By Daragh Small
Ballinasloe Team Caption John Hurley said emotions were high as they squeezed through to the final of the Flogas Mixed Foursomes following a thrilling win on 18 against County Tipperary.
It was the penultimate day of action in Knightsbrook, and Malahide also booked their place in that decider with Gort and Gowran Park set to do battle in the Revive Active Women’s Fourball final.
Ballinasloe were first through after they won 3-2 thanks to a winning putt from Jamie Corbett on the final hole of their final match.
Brian Slattery and Isobel Hayes won the first match for County Tipperary while Mark Talbot and Sheena Ryan followed up in the third match.
However, crucially Aidan Grenham and Lena Donohue got their win, as did Mark Conneely and Mary Goode, before Corbett finished off a brilliant chip from Noreen Kenny to seal their place in the final.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Hurley.
“I’ve been telling this group for the last two years that there was an All-Ireland final appearance at least in them. And tonight we will prepare and we will go out and try and give a good account of ourselves and our club in the All-Ireland final.
“We’re thrilled, our team is made up of families, we have relationships and relations on the team. We are a close-knit group, we are a small club and we pull for one another and we will pull for one another again tomorrow.
“We have battled through some very tight matches all the way through. Mixed Foursomes tends to come up with tight matches and tight finishes and match number five, we got it right.”
It was more straight forward for Malahide in the second match on Saturday as they secured a 4-1 victory against Shannon.
Colin Shiels and Siobhan Rogan won first up, with Philip Smith and Emma Collins on target in the third match and Niall Sullivan and Niamh Clarke also winning.
“This is our second All-Ireland final for the Mixed. We played in 2015 in Dooks, unfortunately, we came second in the final so this time we want to go all the way,” said Malahide Team Captain Orla McMahon.
“We’re going to see if we can get the job done this time around.”
Gowran Park joined Gort in the final of the Revive Active Women’s Fourball, after a 4-1 win against Dundalk in the last match on Saturday.
Rachel Dick and Brigid Mullins were first across the line, Ashleigh Boote and Judy Dick also had a big win, as did Helena McCormack and Aisling Costello.
“We will have to set a bed time for everyone tonight,” joked Assistant Manager Keelan Walsh.
“But yeah, looking forward to playing Gort tomorrow. Thrilled with the win and all of the fantastic support that we have had from Gowran Park.
“It means everything, to be honest. The players, everyone, it’s been such a long road since April. We’ve come up against some really really strong teams and we are delighted.”
Meanwhile, Gort Team Captain Anne Marie Craddock was delighted as her players made up for a near miss two years ago.
They beat Cahir Park 4-1 thanks to victories for Shauna Burke and Mary Fahey Coen, Hannah McInerney and Petra O’Connor and Siobha Forde and Marcella Killeen.
“We came close in 2021, we lost in the semi-final,” said Craddock.
“This is fantastic, it’s hard to get to All-Irelands. The distance they have travelled and everything. It’s just brilliant, the angels are looking down on us.”
