CCR 2 in one of the tightest Boys’ matches of the day. Tahir Devery BC met Luca McKeogh CCR 2 and finished with a score of 11/5 to Tahir.

Callum Hunt, CCR 2 scored 11 against 6 for James Slevin, BC. Liam Mulhare, BC had 3 to spare against Thomas Fillman, CCR 2, 11/8. Rodrigo Rubio, CCR 2 finished the singles with and 11/7 win against Lennon Goherty, BC. That left the match score 2 wins and 13 points apiece. Tahir and James for BC met Luca and Callum , CCR 2 in 1^st doubles. What a game. At 10-all, groans came from Banagher College as Tahir and James lost 11/10. Banagher spirits rose when Liam and Lennon took the game to Thomas and Rodrigo. However, history repeats itself. Again, at 10-all, CCR 2 scored the final point, 11/10 CCR2. Match results, CCR 2 4, Banagher College 2.

When CCR 2 met Killina, Killina showed strength they hadn’t exhibited against CNC 1. Thomas Fillman, 3^rd singles was the only CCR 2 player to score a win. Killina won the match 5-1. Killina and Banagher College played out the only draw in the boy’s competition. John O’Meara, Killina, outscored Tahir Devery 11/5. Stephen Russell, Killina, and Liam Mulhare, BC, went to the wire before Stephen finished the game to win for Killina, 11/10. Lennon Goherty got Banagher College their first win, 11-9, against Troy Feery, Killina. James Slevin followed on from Lennon ‘s win with another 11/9 victory for BC’s against Tadhg Breatnach, Killina. John and Stephen teamed up to win 1^st singles 11/3. Banagher College were not to be outdone. Lennon and James won a 3rd game for Banagher College to finish with the 3-3 draw. The 3-3 draw pushed Killina into second place behind Coláiste Naomh Cormac, and into a semi-final.

Boys play offs

Semifinal 1 pitted Cistercian College 1 against Killina. Ian Chan, CCR 1. Met and defeated John O’Meara, Killina, 15-6. Cormac Connelly, CCR 1 was given a tougher game by Stephen Russell, Killina, but still won with a scoreline of 15-11. In 3^rd singles Sean Maher, CCR 1 outscored Troy Feery, Killina by a big margin. Linus Au closed out the singles for CCR with another big win against Tadhg Breatnach. Ian and Cormac, CCR 1 defeated John and Troy, Killina, 15/8. Stephen and Tadhg finished the match on a high for Killina with a win in 2^nd doubles, 15/13 against Sean and Linus. Cistercian College 1 moves on to the Boy’s final.

Coláiste Naomh Cormac was untouchable in the second semifinal. Charlie O’Donoghue, Rogan Stirratt, Eoin Lambe, Stephen Newton, and Jayden Flaherty continued as they had played in the pool games. The team scored 6 wins against their St. Brendan’s opponents, Pierre Savy, Harry Larkin, Sean Hynes, and Adam Motyl.

The boys final

CNC 1 and CCR 1 faced off in the Final. Charlie O’Donoghue,

CNC 1 outscored Ian Chan, CCR 1 15/8. Rogan Stirratt followed with another 15/8 win for CNC 1 against Cormac Conneely, CCR 2. Sean Maher, 3^rd singles for CCR 1 went 1 better, scoring 9 in his loss to Eoin Lambe. Stephen Newton, CNC 1 finished the singles with another 15/9 win against Linus Au. Whatever about CNC’s dominance in singles, they lacked the teamwork to have the same punch in doubles. Ian and Cormac won 1^st singles for CCR 1 15/13 against Charlie and Stephen. Rogan and Jayden lost 2^nd doubles 14/15 when Sean and Linus, CCR 1 scored the final point to win 15/14. Colaiste Naomh Cormac will go forward to represent Offaly in Division 2 Leinster on February 27^th. Cistercian College 1 will represent Offaly in Leinster Division 3.