A bright, evening sun shone through the branches overhanging the 18th at Athlone, as Paddy Gribben delivered the coup de grace. With a right-to-left breaking putt from five feet, he secured victory for Warrenpoint in the Bulmers' Barton Shield - and shattered a cherished dream.
There was to be no recordbreaking four-in-a-row for Co Sligo, who lost by the tantalising margin of one hole. It marked the end of a wonderful adventure for the partnership of Kenneth Kearney and Serryth Heavey, both of whom will be playing for Galway GC next season.
Generous in defeat, they acknowledged the supremacy of the new champions. "It couldn't go on forever and it was fantastic to have been a part of it all," said Kearney, who shared in three successive triumphs and also played in the Co Sligo teams which captured the Senior Cup in 1996 and 1997.
For Gribben, it was a splendid reward for his decision to forgo a trip to the Lancome Tournament in Paris, so as to help the Warrenpoint effort. "I knew I couldn't leave the lads and this has made it all worthwhile," said the player who was sharing in a third Barton Shield win, having been in the victorious teams of 1987 and 1988.
It was a thrilling day for the Down club insofar as they were forced into sudden-death by Limerick in a morning semi-final, after Michael Kemmy and Michael O'Kelly birdied the 17th to win by one hole. Hilary Armstrong and Bobby Orr had earlier secured a one-hole win for Warrenpoint in the top match.
Down the 19th, Warrenpoint's Colm Campbell and Limerick's O'Kelly overshot the green with their approaches. Kemmy pitched to 25 feet, but Gribben got his to within 15 feet of the target, from where Campbell holed for a winning par.
In the final, Warrenpoint generally had the edge overall, though David Dunne and Tom Ford won the top match by one hole. The Sligo pair were two up after 14 but lost the next, where Dunne drove out of bounds, and the 16th where they failed to get up and down. But they secured a winning lead when Dunne holed a 15-footer for a birdie at the short 17th.
By that stage, however, they suspected it wasn't enough. From the time Gribben and Campbell won the third and fourth in birdie, par, they were never behind. In fact they were three up after Campbell holed an eight-footer for a winning birdie three at the 14th.
The lead was cut to two holes with two to play, which meant Warrenpoint would take the trophy if they could maintain that position. Heavey had the chance of forcing a play-off with a 15-foot birdie effort on the 18th, but he left it short of the target. So, everything depended on Gribben and his broomhandle putter.
One felt instinctively that he wouldn't miss: nor did he. "I just kept my head down and got the big fellow moving," he grinned afterwards. So, a national trophy had gone north of the border for the first time since Holywood captured the Junior Cup in 1995.
When Woodbrook captured the Barton Shield in 1986, they hardly generated as much excitement as in their Pierce Purcell Shield semi-final win over Galway yesterday. And Liam MacNamara, who shared in that triumph of 12 years ago, was there to see it all.
Down in four matches and apparently on their way home, Woodbrook rallied superbly. In the second match, Michael Hughes played glorious approaches with a seven iron and a five wood to within tap-in range for winning birdies at the 14th and 15th to draw level.
Then, in the fourth match, there were crucial, holed putts from 20 feet and 30 feet by Noel Murphy for par, birdie at the ninth and 10th. But eventually, it all came down to the last match in which David Marsh and Jim Murphy held on to defend a one-hole lead against John Flaherty and Tom Corcoran down the 18th.
Nenagh had leading sportsmen from other codes in the side which beat Nuremore in the other semifinal. Tommy Gaynor, who won English League Cup medals with Nottingham Forest in 1989 and 1990, was in a losing partnership. So was Dinny Ryan, who won an All-Ireland senior hurling medal with Tipperary, but their companions delivered the goods.
Two of the youngest players in the tournament produced winning points for Old Conna in their Junior Cup semi-final win over Cork. The former Smurfit Junior foursomes winners, 15-year-old Marc Kynes and 16-year-old Paul McDonald, both won on the 16th. And the third point came from Diarmuid Leonard, who was in Castletroy's successful Barton Shield squad of 1989.
Portmarnock will have West of Ireland champion Noel Fox at number one against former international Neil Anderson, in the opening semi-final of the Senior Cup this morning. Meanwhile, the other semi-final is particularly interesting for the meeting of Cinderella side Connemara and an experienced Cork side which includes internationals Tom Cleary and Pat Lyons.
