Kilcormac school dominant in U-14 badminton competitions in Offaly

In neither the U19 nor U16 has a school been as dominant as Colaiste Naomh Cormac was when the Offaly U14 Post Primary schools travelled back to Cistercian College for the U14 Blitz to select schools to represent Offaly in the Leinster PP Schools U14 Finals on March 7.

Girls

The first girls’ game on court pitted CNC against St. Brendan’s CS, and the results showed the strength of CNC and did a disservice to St. Brendan’s.

The Kilcormac team of Aisling Mooney, Hannah Dunne, Alison Meacle, and Erin Mahon played with skill and determination against Aisling Farrell, Rachel Hoare, Katelyn Canham and Chloe Hogan. The St. Brendan’s girls never gave up and were extremely competitive in 4 of the 6 games. Rachel Hoare lost out to Hannah Dunne on the last stroke of the game, 14/15. Alison Meacle had a bit easier time, outscoring Katelyn Canham 15/12. Erin Mahon, CNC fought back and never gave up and finally outscored Chloe Hogan, St. Brendan’s, 15/13.

To finish the match, Alison and Erin earned another 15/13 win against Rachel and Katelyn, St. Brendan’s. was the only competitive match CNC played. Against Sacred Heart A team of Katrina, Catherine, Ella, and Bilha, the CNC players held the girls to single digit scores. The Sacred Heart B team of Maeve, Bronagh, Elisa and Paige, scored slightly better against Colaiste Naomh Cormac, but the results were still the same, a 6/0 victory for CNC.

In their final game, CNC met Killina. The team of Cara Moran, Siobhan Cassidy, Siofra Farrell, and Eimear Ryan had no better luck than the two Sacred Heart teams. Colaiste Naomh Cormac finished with a perfect record of 24 games played and 24 games won, and will go forward to represent Offaly in the Division 2 Leinster finals. St. Brendan’s CS team recovered quickly from their match against CNC.

The team of Aisling Farrell, Rachel Hoare Katelyn Canham, Chloe Hogan, and Kate Harris met the Sacred Heart A team of Katrina, Catherine, Ella, and Bilha, and scored 5 easy victories. Only in second doubles did Ella and Bilha put up a fight, before losing at the end 13/15 to Rachel and Katelyn. Sacred Heart B, Maeve, Bronagh, Elise, Paige and Jane, faced the might of St. Brendan’s and could hardly dent their armour. In this match, Elsa Corrigan substituted for Kate Harris in 1^st doubles for St. Brendan’s. The final team to challenge St. Brendan’s was the Killina team of Siofra Farrell, Cara Moran, Siobhan

Cassidy and Eimear Ryan, In their final match, Kate Harris teamed with Aisling Farrell is 1^st doubles and Elsa Corrigan teamed with Rachel Hoare in 2^nd doubles. St. Brendan’s scored another 6/0 win. With 6/0 victories in three of their four matches, St. Brendan’s goes forward to represent Offaly in Division 3 Leinster PP Schools finals.

Seldom has a competition been dominated by two such strong teams at the expense of the other teams. Killina, Sacred Heart School 1 and Sacred Heart School 2 played some very competitive games. Cara Moran, Killina, scored a 15/14 win against Catherine from SHS 1. Even though SHS 1 won the remaining games, the scores weren’t as one-sided as against CNC and St. Brendan’s. Against Sacred Heart School 2, Killina’s Cara Moran couldn’t repeat her results against SHS 1, and this time she lost to Bronagh 14/15. Elise, SHS 2 worked hard to defeat Siobhan Cassidy, Killina, 15/12. Eimear Ryan scored the first win for Killina, 15/8 against Paige. Killina finished with a flourish, winning 2^nd doubles15/7.

