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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ireland amateurs fall short in European bronze medal match
Ireland battled hard but were defeated by England in the bronze medal match at the European Amateur Team Championship in Killarney Golf & Fishing Club. While at the same time Italy were crowned champions after a phenomenal 6-1 victory over Denmark in the final played in sweltering heat. Ireland did secure a precious bronze at the European Girls' Team Championship, with a fantastic 4-3 comeback win against Germany in Slaley Hall, however it wasn't to be for the men. Ireland came so close to booking their place in an historic home final, when they lost to a rejuvenated Denmark side on Friday afternoon, and having lost the morning foursomes 2-0 to England, it looked set to be another tough result. But the hosts piled on the pressure in the afternoon with Stuart Grehan winning his match 5&3 against Daniel Hayes before Matt McClean finished off Eliot Baker on a 6&5 scoreline. England looked in trouble but they came roaring back and Tyler Weaver defeated Thomas Higgins by 1 hole. John Doyle continued his stunning week with a 19th hole win over Luke Poulter but Charlie Forster's brilliant pitch on the 19th hole of his tie with Caolan Rafferty, sealed Ireland's fate. Meanwhile, the Italians had a comprehensive victory over the Danes with former professional, and team coach Alberto Benaghi, thrilled to see his passionate side come out on top. 'It's almost indescribable. We are very, very proud of what we did, especially when we play in Ireland with such a history in golf. To win on this course and to win in such style, because we really played great yesterday against England and very, very good today,' said Benaghi. 'Today we were really unstoppable so I am very proud of my team. We really enjoyed every single moment. 'The foursomes this morning gave us a lot of strength. After 2-0 you have the responsibility of winning so you can feel the pressure but we played so good that we were very convinced that we could do the job. 'Sport has to be like this, you have to have passion, obviously when you win you celebrate more but you have to live sport like that, something that is coming from the heart.' Italy laid the platform for a dominant afternoon when Giovanni Binaghi and Biagio Andrea Gagliardi teamed up for an impressive 5&4 win. The other morning foursomes match also went the way of the Italians with Filippo Ponzano and Michele Ferrero accounting for their opponents on a 3&2 scoreline. The Danes were still dangerous, having bounced back from a 2-0 deficit against Ireland on Friday to secure their place in the final, but they couldn't replicate those heroics. Instead, Italy pressed on and Riccardo Fantinelli won the top match 2&1. Two more points followed from Ferrero and Ponzano and Italy were crowned champions of Europe. Elsewhere in Flight A, Sweden beat Finland 3-2 and France got the better of Germany 4.5 to 0.5. Switzerland won Flight B, while there were also wins for Poland, Iceland and Czech Republic.
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Irish amateurs suffer heartbreak in Killarney
Ireland suffered a dramatic and heartbreaking defeat in the semi-finals of the European Amateur Team Championship at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club. Having not featured in the final since 2014, the Irish had taken a 2-0 lead after the morning foursomes but their Danish counterparts bounced back in the singles. Despite another brilliant point from John Doyle (Fota Island), Ireland came out on the wrong side of an agonising 4-3 scoreline, with Kristian Hjort Bressum draining the winning putt on the 20th hole of his match against Thomas Higgins (Roscommon). 'Brilliant all week, very proud of them, very proud of the performance. They gave it a real go today,' said Ireland Captain Damien Coyne. 'We got off to a great start and gave ourselves every opportunity. We just got done by some really, really good golf on behalf of the Danish guys, and especially in Thomas' match, to finish with four straight birdies. He had six really good putts in the last six holes of the match, which is very impressive. 'I'm sure it'll sting this one, for an hour or so, but once we've mentioned that we're playing England in the morning, the lads will have no difficulty in getting themselves up for that, and we'll be ready to go again, and it's just try our best to get something out of the week and get a medal would be really, really good.' Stuart Grehan (County Louth) and Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) secured the first point of the morning foursomes with a 3&1 win over Mads Heller and Mads Viemose Larsen. Doyle's 35-foot putt on 18 wrapped up a 2-hole win for him and Matt McClean (Malone) over Hjort Bressum and Oscar Valdemar Holm Bredkjaer. Doyle sealed another precious point in the afternoon singles but the Danes came roaring back, with Heller and Holm Bredkjaer winning their matches against Grehan and Gavin Tiernan (County Louth) respectively. Andreas Trym Dam Fogth defeated McClean and then Hjort Bressum got the better of Higgins when he rolled in his putt on the 20th hole. 'It was a really tough match. The Irish guys are a really good team and we are sorry to beat them on home soil. They were really strong in the morning, in the foursomes, they won the two first matches,' said Denmark Captain, Peter Jespersen. 'After the foursomes they (Denmark) were not too happy. They thought it would be a really tough afternoon but we had to remember we only played for two points in the morning out of seven, so we still had five points out in the afternoon. 'It was important we got some points in the beginning because of course we were underdogs after the morning so it was really important that we got two points fairly quick but still it was the last match on hole 20, that made the difference.' The win earns Denmark their place in the decider alongside Italy, who shocked England in the other semi-final in Flight A. The morning foursomes were halved before Italy took control in the singles with Riccardo Fantinelli, Giovanni Binaghi, Biagio Andrea Gagliardi and Filippo Ponzano all winning their matches. That was enough for a big 5.5 to 1.5 win for the Italians. Ireland will face now England for the bronze medal.
