LURGAN’S Annabel Wilson and Jessica Ross of Clandeboye featured on the Irish team who won silver at the Octagonal eight-team tournament in Spain at the weekend, losing out on gold to the hosts.
Ireland team manager Helen Jones says reaching the Championship match at the Octagonal has provided the ideal platform for her players to build from in 2024.
Kate Lanigan (Hermitage) had a brilliant 1up win over Marta Aguilar Berenguer in the singles but the Irish eventually succumbed to an 8-1 defeat to hosts Spain in the decider at Costa Ballena.
However, in a week where Ireland had big victories over France and Sweden, Jones is focusing on the positives going forward.
“We had two really good wins over two really strong teams. It was a great opportunity for the girls to get some warm weather training and practise in. Five of the girls are off to the Spanish amateur next week, so it was a good opportunity for them,” said Jones.
Lanigan, Mairead Martin (Kanturk), Annabel Wilson (Lurgan), Jess Ross (Clandeboye) and Olivia Costello (Roscommon) are all set to take part in the upcoming Spanish Amateur.
And this was the ideal preparation while it was Lanigan and Martin who formed the winning formula for most of the week in the Octagonal.
They fell to their first defeat in the foursomes against Spain, losing 2&1, while youngsters Costello and Caoimhe O’Grady (Royal Dublin) also lost out. Spain completed the clean sweep with Kate Dillon (Oughterard) and Anna Abom (Edmondstown) defeated.
It was a second Octagonal Championship match in three weeks for an Irish team and although the women also came up short in the afternoon, this experience will help to build the confidence for bigger tests later in the year.
“Spain were on their home soil, they were probably a bit more match fit than we would be at this time of the year. They would probably have been playing a few tournaments whereas this is really our first tournament of the year. It was a very good result for a first tournament,” said Jones.
“And we will will take lots from this, it was good we had a mixture, we had some of the women’s team and some of the girls’ potential team, so it was a good mixture. A good opportunity to get their season up and running.
“It’s been a wet winter in Ireland and they have very good practise facilities and they were able to avail of that.”
