Round 5 Novice Kirwan League
Well it’s all over and what an exciting finale we had to the league last Thursday. Maria Keane’s St Gabriel’s team had been unable to sleep since losing their round 4 match to Hazel Garret’s Raheny team the previous week as it meant that there were only 10 VP’s between them going into the final round. A win of any sort for Raheny in Round 5 would have seen them top the league as St Gabriel’s had a bye. Raheny’s last match was against Gay Connolly’s Malahide team who also had a chance to take the title. This provided a ray of hope for St Gabriels, who play all their bridge in St Gabriel’s Parish Centre and as such were able to upon all the Angels and Saints of that name to intercede on their behalf and have Raheny and Malahide neutralize each other. And this they did (Intercede and neutralize!). However, after Session 1, it looked like the intercession wasn’t working, as Raheny were leading by 7 IMP’s. After completing Board 17, Raheny were still ahead, but only by 2 IMP’s which was still enough though to see them win the league. But Saint Gabriel had a word with Archangel Gabriel, who flexed his wings and said “Enough is enough”. On Board 18, Lars Stefansson and Maura Ryan had already gone down 1 when playing in 3 Clubs against Mary Ryan and Martina Corry. Then Gabriel the Angel whispered in the ear of his name sake, Gay the bridge player and said “Play this in 2 No Trump”, which Gay did and duly made when playing with his partner Chris Roche against Hazel Garrett and Pat Dunne. This resulted in a swing of 170 and 5 IMP’s to Malahide, giving them the win in the match by 3 IMP’s. This was just enough to see St Gabriel’s win the league by 1.04 VP’s from Raheny.
Meanwhile, while all this drama was going on, Mary Herlihy’s Clontarf were playing against Leo Breslin’s Donabate team. Like the other match it was all very tight after Session 1, with Clontarf marginally ahead by 5 IMP’s. With 4 boards to play in the 2nd session, it was still all to play for. However, Clontarf managed to win 17 IMP’s over those last 4 boards giving them the win by 14.76 to 5.24 VP’s which was just enough to move them into 3rd place in the league, 0.48 of a VP ahead of Malahide.
How exciting was that!!!!!!!
The results of the 5th round were as follows:
Thank you to Mary and Hazel for hosting us in St Paul’s. I know Leo was disappointed that he didn’t get a cup of tea, but Hazel’s Chocolate Biscuit Cakes and Coffee Cake Squares were to die for and made up for the lack of a cup of tea.
The final league positions are:
Congratulations to the St Gabriel’s team of Maria Keane, Sile Clancy, Paddy Moore, Annette Moran, Grace O’Flaherty and Gerard Geraghty on winning the league.
This was the 1st time that a lot of the novices have had an opportunity to play team matches against other clubs. I hope you all enjoyed it and that we will see you again next year and that you will encourage other Novices from your clubs to take part in the Kirwan League.
Dan
21.4.2024
Well it’s all over and what an exciting finale we had to the league last Thursday. Maria Keane’s St Gabriel’s team had been unable to sleep since losing their round 4 match to Hazel Garret’s Raheny team the previous week as it meant that there were only 10 VP’s between them going into the final round. A win of any sort for Raheny in Round 5 would have seen them top the league as St Gabriel’s had a bye. Raheny’s last match was against Gay Connolly’s Malahide team who also had a chance to take the title. This provided a ray of hope for St Gabriels, who play all their bridge in St Gabriel’s Parish Centre and as such were able to upon all the Angels and Saints of that name to intercede on their behalf and have Raheny and Malahide neutralize each other. And this they did (Intercede and neutralize!). However, after Session 1, it looked like the intercession wasn’t working, as Raheny were leading by 7 IMP’s. After completing Board 17, Raheny were still ahead, but only by 2 IMP’s which was still enough though to see them win the league. But Saint Gabriel had a word with Archangel Gabriel, who flexed his wings and said “Enough is enough”. On Board 18, Lars Stefansson and Maura Ryan had already gone down 1 when playing in 3 Clubs against Mary Ryan and Martina Corry. Then Gabriel the Angel whispered in the ear of his name sake, Gay the bridge player and said “Play this in 2 No Trump”, which Gay did and duly made when playing with his partner Chris Roche against Hazel Garrett and Pat Dunne. This resulted in a swing of 170 and 5 IMP’s to Malahide, giving them the win in the match by 3 IMP’s. This was just enough to see St Gabriel’s win the league by 1.04 VP’s from Raheny.
Meanwhile, while all this drama was going on, Mary Herlihy’s Clontarf were playing against Leo Breslin’s Donabate team. Like the other match it was all very tight after Session 1, with Clontarf marginally ahead by 5 IMP’s. With 4 boards to play in the 2nd session, it was still all to play for. However, Clontarf managed to win 17 IMP’s over those last 4 boards giving them the win by 14.76 to 5.24 VP’s which was just enough to move them into 3rd place in the league, 0.48 of a VP ahead of Malahide.
How exciting was that!!!!!!!
The results of the 5th round were as follows:
Thank you to Mary and Hazel for hosting us in St Paul’s. I know Leo was disappointed that he didn’t get a cup of tea, but Hazel’s Chocolate Biscuit Cakes and Coffee Cake Squares were to die for and made up for the lack of a cup of tea.
The final league positions are:
Congratulations to the St Gabriel’s team of Maria Keane, Sile Clancy, Paddy Moore, Annette Moran, Grace O’Flaherty and Gerard Geraghty on winning the league.
This was the 1st time that a lot of the novices have had an opportunity to play team matches against other clubs. I hope you all enjoyed it and that we will see you again next year and that you will encourage other Novices from your clubs to take part in the Kirwan League.
Dan
21.4.2024