*

They got a walkover in round one from Crossgar, who couldn’t field a team. This really didn’t do Banbridge any favours, as they would have benefited from some match practice.

In round 2, Banbridge came up against a strong Malone team.

The first leg was played at Banbridge. The juvenile convener, Trevor Woods, was hoping for a 5-2 win or, at the worst, a 4-3 win. They would need a lead to take into the away leg.

Here is what happened: Luke Woods (4) beat Toby Boyd (5) 4 and 2; Josh Lockhart (5) lost 4 and 3 to Philip O’Sullivan (5); Richard Lyttle (5) lost 2 and 1 to Eathan Barry (7); Michael Young (7) lost 2 down to Sean McGloin (9); Josh Crory (9) beat James Carson (10) 4 and 3; Johnny Brush (9) beat Rory Cairns (11) 4 and 3; Patrick Magennis (10) lost 4 and 3 to Paddy Cunnane (12).

This was not the result that Banbridge expected. Malone were in the lead by 4 games to 3. It was always going to be a difficult task to reverse that score in the away leg. This was played last Friday over the beautiful course at Malone.

The Banbridge boys gave of their best and almost pulled it off.

Luke Woods (4) beat Toby Boyd (5) 7 and 5; Richard Lyttle lost 5 and 4 to Philip O’Sullivan (5); Josh Lockhart (5) beat Eathan Barry (7) 6 and 4.

At this stage, the score was tied at 5-5. The match could go either way.

Josh Crory (8) lost by one hole to Sean McGloin (9); Scott Nelson (9) lost 4 and 2 to James Carson (10); Johnny Brush (9) beat Rory Cairns (11) 1 up.

The match score was now 7-6 in favour of Malone. Could Banbridge force a draw and a play-off? I’m afraid not. Callum Barnes (11) lost 4 and 2 to Paddy Cunnane (12). Malone won the second leg 4-3 and the match overall 8-6. Banbridge now go into the Plate competition and they could go far in it.