Picture: Eamonn Keogh
THE penultimate Gleneagle Squash Club competition of 2014 in Killarney was a very interesting affair with the bare minimum separating the teams at the close.
Donagh Crowley and Mikey P O’Donoghue steered their teams through the group stages to reach this month’s final. Sponsored by Quills of Killarney, November saw unprecedented levels of participation with upwards of 60 competitors taking part.
First up were Michael McCarthy and Oscar Pedowski who gave a display of all-action squash but it was McCarthy’s power that saw him edge this one 3-1. First blood to Team Crowley.
Next on the night were a heavily bandaged Cormac Bonner and Kevin Donnely, both of whom had played well in their respective semi-finals. On the night, however, it was Donnely who emerged triumphant after a good tussle, despite the scoreline of 3-0.
Kevin Smyth and Tim Lynch served up an excellent game with lots of good rallies and intelligent squash. For long periods nobody was prepared to predict a winner but it was Smyth’s fitness that saw him over the line on the night, 3-2 and another blow to Mikey P’s
team’s chances.
Next to take the court were Ken Malone and Eddie Hayes who has done very well to climb the rankings so quickly. On this occasion, however, he found the going tough and Malone came away with a 3-0 victory. This left the overall standings at 2-2, meaning the last game of the night would decide each team’s fate.
After a summer spent in high altitude training, Mikey P was looking forward to the prospect of taking on the club’s golden boy Donagh Crowley. A nasty ankle injury had sidelined Crowley for the previous 18 months and people were wondering could he reach his high standards once again.
In the opening exchanges Mikey P threw everything he had at Crowley but there was no shaking the Rathmore man as he gained control of this particular duel winning 3-1. In so doing he also sealed the overall match for his team.
The final competition of the year is currently underway with the finals scheduled to take place on Thursday, December 18 followed by the annual Aquila Club Christmas party.