The match between the two Sacred Heart School teams really emphasized why the teams were designated 1 and 2. The SHS 1 team of Katrina, Catherine, Ella and Bilha dominated SHS 2, Maeve, Bronagh, Elise, and Paige, as they had Killina, and in any other year, might have been challenging for one of the top two places. Bronagh had scored a 15/14 win against Killina, but couldn’t repeat the results against her own schoolmates, and lost 14/15. Bronagh and Maeve played a very competitive game against Katrina and Catherine, but finished on the short end of an 11/15 score.

Boys

 Once the boys’ games got past the top team, the competition heated up, with three schools battling for 2^nd place, and it was left to the last match of the day to determine the outcome. The Colaiste Naomh Cormac A boys started as the girls did, with a 6 nil win, but this time it was against their own schoolmates. The CNC A team of Charlie O’Donoghue, Lochlann Fletcher A.J. Bracken and Joe Leonard outscored Theodore Kilmartin, Daniel Lambe, Aaron McDermott, M.J. O’Brien, Bryan Feighery, and Jack O’Brien in all 6 games.

Daniel and M.J. were competitive against Lockey and Joe, but the A team still prevailed. CNC A marched on from there. The only hiccup came in their second match against Cistercian College Roscrea when Pablo Durany outscored A.J. Bracken in 3^rd singles, 15/13.

Other members of the CCR team were Donal Ryan, Lineus Yeung, Kyle Connolly and Luca McKeogh. The Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa A team of Scott Mannerings, Eoghan Carroll, Jake Cornally and Frank Scanlon, stood up to CNC A but couldn’t manage the final two points. Eoghan lost to Lockey 13/15, Frank lost to Joe, 13/15, and Scott and Eoghan lost to Charlie and Lockey 13/15, Jake and Frank managed 11 scores before losing to A.J. and Joe. After receiving a few frights from ASCN A, the CNC A match against ASCN B was more straightforward.

Of the team of Jack, Cormac, Eoin, and M.J., only Eoin was competitive, scoring 12 points against A.J. Bracken. CNC A’s final game, against St. Brendan’s team of James O’Brien, Harry Larkin, Pierre Savy, and Ryan Legace was almost as competitive as CNC girls v St. Brendan’s girls. Harry, St. B scored 10 points against Lockey. Ryan, St. B, went 2 better and scored 12 against Joe. And in 2^nd doubles, only the last shuttle determined the outcome when AJ and Joe CNC A, outscored Pierre and Ryan 15/14.

After finishing their pool games with only 1 loss in 30 games in 5 matches, CNC A couldn’t be caught for top of the table, so will go forward to represent Offaly in Division 2 Leinster PP Schools finals. The CCR team of Donal Ryan, Lineus Yeung, Pablo Durany and Kyle Connolly dropped only 1 game to St. Brendan’s when Ryan Legace, St. Brendan’s, outscored Kyle. James O’Brien and Ryan, St. Brendan’s, were competitive against Donal and Lineus, losing 12/15 and Harry Larkin and Pierre Savy, St. Brendan’s,, lost to Pablo and Kyle, 13/15.

Scott Mannerings and Eoghan Carroll got ASCN A off to a flying start against CNC B with identical 15/6 wins against Theo Kilmartin and Daniel Lambe. Aaron McDermott flipped the score for CNC B, defeating Jake Cornally 15/6. M.J. O’Brien lost 4^th singles to Frank Scanlon, ASCN A.

Theo and Daniel were much more competitive in doubles against Scott and Eoghan, losing 12/15. Jake and Frank, finished the match with a win against Bryan Feighery and Jack O’Brien, CNC B. Match score 5-1 to ASCN A. When the St. Brendan’s team of James O’Brien, Harry Larkin, Pierre Savy, Ryan Legace and Sean met ASCN B, Tristian, Jack, Eoin, M.J., and Cormac, ASCN B could only win 2^nd singles when Jack outscored Harry 15/11.

