Badminton League Finals at GLTC
Thursday, 8th April 2010, by Lyall Guiney
Press release from Trevor Jennings, PRO.
The County Badminton Leagues Finals will be played next Saturday, April 10th, at 5pm in GLTC with interesting battles in all divisions.
Division 1: With a couple of games yet to be played this week it looks likely to be Cortoon and Boyle in this year’s showpiece final which is sponsored by Carroll’s 4x4 Market. The teams have met twice already this season with Cortoon edging past their opponents 4-3 on the first occasion but losing out 5-2 on the return match. This promises to be a very tight affair with Boyle going in as slight favorites.
Division 2: Oranmore A have justified their favourites tag by topping the league table but they are closely followed by Claregalway who finish the league just one point behind them. Both teams deserve their place in the final which this year is sponsored by Aran Sports after finishing well ahead of Oranmore B, Loughrea and Galway Lawn in the league table. Oranmore A have already beaten Claregalway twice this year but the last winning scoreline of 4-3 suggests this match could go right down to the final mixed pairings.
Division 3: This is a straight shoot out between the clubs of Loughrea and Claregalway. Having been losing finalists for the last 3 years at this division Claregalway will finally be hoping to get their hands on the PC Dock sponsored cup this year but Loughrea will have other ideas of their own.
Division 4: This division proved to have two strong contenders with GLTC and Cortoon battling it out for the county title sponsored by Egan Electrical. Both won their semi finals contests last weekend, Cortoon overcame Claregalway and GLTC beat Menlough so spirits will be high in both camps. Cortoon won the Division 5 title last season and also went on to win the All-Ireland at that level so their experience might just be enough to shade it on the night.
Division 5: In the West, Furbo topped the table and were followed into the playoffs by Maree who held the advantage over GLTC. In the East, Loughrea and Oranmore made the playoffs. Loughrea beat Maree and Furbo beat Oranmore in the semi-finals. So the Division 5 final is between the two top teams in each section of the division, Furbo vs Loughrea. This division is sponsored by Lydon’s Carpet and Bedding centre.
Division 6: Over the past three seasons there has been an upsurge in the numbers of new players registered with the Galway Badminton Association. As a result it has been necessary to set up a new grade at Division 6 level to help beginners into the world of Badminton. After its success last year another twelve teams took part in this league which is sponsored by the Old Monastery in Letterfrack. This year’s final will be between Oughterard and Loughrea having both overcame Clonberne and Letterfrack respectively in their Semi-Finals last Monday.