Newcastle West end 40-year Pierce Purcell wait
A jubliant Newcastle West side following their win in the Pierce Purcell Shield All Ireland final 2012. Picture by Pat CashmanNewcastle West ended a 40-year wait in style when they cruised to a convincing 4-1 win over Connacht champions Gort to claim the Pierce Purcell Shield in the Chartis Europe Cups and Shields finals at Kinsale.
Wins by Patrick Magner and Noel Harnett and Liam Keane and Gerard Foley set the scene for the final pair of David Murphy and Eoin Duggan who ran out 4 and 2 winners over Ray Quinn and Andreas Edler.
Keane, who played for Limerick in the 1991 Munster Championship final against Kerry, was delighted with the team’s win.
“I’ve played a lot of sports down through the years and I don’t think anything compares to this,” said Keane. “The emotion shown out there by some of the older members of the club was second to none.
“We’ve had a lot of trials, a lot of training sessions and we’ve become very good friends and I suppose at the heel of the hunt this is the culmination of all the work we put in and all I can say is I’m over the moon, I’m delighted.”
Keane was understandably happy for his late father’s friends, who were on hand to witness the victory.
“My father introduced me to golf, there are some of the older members that played with him here today. All of those older members I’m absolutely delighted for them,” he said.
Team captain Michael O’Connor was almost at a loss for words as the magnitude of his club’s success started to dawn on him.
“When we think about it this evening and over the next few weeks it will probably sink in,” the skipper said. “It’s a great honour because they are the first team to ever do it for Newcastle West and I’m proud and honoured to be a part of the team, such a wonderful group of people.
“It’s been the best day of my sporting career and I’ve had a lot games played.”
Club Captain John Devine explained that preparation was key for the team.
“We prepared very well for this,” he said. “We’ve been preparing for this since last February and these lads are a fantastic bunch of golfers.
“We have a small squad, we kept to that squad. Every member of that panel played for Newcastle West Golf Club and it’s our first time (to win).
“We’re forty years playing in the Pierce Purcell and this is the our first Munster title and our first national title”
In the Senior Cup semi-finals, Warrenpoint and Castle Golf Clubs progressed to Saturday’s final while Roscommon survived a late scare against Leinster side Waterford to set up a final showdown with Ulster’s Killymoon.
In the Jimmy Bruen Shield final, Ulster champions Killymoon will take on the Connacht Champions Roscommon, the latter being captained by former Irish international Ken Kearney.
Killymoon, who beat Goldcoast in the semi-final, will be looking for their first ever Chartis Cups and Shields pennant.
Chartis Senior Cup
Semi-finals
Warrenpoint 3.5 Tramore 1.5 (Warrenpoint names first)
C Campbell Jnr bt P Power 5 and 4;
P Reavet lost to C Butler 1 hole;
P Gribben bt A Thomas at 19th;
S Coulter bt R Dawson at 19th;
R Gribben halved with D Kiely.
Castle 3.5 Co Sligo 1.5 (Castle names first)
J Hanby lost to M Durcan 1 hole;
C Deegan bt G Finnegan 2 and 1;
A Gleeson bt G McDermott 2 and 1;
J Walsh bt S Flanagan 1 hole;
D Holland halved with S O’Hara.
Chartis Pierce Purcell Shield
Final
Newcastle West 4 Gort 1
(Newcastle West names first)
P Magner & N Harnett bt D O’Dell & D Daly 5 and 3;
M Meehan & S Noonan halved with G Broderick & J Moylan;
L Keane & G Foley bt P Curtis & K Mulkerrins 5 an 4;
J McMahnon Jnr & F Moore halved with J Tierney & M O’Dell;
D Murphy & E Duggan bt R Quinn & A Edler 4 and 2.
Chartis Jimmy Bruen Shield
Semi-finals
Killymoon 3.5 Goldcoast 1.5 (Killymoon names first)
B Bleeks & D McCabe bt J Hallinan & I Pericho 1 hole;
K Wilson & R Montgomery halved with D Power & M Kavangh;
J Bleeks & T Doonan bt D Kiely & G Manning 2 and 1;
B Gogarty & S Devlin lost to G Bagge & DJ Kiely 3 and 1;
G Toal & M Lenny bt J O’Dwyer & J Hallinan 6 and 5.
Roscommon 3 Waterford 2 (Roscommon names first)
D Hill & J Walker bt C Ahern & G O’Mahony 2 and 1;
A Craven & S McConn lost to A Ryan & P Murphy 3 and 2;
L Casey & L Dowd lost to M Holohan & P Dunne 1 hole;
B Daly & P Geraghty bt W Doyle & B Griffin 1 hole;
P Hoare & F Ferguson bt G Buggy & G Dunphy 3 and 2.
Today
Chartis Senior Cup Final
Warrenpoint v Castle (Warrenpoint names first)
9.00: C Campbell Jnr v J Hanby.
9.10: D Barron v C Deegan.
9.20: P Gribben v A Gleeson.
9.30: S Coulter v J Walsh.
9.40: R Gribben v D Holland.
Chartis Jimmy Bruen Shield Final
Killymoon v Roscommon (Killymoon names first)
10.30: B Bleeks & D McCabe v D Hill & J Walker.
10.40: K Wilson & R Mongomery v A Craven & S McConn.
10.50: J Bleeks & T Doonan v L Casey & P McNally.
11.00: B Gogarty & S Devlin v B Daly & P Geraghty
11.10: G Toal & M Lenny v P Hoare & F Ferguson.