Lyons comes up trumps as Connacht get the job done

By Declan Tierney

FOR only the fourth occasion in the province’s history, Connacht have captured golf’s Senior Interprovincial with a dramatic late, late victory over a hotly fancied Leinster outfit at Shannon Golf Club.

And it was highly appropriate that it was the veteran of many campaigns Joe Lyons of Galway Golf Club who secured the crucial point in the final singles match to lift the trophy by 6-5.

But while Lyons won the all-important match in the end, pride of place also has to go to some of the younger guns like Liam Nolan of Galway who romped to 5.5 points out of 6 and Athenry’s David Kitt who emerged with 4.5 points out of 6 during the course of the championship.

The competition is played over four foursomes followed by seven singles, and both Connacht and Leinster were deadlocked with one remaining match left out on the course.

Connacht had got off to a slightly rocky start with North Roscommon’s Jack McDonnell (Forrest Little) and TJ Ford (County Sligo) losing 2&1, with Allan Hill (Athenry) and Simon Walker (Roscommon) going down 5&4.

But this was compensated for when Liam Nolan (Galway) and Sam Murphy (Portumna) – the former Irish Boys champion – won their match 4&3 while Joe Lyons (Galway) and David Kitt (Athenry) emerged 2&1 victors with Kitt chipping in on the last hole for a dramatic victory.

In the singles, there were wins for Nolan, McDonnell and Kitt but this was offset by defeats for Ford, Murphy and Walker and it was down to that wily campaigner Lyons to eke out something from his match – a half would have been sufficient as Connacht would have won the title on a countback.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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