ASCN B’s next match was against the Cistercian team of Donal Ryan, Lineus Yeung, Pablo Durany, and Kyle Connolly. The results were the same for ASCN B, 1-5, but for two strokes of the racquets, could have been so different. Cormac defeated Kyle 15/11 for ASCN. Jack lost to Lineus, CCR 14/15 and Eoin and M.J. lost to Pablo and Kyle, CCR, 14/15. 1^st doubles was very competitive with Donal and Lineus, CCR, outscoring Tristian and Jack, ASCN B 15/12.

When the St. Brendan’s team of James O’Brien, Harry Larkin, Pierre Savy, and Ryan Legace, matched off against CNC B, Theo Kilmartin, Daniel Lambe, Aaron McDermott, M.J. O’Brien, Bryan Feighery and Jack O’Brien, they were on fire, winning the first 3 singles games on the trot. When CNC B won the next 2 games, the match outcome hinged on 2^nd doubles. St. Brendan’s pairing of Harry and Pierre where not found wanting, winning by a big margin.

When CNC B met CCR, the teams did play out a draw. Donal Ryan, CCR, defeated Theo Kilmartin, 15/13. Daniel Lambe, CNC B, outscored Lineus Yeung 15/9. Pablo Durany put CCR back in front 15/12 against Aaron McDermott. M.J. O’Brien, CNC B, levelled the match with a matching score of 15/12 against Luca McKeogh.

When Theo and Daniel, CNC B, lost 1^st doubles to Donal and Lineus, the match outcome hinged on 2^nd doubles. Bryan Feighery and Jack O’Brien rose to the occasion for CNC and won their 1^st game of the day, 15/14 to cinch the draw for CNC B. A running table of scores was posted on the wall of the sports hall so all the teams could see where they stood in relation to others. From early on, a battle emerged for the runners-up spot between Cistercian College, St. Brendan’s CS, and Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa A. St. Brendan’s final match put them against ASCN A.

Scott Mannerings and Eoghan Carroll, got ASCN A’s usual start, winning 1^st and 2^nd singles against James O’Brien and Harry Larkin. Pierre Savy and Ryan Legace, St. Brendan’s, levelled the match against Frank Scanlon and Jake Cornally. 1^st doubles pitted Scott and Frank, ASCN A against James and Ryan, St. Brendan’s. ASCN A prevailed. 2^nd doubles also went to ASCN A when Eoghan and Jake defeated Harry and Pierre 15/11. St. Brendan’s finished on 13 wins. CCR and ASCN A met in what proved to be one of the big deciders of the blitz.

Again Scott Mannerings and Eoghan Carroll set ASCN A on course with wins in 1^st and 2^nd singles against Donal Ryan and Lineus Yeung. Pablo Durany opened the scoring for CCR with a win in 3^rd singles against Frank Scalon. When Luca McKeogh, CCR lost to Jake Cornally, CCR were in trouble. ASCN A continued winning through both doubles games. As this was Cistercian last match, and they finished on 15 points, 1 ahead of ASCN A who had a game in hand against ASCN B. At this point, ASCN B were engaged in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon with CNC B.

Theo Kilmartin CNC B won 1^st singles by a huge margin against Eoin. Jack, ASCN B levelled the match for Clara with a narrow 15/13 win against Daniel Lambe. Aaron McDermott and M.J. O’Brien both scored huge wins for CNC B in 3^rd and 4^th singles. Eoin and Jack for ASCN B scored Clara’s 2^nd win in 1^st doubles, defeating Theo and Daniel 15/13. Bryan Feighery and Jack O’Brien went on to win the match for CNC B with their 2^nd doubles win of the day, 15/14, against Tristian and M.J. Going into the final match of the day, ASCN A v ASCN B, the point tally read, St. Brendan’s 13; Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa A 14 and Cistercian College Roscrea 15.

As this was the final match and four courts were available, all 4 singles games commenced simultaneously. When ASCN A won the 4 singles games, the match was halted as there was now a definite runner-up, Ard Scoil Chiarán Naofa A. The Clara team will go forward to represent Offaly in Division 3 in the Leinster PP U14 Schools Finals on March.