Holders make winning starts at Women's and Girls' Interpros

An archive picture of Mary Doyle en route to her Irish Close win in 2014. Picture; Pat Cashman

Ulster got off to a winning start in their defence of the Women's Interprovincial Matches with a 5 ½ - 2 ½ win over Munster at Slieve Russell.

• Women: Connacht 1 ½ Leinster 6 ½; Ulster 5 ½ Munster 2 ½
• Girls: Munster 4 ½ Ulster 3 ½; Connacht 3 Leinster 5

They led Munster 2.5-0.5 after the foursomes but it was a closer affair in the singles as Lisa Maguire, Paula Grant and Tara Gribben claimed the three necessary winning points.

In the other match, Leinster beat Connacht 6.5 - 1.5 as they took the three points up for grabs in the foursomes and added three and a half points from the five singles, with wins from Ariana Coyle Diez, Ciara Casey, Meadhbh Doyle and a half point from Mary Doyle.

Shannon Burke managed to steal a full point for the Connacht team with a 2 and 1 win over Rachel Taylor.  

In the Girls' match, champions Munster beat Ulster 4 ½ - 3 ½ with the top foursomes pairings of Lisa O’Shea and Aideen Walsh and Clodagh Jones and Grace McGrath securing early wins

The holders conceded an early point in the afternoon singles as Jones had to withdraw from her match due to injury.

Ulster soon grew in confidence as they added points from Emma Forbes and Kate Dwyer but determined Munster players Aine Donegan and Grace McGrath secured the two essential points to ensure victory over the Ulster side.  

Leinster's girls beat Connacht 5-3 when the came back from losing the foursomes 2-1 with four wins out of five in the singles as Ellie Metcalfe, Lauren Walsh, Clodagh Walsh and Anna Foster all won.

Women's and Girls' Interprovincial Matches 2016, Slieve Russell

Wednesday 6 July – Draw

Girls

Munster –v- Leinster (Munster names first)
Girls' Foursomes

1. 08:00 Lisa O’Shea & Aine Donegan –v- Elisa Corcoran & Ellen O’Gorman
2. 08:10 Ciara Leonard & Aideen Walsh –v- Georgia Carr & Ellie Metcalfe
3. 08:20 Sara Byrne & Grace McGrath –v- Lauren Walsh & Clodagh Walsh

Munster –v- Leinster (Munster names first)
Women's Foursomes

1. 08:30 Chloe Ryan & Sarah Cunningham –v- Aedin Murphy & Deirdre Smith
2. 08:40 Aoife Lowry & Paula Walsh –v- Mary Doyle & Meadhbh Doyle
3. 08:50 Emma O’Driscoll & Katie Aherne –v- Ciara Casey & Rachel Taylor

 

Ulster –v- Connacht (Ulster names first)

Girls' Foursomes

1. 09:00 Emma Forbes & Maeve Cummins –v- Maeve Rooney & Niamh Cronin
2. 09:10 Anna Morwood & Olivia McClurg –v- Lorna Mullally & Roisin O’Brien
3. 09:20 Kate Dwyer & Becky McNiece –v- Chloe O’Connor & Niamh Smyth

Ulster –v- Connacht (Ulster names first)

Women’s Foursomes

1. 09:30 Lisa Maguire & Paula Grant –v- Hilary Hall & Maeve Kelly
2. 09:40 Chloe Weir & Tara Gribben –v- Shannon Burke & Anne Brett
3. 09:50 Niamh Ward & Jenny Young –v- Maureen Keane & Clodagh Hopkins

 

Tuesday 5 July – Results

Girls' Matches - Connacht 3 Leinster 5

Morning Foursomes - Connacht 2 Leinster 1

1. Maeve Rooney & Chloe O'Connor beat Ellie Metcalfe & Clodagh Walsh 2&1
2. Niamh Cronin & Roisin O'Brien lost to Elisa Corcoran & Ellen O'Gorman 5&3
3. Lorna Mullally & Niamh Smyth beat Georgia Carr & Anna Foster 3&2

Afternoon Singles - Connacht 1 Leinster 4

1. Maeve Rooney beat Elisa Corcoran 7&5
2. Lorna Mullally lost to Ellie Metcalfe 2&1
3. Chloe O'Connor lost to Lauren Walsh 5&4
4. Niamh Smyth lost to Clodagh Walsh 2&1
5. Amy Monaghan lost to Anna Foster 9&8

 

Girls' Matches – Ulster 3 ½ Munster 4 ½

Morning Foursomes  - Ulster ½ Munster 2½

1. Emma Forbes & Maeve Cummins lost to Lisa O'Shea & Aideen Walsh 3&2
2. Kate Dwyer & Beth Coulter lost to Clodagh Jones & Grace McGrath 4&3
3. Anna Morwood & Olivia McClurg halved with Sara Byrne & Ciara Leonard 

Girls' Afternoon Singles - Ulster 3 Munster 2

1. Emma Forbes beat Lisa O'Shea 3&2
2. Maeve Cummins beat Clodagh Jones 8&7 (w/d due to injury)
3. Kate Dwyer beat Sara Byrne 1up
4. Beth Coulter lost to Aine Donegan 1up
5. Becky McNeice lost to Grace McGrath 4&3

Women's Matches – Connacht 1 ½ Leinster 6 ½

Women's Morning Foursome — Connacht 0 Leinster 3

1. Shannon Burke & Anne Brett lost to Mary Doyle & Meadhbh Doyle 2&1
2. Maeve Kelly & Noreen Maloney lost to Aedin Murphy & Deirdre Smith 7&6
3. Hilary Hall & Maureen Keane lost to Ciara Casey & Rachel Taylor 4&2

Women's Afternoon Singles - Connacht 1 ½ Leinster 3 ½

1. Clodagh Hopkins lost to Ariana Coyle-Diez 5&3
2. Shannon Burke beat Rachel Taylor 2&1
3. Anne Brett lost to Ciara Casey 2&1 
4. Maeve Kelly lost to Meadhbh Doyle 4&2
5. Maureen Keane halved with Mary Doyle 

Women's Matches – Ulster 5 ½ Munster 2 ½

Women's Morning Foursome - Ulster 2½ Munster ½

1. Lisa Maguire & Paula Grant halved with Chloe Ryan & Sarah Cunningham  
2. Niamh Ward & Hannah Henderson beat Emma O'Driscoll & Tara Whelan 5&3
3. Chloe Weir & Tara Gribben beat Aoife Lowry & Paula Walsh 2&1

Women's Afternoon Singles  - Ulster 3 Munster 2

1. Lisa Maguire beat Sarah Cunningham 1up
2. Chloe Weir lost to Chloe Ryan 4&3
3. Paula Grant beat Katie Aherne 3&2
4. Niamh Ward lost to Emma O'Driscoll 4&2
5. Tara Gribben beat Aoife Lowry 2&1

Women Day 3

• Leinster –v- Ulster
• Connacht –v- Munste