Eleanor Flegg

“HERE comes youth and here comes experience – which way is it going to go?” yelled the commentator as Tyrella’s young Toby Finn brought the the ball up the pitch under heavy opposition from Horetown’s Aidan McDonagh.

In the end, experience won the match and when the final whistle blew, the Horetown team of McDonagh, Padraig Barron and Connor Doyle had increased their lead over the Equus/Tyrella team of Joanne Lavery, Toby Finn and Ruth Shanahan to win the National Polocrosse Championships last weekend. 

“McDonagh and Doyle are fabulous players,” commented Brendan Liddy of Carrickmines. “When they’re playing well it’s poetry in motion and it doesn’t seem to bother them what the horse is doing under them – they just go where they want to go.”

The best player in the A Grade was Aidan McDonagh, who was awarded the inaugural David Courtney Memorial Cup, a perpetual trophy donated by Carrickmines Polocrosse Club in honour of David Courtney who sadly passed away earlier this year. Connor Doyle’s Jimmy was nominated as best horse.

The match ran parallel to the Junior A final, a spectacle of speed and skill that saw Wicklow Bay’s Caroline Bradshaw, Abbey Hamill and Laura Bradshaw beat Horetown’s Ella Quinlan, Rueben Nield and Paddy Flavin by a decisive margin of seven goals to three. Abbey Hamill was named the best player and Paddy Flavin’s Shadow was best horse.

The Junior B Grade was won by Carrickmines/Cork with Theo Boland, Richard Crockett and Cian Boland snatching the title from Tyrella’s Hannah Kileff, Archie Nield and Sarah Fleming. Theo Boland was awarded best player and best horse for his mount Rococo.

Carrickmines/Cork won the B Grade with Mike Murphy, Sarah O’Gorman, Richie Crockett, Tom O’Malley, John O’Leary and Paul O’Leary defeating Wicklow Bay’s team of Clive Nuzum, Ann Kavanagh, Hilary Barnes, Harry Nuzum, Holly Nuzum and Edward Kavanagh. Mike Murphy was the best player on this occasion and Tom O’Malley’s Amarillo was best horse.

The C Grade was another Horetown victory as Dayna Moran, Ian Morrisey, Keith Cleary, John Byrne, Gary Jordan and Hughie Jordan won a hotly-contested final against Limerick’s Elise Beausang, Danny O’Leary, James Moore, Cormac Birrane, Paddy O’Brien, and Marion Carmody. The best player was Dayna Moran whose horse, Shyne, took the best horse accolade.

Wicklow Bay won the D Grade with Joe Mangan, Jodi McDonnell and Cian Hamill beating Horetown’s Sarah Murray, Emma O’Sullivan and Karen Whitney. Hamill was named best player and Whitney’s Kramer named best horse.

The tournament ended with the announcement of Ireland’s team for the forthcoming World Cup, to be played in South Africa in June/July 2015. Coach David Young named the men’s team as Aidan McDonagh, Connor Doyle, Shane Harris, and Mark Hall, with James Smyth as reserve. The women’s team is Joanne Lavery, Emily McDonagh, Amy Buckley and Dara Mangan, with Ruth Shanahan as reserve.