ENNIS TRIUMPH

Naomh Barróg Ennis team win Trophy and secure promotion to 2nd Division

A nail-biting, cliff-hanging final resulted in a 3.5 to 2.5 win for Naomh Barróg over Royal Lopez on the 1st April 2012. We needed four points to be absolutely sure of the trophy. Drogheda dropped half a point early on so that left us needing just 3.5 points. Early wins for us on boards 1 and 4, and things were looking good. Then we lost on boards 2 and 3. Now we needed 1.5 points from the remaining two games and both games looked drawish. In a sweet endgame manoeuvre Barry sacrificed two pawns to get a passed pawn and secure the win. The remaining game was drawn and we had the trophy. Now for the Heidenfeld!
Our winning team, including subs throughout the year, is:
Brian Gallagher, Sean Nolan, Stephen Kelly, Airidas Tolkus, Barry Plummer, Justin Corry, Tom Collins, Austin Blake, John O'Driscoll, Andrew O'Brien.
The O'Hanlon team finished with a flourish, beating Phibsboro 4/2 but, unfortunately, still demoted.