exciting finishes to IJM Scratch MatchPlay CUps

Mark Gorham, Jim Caraher, Charlie Monahan and Brendan Tinnelly emerged as the winners of the IJM Scratch Matchplay Cups last Saturday when the semi-finals and finals were played.
In the Senior Cup Colin Roche came from three down after nine against Peter Rogers to win his semi-final two up while Gorham was always on top against defending champions Clem Walshe and ran out a 6&5 winner.
In the final Roche took an early lead when he won the second hole but Gorham won the fifth to level. Roche regained the lead on the 10th but Gorham pegged him back at the next hole. Roche then won 14 and 15 to go two up with three to play but Gorham then won the next three holes to take the match, clinching victory with a birdie on the 18th. 
In the Junior Cup Jim Caraher emerged the winner but only after playing 39 holes on the day. In his semi-final he was taken to the 20th by Gerard Carroll after being two up after 12. In the final he met last year’s Intermediate Scratch Cup winner Denis Cunningham who had earlier beaten Richard Barry 5&3.
Cunningham looked to be on the way to victory when he found himself four up after eight holes and was two up with two to play. Carragher won 17 and 18 to get back to all square and then sealed a remarkable comeback by winning the 19th hole.
In the Intermediate Cup semi-finals Packie McGuinness got off to a flying start and was three up after four holes against Charlie Monahan but Monahan was two up by the 15th and eventually won two up.  In the other semi-final Seamus Bailey was always in control against IJM Golfer of the Year Pearse Murphy and won 6&5.
In the final Monahan and Bailey were all square on eight occasions but when Monahan edged ahead on the 14th he stayed in front and won the 16th and 17th for a 3&1 win.
In the Minor Cup Brendan Tinnelly came from one down after nine to win 3&2 while Michael Keating came from three down after five holes to win two up. In the other semi-final  Gerry Campbell was three up after five but Michael Keating kept his composure and came back to win two up.
The final was a closely fought encounter although that looked unlikely when Tinnelly raced into a three hole lead after four holes. However, Keating won seven, eight and nine to draw level at the turn. After losing the 11th and 12th to go two down, Keating again staged a comeback by winning 14 and 15 and then bounced back on 17 after Tinnelly had won 16 to leave the match all square playing 18. Tinnelly eventually prevailed as he won the last with a par.
The four winners will be presented with their IJM Scratch Cups at the end of season presentation event.

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