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Last Updated 01/08/07

Wexford retain class 1 final

Wexford’s position as the dominant county in Leinster badminton was reinforced at the Leinster Senior Inter-county finals when the model county took both the class one and class two titles and finished as runners-up in the Class three grade.  Indeed Wexford were guaranteed the title in class one before a shuttle was even struck as both teams in the final were wearing the county colours.  A little bit of history was being made at the event with a Wexford A and B side facing each other in the premier final.  Both squads were aware that it was not just a Leinster title that was on the line as a good performance from either side would reinforce claims for inclusion on the teams for the All-Ireland finals in Galway.  The Wexford A side got off to the best possible start when Siobhan Parle upset the Leinster rankings and revenged her recent loss in the Wexford player’s championship when she took the opening ladies singles in a cracker of a game 11/8, 9/11, 13/11 against Laura Lynch.  There was also a lot at stake in the men’s singles where Donal O’Keeffe (A) also upset the Leinster rankings with his very impressive 15/11, 15/8 victory over Ross McNiven.  It was now looking ominous for the B-squad but their was a brief glimmer of hope at the start of the men’s doubles with Alan Carton and Colm Byrne racing into an early 13/4 lead against Edward Cousins and Philip Walsh.  The Wexford A pairing settled down however and slowly began the fight back against the under-dogs to eventually win the match 17/15, 15/9.  With the A team 3-0 up victory was now essential for the B-teams 3^rd mixed doubles pairing of Stuart O’Toole and Laura Butler if they wished to prolong the final further.  The new pairing took the opening set 15/12, but then Gavin Smith and Gillian Murphy took over to take the next two games 15/6, 15/6 to win the match and retain the division one title won last season.  The other member of the teams who were not needed to play on the day were Deirdre Kehoe (A) and Brideen Lynch (B).