Mulkerrins
Brothers Through to Al-Ireland Final
Martin and Diarmuid Mulkerrins progressed to the
All-Ireland 4-Wall doubles final after a tiebreak victory in their All-Ireland
semi final against Daniel Relihan and Michael Hedigan. The Moycullen pairing
are in their first doubles final together after a tight battle against their
Cork opponents.
The first game was a tight affair with the Galway
pairing going 8-5 ahead before the Cork men scored seven aces in a row to lead 12-8.
The Mulkerrins’ called a timeout and this helped them regain the momentum as
they claimed six aces in a row to lead 14-12. Older brother Martin struck some
excellent shots in the back of the court to allow his brother Diarmuid
opportunities at front wall kill shots, which he duly took.
The Liscarroll club men refused to lie down and
reclaimed a 19-16 lead. The Galway pairing won the next three points to level
the game for the seventh time at 19 points apiece. A Diarmuid Mulkerrins kill
shot off an excellent serve pushed the Galway pair 20-19 ahead and one point
away from the opening game. Martin Mulkerrins struck an unreturned serve to
give the Moycullen man the advantage.
The underdogs responded to losing the opening game
by establishing a commanding 10-0 lead. The Cork men managed to pin their
opponents back in the court with some excellent serving and roof shots. The
Mulkerrins brothers reduced the deficit to 15-8 but it was as close as they got
as their opponents closed out the second game to force a tiebreaker.
Relihan and Hedigan went 3-0 ahead before the Galway
pairing struck eleven unanswered points to take a three-point lead. Martin was
able to dictate the play from the back of the court as he frequently pinned
Hedigan back in the court and forced errors from the Cork man. The Mulkerrins
brothers went 16-6 ahead as they began to read their opponents serves and force
them back in the court. They won four of the next six aces to lead 20-8. They
served it out at the second time of asking to win on a final score line of 21-19
8-21 21-8.
The Moycullen men now face the reigning champions
Diarmuid Nash and Colin Crehan in the final in two weeks time.
All-Ireland Doubles
Emerald
Masters B Doubles
Pierce Lalor/Brendan McNeela (Galway) beat Tony
Currie/Philip O'Neill (Antrim) 14-21 21-18 21-20
Over
70 Doubles
Morgan Darcy/John Kelehan (Galway) beat Richard
Murphy/Seamus Graham (Antrim) 21-5 21-6
Silver
Masters B Doubles
Graham Casburn/Morgan Duggan (Galway) beat Seamus
McCrory/Rory Grugan (Tyrone) 21-15 17-21 21-7
Over
35 B Doubles
Kevin Gamble/Fiontán Gamble (Antrim) beat Kieran
Hanley/Patrick Ward (Galway) 21-6 21-12
Junior
Doubles
Seamus Conneely/Conor Noone (Galway) lost to Jordan
O'Neill/Mark Rainey (Antrim) 4-21 15-21
Under
21 Doubles
Diarmuid Mulkerrins/Cian Ó Chonghaile (Galway) beat
Matthew Sweeney/Dermot Boyle (Monaghan) 21-1 21-0
Ladies
Junior Doubles:
Aisling Ní Mhaoileáin/Eimear Ní Bhiadha (Galway)
walkover against Caitlin Conway/Elizabeth McGarvey (Tyrone)
