Double Munster Club Snooker success for New Institute
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New Institute ‘A’ team who won the Munster Premier Club title, from left: Paudie Kelly, Mark Gleeson, David Joyce (Macau Sporting Club), Mark Walsh (captain), Andrew Spillane (The Gleneagle Hotel), Brendan O’Donoghue, Tom Gleeson. PicasaImage 2 of 5
New Institute ‘B’ team who won the Munster Championship Club title, from left: Tom Ford, Dave Garrett, Patsy Farrell (captain), David Joyce (Macau Sporting Club), Maurice Walsh (Tournament Official), Noel Gleeson, Darren Delaney. PicasaImage 3 of 5
New Institute Snooker ‘C’ team of Jake McMahon, Billy Kelly, David Lynch, Terence Doyle, Martin Kelly. PicasaImage 4 of 5
Brothers Noel & Mark Gleeson were part of both New Institute winning teams. PicasaImage 5 of 5
New Institute ‘D’ team of Adam O’Brien, Aaron Hogan, Stephen Shoer, Mike McInerney, Matt Corrigan. PicasaBy Tony Seymour
New Institute Snooker Club were successful on the double at the Munster Club Championships held in Killarney last weekend.
Play began early last Thursday morning at the Gleneagle Hotel where 15 full-sized snooker tables with pro-cloths had been set up. 33 clubs from all over Munster took part.
There were ten teams in the premier section and 23 teams in the championship division, with New Institute supplying four, the most out of any club apart from Limerick, so little it came as little surprise that the clubs ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams progressed to their respective Munster finals late on Sunday evening after three days of early starts and late finishes.
The ‘A’ team of Mark Walsh (captain), Brendan O’Donoghue, Tom Gleeson, Mark Gleeson, Noel Gleeson, & Paudie Kelly were no surprise winners having won the Munster title on no less than ten occasions in the last twenty years.
In the final against Cue Club from Cork, Brendan O’Donoghue and Paudie Kelly found the winning touch to win their matches to give the team a 2-0 lead in a race to 3. It was Mark Gleeson who made the winning pot to edge his match 3-2 to take the title. Tom Gleeson was 2-1 up and Mark Walsh level at 2-2 at the time.
Up against a lot of the top ranked players in Munster, it is not easy to win a provincial title. You have to play the tables, ride your luck, play your best game, and pot the balls under severe pressure, to have a chance to win.
The ‘B’ Championship was just as competitive and the New Institute team captained by Patsy Farrell who has been playing and loving the game of snooker for over fifty years, has now been part of both premier and championship winning teams. Captaining a side that also contained Dave Garrett, Ray Lynch, Tom Ford, & Darren Delaney, they put in a huge effort of practice over the last four months which certainly paid dividends with the clubs second championship title.
Darren Delaney and Tom Ford came through their matches 3-1 & 3-0 respectively to give the lads a great start and heap the pressure on their Thurles opponents in an all-Tipperary final. Dave Garrett was two-up and looking good when Noel Gleeson potted the winning ball to close out the match and their second Munster championship.
New Institute’s ‘C’ team of David Lynch (capt), Terence Doyle, Martin Kelly, Billy Kelly, Jake McMahon, & Jake Byrnes, and the ‘D’ team of Stephen Shoer (capt), Mike McInerney, Sean Bane, Aaron Hogan, Adam O’Brien, Matt Corrigan also performed well and were unlucky to be eliminated in the last sixteen on Friday.
The club want to wish both the ‘A’ & ‘B’ teams all the best as they return to Killarney this evening (Wednesday) for the All-Ireland Club Championships which continue through to Sunday at the Gleneagle Hotel with all four provinces partaking as New Institute look to retain their title.