DUNMURRY OPEN 2004 REPORT by Eoin Adams

The Dunmurry Open on Saturday 13 March saw the
strongest turnout for an Irish tournament since the
North Down and Dublin Grand Prix Tournaments ten years
ago, ten players from the south setting out before 7am
to join up with 17 of the top players in N.Ireland for
what was to prove to be a high quality and fully
enjoyable event. Players included N.Ireland and
Belfast League Champion, Kenny Beggs, North Down
double winner Davy Clegg, and the Republic's No.1 Gary
Moore, along with a host of other top names from North
Down, Belfast, Ballyclare, Dublin and Kildare, and the
Glenburn Church Hall, site of the Belfast Barbarians
League and last years national championships once
again proved a great venue.

With seventeen entrants for the open event, it was
decided to have four groups, with the top two in each
advancing to the quarter-finals. With names like John
Moore, Davy Clegg, Joe McRoberts and Stuart McIlroy
among the unseeded players, there was always the
possibility of some very difficult groups, and this
proved to be the case. Group A was by far the
tightest, with no clues as to who would qualify with
one round remaining. In the end Simon Stewart was to
come out on top, pulling out a 2-1 win against Kenny
Beggs when anything less would have seen the South
Down man make an early exit. Kenny was left to sweat
it out on the result of the other game with  a shock
1-0 win for Donal Convery over Darren Territt helping
the national champion through to the last eight.

Group B was to see Gary and John Moore paired together
again, in a repeat of their group at North Down,
although the group was much tougher this time round
with Davy Clegg and Stephen Rodgers making up the
numbers. Once again, Gary won all three matches, with
John winning two out of three to qualify in second
place. Davy and Stephen played out a 1-1 draw, a
scoreline all to common in their North Down league
meetings, but not enough for either player to advance.

Group C was to see another North Down rivalry renewed,
with Paul Rodgers avenging his league cup defeat to
Jim McCullough with a 1-0 win to qualify in second
place. Barry Spence topped the group by winning all
his games, while newcomer Grainne Corcoran from Dublin
lost all three games to finish fourth, but showed a
lot of potential.

 In Group D, Joe McRoberts avenged his North Down loss
to Eoin Adams, with a 4-1 win this time round, three
of his goals coming in the last 5 minutes. Stuart
McIlroy, former national champion, making his comeback
after eight years, showed a lot of his old ability
hadn't gone away, defeating Eoin 2-0, and drawing with
Joe to qualify in second place. Eoin did manage a
couple of wins against Andy Fitzpatrick, and Desmond
Cassidy, but had a disappointing day overall, after
overperforming in Donaghadee a month earlier. As for
Andy and the junior, Desmond, they both gained
valuable experience that will stand them in good stead
for the next event.

The quarter-finals once again saw two wins for the
Moore family, with Gary seeing off Stuart's challenge
by a single goal, while his uncle John advanced with
an impressive 3-0 win over Joe McRoberts. Kenny Beggs
beat Barry Spence 2-0 in a repeat of their Belfast
Barbarians league encounter, while Paul Rodgers,
playing in his first quarter-final in a national
event, gained a very creditable 0-0 draw before
narrowly losing on shots. The semis were both very
tight affairs, with Gary Moore, and Simon Stewart
scraping 1-0 wins over Kenny Beggs and John Moore
respectively, while the final saw Gary at his best,
proving just too much for a revived Simon and his new
raptor team, the southern player running out 2-0
winner.


As predicted, two players dominated the junior event.
Georgia Lee, and Desmond Cassidy both won all their
group matches before 2-1 semi-final wins over Lee
Territt and Danielle Murtagh respectively. Georgia
took the honours in the final with a win over Desmond,
again by a 2-1 scoreline. It was to be a good day for
the South Down girl, as she defeated Danielle Murtagh
3-0 to add the Ladies title to her ever growing trophy
cabinet, while also making the semi-finals of the
senior plate, before a narrow 1-0 defeat to North
Down's Davy Clegg. Davy went on to collect the plate
with a 3-0 win over Dubliner Darren Territt.

The day was rounded off with the team event, in which
the southern team, Nomadic Celts, gained revenge for
last month's defeat to North Down. The Celts won 2-1
overall with Gary Moore in unstoppable form putting
five past Bangor's Eoin Adams, while John Moore had a
3-1 win over Davy Clegg. North Downs only consolation
came in the form of Stuart McIlroy's 2-0 victory over
Andy Fitzpatrick. The other semi was an all-local
affair with the host Belfast Barbarians defeating
their own B team 2-0. Stephen Rodgers lost 3-0 to
Kenny Beggs, while brother Paul, on loan from North
Down, went down 3-2 to Joe McRoberts to see the A team
through. The other tie ended all square between Simon
Stewart and Barry Spence. 

The team final was to go right down to the wire. Wins
for Gary Moore (another impressive 5-0 win, this time
v B.Spence), and Kenny Beggs (3-0 v Andy Fitzpatrick)
meant that it all came down to the last game between
John Moore and Joe McRoberts. Joe equalised late on,
in a tight encounter, to come away with a 2-2 draw,
but the southern team held out to take the title on
goal difference.