Douglas captain Kate McCann says home support has been vital as the hosts look to go back-to-back in the AIG Women’s Senior Cup tomorrow afternoon.
Douglas are also looking to become the first club since Royal Portrush in 1979, to do the double of Women’s and Men’s Senior Cups, as Don Coughlan’s side advanced to the semi-finals as well.
For the Douglas women, they defeated Knock in the quarter-finals. It was a comprehensive victory for the holders, with Shannon Burke (9&7), Clodagh Coughlan (6&5), Aoife Ni Thuama (5&3) and Karen O’Neill (6&5) all winning comfortably.
“I can’t stop smiling, this is just unbelievable,” said McCann.
“This home support is huge, even when we travel away the home support is big
“We’ve been dreaming about this for the last while. It was horrendous conditions, the wind and the rain were shocking but the girls were so, so strong. They just stuck to the plan, they did what they had to do.
“The weather played into our hands because the girls know this course really well and change in weather conditions. Yesterday the course was playing like summer conditions, today was a different golf course.
“Our girls know how to do that, that’s the advantage of local knowledge, but they used it and they didn’t waver.”
Douglas will face County Sligo in tomorrow’s final four tie. The Connacht side beat Laytown & Bettystown 4-1. Meabh McLoughlin, Jessica Reynolds and Mary Kate Lonergan all won their matches.
Last year’s beaten finalists, and the 2023 winners, Royal Portrush got the better of Elm Park on a 3.5 to 1.5 scoreline. Elm Park claimed the AIG Women’s Senior Foursomes on Friday but Alice Spani-Molella secured their only win here. Hannah Lee McNamara, Kayleigh Mulholland and Laura Webb were all victorious for the Ulster North outfit.
Lahinch will be their opponents in the semi-finals after wins for Aideen Walsh, Chloe Ryan and Áine Donegan in a 3.5 to 1.5 success.
Douglas booked their place in the semi-finals of the AIG Men’s Senior Cup thanks to a 3.5 to 1.5 win over Belvoir Park. Peter O’Keeffe, Jack Murphy and Karl Bornemann all claimed victories.
The home side will be up against Niall Carolan’s County Louth outfit in the semi-finals. The Leinster North club beat Roscommon 3-2 in the quarter-finals. Gerard Dunne and Louis Goodman grabbed crucial wins before Gareth Bohill sealed it, 26 years after he helped County Louth to their last success in this competition.
Gareth Bohill playing for County Louth in the AIG Men’s Senior Cup. Photo: Tom Maher / Inpho
“He was here in ’99 and it’s great for him,” said Carolan.
“Honestly it would be everything, and it would be nothing more than the boys deserve.
“We had a clear plan set out when we met up in February, probably would have seemed ambitious to some but not to us in the group, who knew what we wanted to achieve and knew where we really were.
“It’s been a fantastic year on the course and off the course and it’d just be lovely now to tie it together with a win tomorrow.”
In the other semi-final it will be Moyola Park against Rosslare, last year’s Barton Shield winners got the better of Bray in their quarter-final while Rosslare defeated Tralee.
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