Jonathan secures Belfast and District Cup victory at tie-hole

The Belfast team have been champions for four out of the last six seasons and they had their eyes on winning it again. Connor Doran and his team were determined to shatter their dreams.

The first leg was played at Dunmurry and it finished with Banbridge trailing by 2 points (2.5 - 4.5).

Stephan Greenberg lost 5 and 4 against Glen Macauley.

Rory Leonard beat Darren Crowe 2 and 1.

Connor Doran beat “Big Mac” McCormick 4 and 3.

Colin Wilton, 1 up after 17, got a half against Ian Moore.

Jim Carvill, 2 up coming to the closing holes, lost 1 down to Graham Dixon.

Rory Madeley lost 3 and 2 against Stephen Crowe.

Ken Stevenson, who was also 2 up well into the second nine, lost by one hole against Andrew Piggott.

Banbridge got two and a half points but they felt that they could have done better. Would they pay dearly for that?

The second leg was played at Banbridge last Monday and there were a large number of supporters from both camps. They certainly got their moneys worth.

Rory Madeley halved his match against Christopher Morgan. That’s Gerard’s son.

Colin Wilton beat Glen Macauley 3 and 2.

Jim Carvill beat Darren Crowe 3 and 2.

The sides were now level, 5 points each.

Connor Doran lost a birdie-strewn game against Stephen Crowe by 2 and 1. Rory Leonard beat Andrew Piggott 3 and 2. The score was 6-6 and the excitement was intense. Ken Stevenson lost 3 and 2 against Graham Dixon.

In the final game, Jonathan Ward secured the draw by beating Ian Moore 2 and 1.

It was a sudden-death playoff between the two players in the last game.

Jonathan Ward took the best line off the first tee, down the right hand side.

Ian Moore went left and he ran through the green with his approach shot.

Jonathan pitched on to 15 feet from the hole.Ian’s chip finished further from the hole than Jonathan and he took two putts for a 5. Jonathan had two putts to win and he left his first putt 3 feet from the hole. With a hundred pair of eyes focussed on him, Jonathan managed to wriggle the ball into the cup.

Banbridge had won a classic and they will now play Cairndhu in the quarter final.