Tuesday, April 26, 2016

KBC reach new heights in leagues

Overall it was a great weekend for the club with teams from Kilcullen Badminton Club competing in a club record of four Dublin District League Finals. Friday 22 April saw three of those teams out with the Division 2 Mens, the Division 2 ladies and the Division 6 Ladies out representing the club in Whitehall Road in the 7pm session.

Murt's men had beaten Mullingar in the semis and had the Kilmeasan Men in the final. The Kilcullen men were absolutely superb in this final and didn’t even drop a set on their road to victory. This is a great achievement for the lads, not only is it the highest accolade for the club but this team was only formed at the beginning of the season. All four lads put in a lot of effort with training with the newbies, Eoin and Declan who only joined the club this year. To Eoin and Declan I promise never to mix you up again in my write ups, as Declan said to me on Friday night after the final “we are both tall but Eoin’s the one with the fancy hair!!” A big congrats to captain Murt, Gareth, Declan and Eoin.

Lynsey and her Division 2 Ladies were on centre court and they were hoping to take the league back to Kilcullen. This wasn’t to be the ladies night and in a very close final they were beaten by An Caislean Nua 3-1. There were some very close sets in this game and Lynsey and her team gave it all leaving nothing on the court. Hard luck to Lynsey, Lorraine, Sinead and Gillian on a great season and remember being the second best team in the Division 2 ladies league aint a bad achievement!.

On court 4 were Sarah and the Division 6 Ladies who played an excellent Rolestown team. This was a repeat of the Division 6 Ladies Dublin District Cup Final which had been played earlier in the year where the KBC Ladies only managed to beat Rolestown on sets. Captain Sarah was unfortunately unable to play due to a calf injury she had sustained in the League semi final the week before. In stepped the capable Jen Monaghan for the occasion. First Ladies Siobhan and Tara took the first game but Rolestown leveled the second with Kath and Jen narrowly beaten in a 3 setter. Jen and Tara took the third game in two sets while Siobhan and Kath took the fourth game giving KBC a 3-1 win.Well done to the fantastic five, captain Sarah, Kath, Tara, Siobhan and super sub Jen.

On Saturday the 23rd of April KBC were again represented in the DDL finals and this time it was Jen’s Mix 6 team on stage. The KBC four met Sheriff Street, the team who had knocked KBC’s mix 5 out of the semi finals. Jen's team were determined not to loose a second Dublin District final in a season but things didnt go their way from the off. The gang lost in three games with some of the sets very close and could have as easily gone Kilcullen's way with a bit of luck. Its been a great season for Jens team overall who have only lost three matches all season its just unlucky that two have been finals. Well done to Jen, Tara, John and Enda on a great season.

In other news Kilcullen's Grade 2 Mix also achieved another club record when Lynsey and her team won the Southwest Grade 2 Mix Cup final on April 20 in Carlow LTC. They beat the hosts in a great game of badminton. Well Done Lynsey, Sinead, Gillian, Tara, Murt Eoin, Gareth and Dave J on this great win taking KBC to another new height in the leagues. With all the DDL and South West League matches played, we now wait to see how KBC’s Grade 4 Mix will do in the All Irelands on May 8th (but don’t worry we will keep you posted on that one!).

Finally the players would like to thank all the people who travelled up to Whitehall Road on Friday and Saturday night to cheer us all on, your support was greatly appreciated.

Pictured on top are the Grade 2 Mix SWL and, below, Division 6 Ladies Champs.