Banbridge hold narrow lead in Rossmore Cup Quarter Final

Mel was hoping for a 3-1 result. Anything less than that would give Tandragee the advantage.

The opening pairing of Richard Coburn and David Cherry wanted into the clubhouse as quickly as possible to watch Rory McIlroy win the Open. So they raced to a 5 and 4 win. What a start.

Joe Glass and Gary Hazley were held to a draw in game number two. That was a bit of a setback.

Worse was to follow. Kevin McKay and Cathal O’Neill lost by 2 holes down.

P.J. Johnston and Noel McSheery rescued the situation somewhat by winning the final game by 2 holes up.

The score, at the halfway stage, is Banbridge 2.5 Tandragee 1.5.

The second leg will be played at Tandragee this coming Friday. It’s evenly balanced but Tandragee would be slight favourites. We live in hope.

Lurgan are too strong for Banbridge in the

Barton Shield

Banbridge are out of the Barton Shield, beaten quite convincingly by Lurgan. This third round match was played last Sunday morning at the neutral venue of County Armagh Golf Club.

Rory Leonard, the Banbridge team captain, was disappointed to learn that Conor Doran and Jim Carvill were unavailable. But he still fancied his chances, as their replacements were two top class players.

Rory partnered Colin Wilton in the first game against David Sutton and Stephen Kelly. In a game full of spectacular shots, Rory and Colin found themselves 4 down after 17 holes.

Luke Woods and Stefan Greenberg played Caolan McCann and Gary Clarke in game number two. This was always very tight but the Lurgan men had a glorious day on the greens. They holed putts from everywhere, even two from off the green. When that happens, there is nothing you can do but congratulate them. Luke and Stefan were 2 down after 16 holes and that was it all over. Lurgan went through to meet Warrenpoint in round four. We wish them well.

As for Banbridge, they can now concentrate on the Senior Cup.