Fast and furious action in Offaly badminton

Action on the badminton courts in Mucklagh Community Centre was fast and furious when U13 and U17 singles competitions were played. The pressure was on as over half the players were from Killoughey and wanted to be out in time to view the Offaly Hurling Final in person or on TV.

U13 Girls:

U13 Girls was the smallest competition with only five contestants, so the girls played two rounds. U13 Girls was also the tightest competition. Grainne Maher, Killoughey, was in front on her own with 8 wins to claim the Championship trophy, but after that, points mattered. Faye Dunne, Killoughey, and Ella Neville, Killoughey, finished level on wins with 5 apiece. They each scored 17 points in their 3 losses, so the 2nd and 3rd places had to be decided on the heads-to-heads which were split with one win each. Faye scored 21 points in the two games, so was awarded the Silver Medal.

With only 18 points in the head-to-heads, Ella had to settle for the Bronze Medal. The tension carried on into the Plate. Hazel Harrington and Maeve Lambe, both Boora, finished with one win apiece. Against the odds of happening a second time in one competition, the girls were level on 26 points scored in the losses. Again, the decider was points scored in the two head-to-head games, one which was won by each girl. Mave was declared the Plate winner with 21 points in the two games. Hazel was awarded the Plate Silver medal with 19 points.

U13 Boys:

Tension and excitement didn’t end with the U13 Girls, but carried on into the U13 Boys. Eight boys played for honours in U13, 7 of them from Killoughey and their fellow Killoughey hurler from Boora club, Michael Hanlon. Liam Conroy and Kyle Newton finished on 6 wins apiece. If William Keenan could have scored one more point against Páidí Corroon, he would also have been in the mix, but he lost 10/1. Liam and Kyle each scored 8 points in their loses. So the head-to-head was checked. Kyle Newton won the head-to-head so was declared the U13 Boys Offaly Singles Championship winner. Liam Conroy was awarded the Championship Silver Medal.

Even though William Keenan was only 1 point off the top two players, he had to fight off Páidí Corroon for third place. William scored 5 wins and 18 points to claim the Bronze for 3rd place, and Páidí, with 5 wins and 9 points won the Bronze for 4th place. The Singles Plate placing was more straight forward. Fergus Conroy won three games to claim the Singles Plate. Noah Treacy followed with two wins to claim the Plate Silver Medal. Michael Hanlon finished with the Plate Bronze for 3rd and Oisín Mahon won the Plate Bronze for 4th.

U17 Girls:

After the tension selecting winners in the U13, the U17 Girls played out very straightforward. Jennifer Winston, Phoenix, continued on her winning ways from the U15’s. Jennifer finished undefeated in the U17’s, winning all of her games as she did in the U15’s. Saoirse Murphy, Killoughey, was the only one that could compete with her, scoring 7 points.

Jennifer was presented with the U17 Championship trophy. Erin Dooley, Country Club, finished in 2nd with 6 wins, her only loss to Jennifer, and received the Championship Silver Medal. Zoe Farrell, Killoughey, won the Championship Bronze for 3rd, with 5 wins, losing to Jennifer and Erin. Saoirse Murphy followed in Championship 4th Bronze with 4 wins.

Alana Gellar, Killoughey topped the Plate group. Alana scored 3 wins to receive the plaque for winning the Plate. Siún Joyce, Killoughey, won the Plate Silver Medal with 2 wins. Ava Dunne, Killoughey, finished with the Plate Bronze for 3rd, and Emily Doyle was awarded the Plate Bronze for 4th.

U17 Boys:

Darren Joby finished a clean sweep for Phoenix in the U17 competitions. Darren finished 4th in the Championship in the U20, but made no mistakes in the U17, winning 7 of 7 games to claim the Championship Trophy. Stephen Russell, Country Club, only lost to Darren, so scored 6 wins to receive the Championship Silver Medal. Into 3rd place for the Championship Bronze was Ryan Franks, Country Club.

The only tension in U17 Boys came between 4th in the Championship and Plate Winner. Josh Dooley, Country Club, and Conor McEvoy, Killoughey, both finished on 3 wins. When the countback of points scored in their loses, Conor McEvoy finished on 3 wins and 19 points to finish in the Championship with the 4th place Bronze. Josh Dooley was awarded the Plate Winners Plaque with 3 wins and 10 points. Ronan Lambe was the most unlucky player on the day. Ronan, Boora/Killoughey, lost two games 10/11. If he would have won even one more point in one game, the remainder of the Plate placings, and maybe even the Championship ones, would have been entirely different. Reece Treacy, Killoughey, an U15 playing up, finished with the Plate Silver Medal. Close behind in Plate 3rd Bronze was Kian Guinan from Boora. Ronan Lambe received the Plate Bronze Medal for 4th.

Coming Events:

This completes the Offaly Singles competitions for 2026-2027. These results will be used to help select the Offaly Intercounty Teams. The Doubles competitions first and second round will be played in November. On November 15, all the Girls Doubles and the Division 1 and 2 Boys will be played in Mucklagh. The Division 5, 4, and 3 Boys will play on the 29th of November. Just as a reminder, unless a player enters the singles or doubles before Christmas, they are ineligible for an Offaly team except in exceptional circumstances.