Cushendall knock Banbridge out of the Bruen

John McDowell was the captain of the Banbridge team and he did everything in his power to ensure that his team were well prepared for the match. The neutral venue was Dunmurry Golf Course and all the team members had made themselves familiar with the layout.

Ian Young and Matthew Mallon were first out for Banbridge. Ian’s experience and Matthew’s youthful enthusiasm proved to be the perfect blend and they won their game 5 and 3.

Joe Glass and Luke Woods seemed to be the perfect partnership. Luke is now a Senior Cup player while everyone knows that Joe is very strong off his handicap.

But, for whatever reason, they just couldn’t get it going. It was a major shock when Joe and Luke lost 2 and 1.

The same could be said of Shane Bell and Shane Rooney who, on their way to the quarter-final, had played superbly.

But not this time, unfortunately. Their game contained too many unforced errors and too many poor choices of shot. But they tried their best and it was not good enough on the day. They lost by 2 and 1.

Banbridge were now in real trouble. They had to win the two remaining games.

Ronnie Halliday and Keith Steenson looked all set to win their game as they came off the fifteenth green two holes up.

So there was hope, provided that Neville Kerr and Malcolm Russell could win. They were one down after 14 holes and looked all set to win the dogleg 15th. That would have left them all square with three holes to play.

But, sad to report, they somehow contrived to lose the 15th and that proved to be the crucial turning point of the whole match. Neville and Malcolm lost 2 and 1 and that was it all over.

The Banbridge team were definitely good enough to make the semi-final of the Jimmy Bruen but they just did not perform to their true potential.

That’s the game of golf! It’s so unpredictable.

John McDowell, the team captain, has to be congratulated. His team did remarkably well and, who knows, John could take a team even further next season.