Favourites under pressure after surprise first leg defeat
On Wednesday night last at Lennon’s venue in Durrow, LPPL Cup favourites Ryan’s A came to town to take on Lennon’s B team in the first leg of their LPPL Cup quarter finals.
Lennon’s B previously booked their place in the Cup quarter finals when they beat The Hawthorn Bar, 8-5 in Abbeyleix in a playoff for the final qualifying spot.
Ryan’s A team have become hot favourites for the title since the league kicked off in mid April. They set their own records in this league already not having lost a single game in their group stages and as a result remained top of the group all the way along.
On Wednesday last however they took on Lennon’s B team who were big underdogs going into this first leg and many had not given them a chance in this fixture and predicted a heavy defeat for Lennon’s but it was not to be. Lennon’s went out and really proved they can put it up to any team and produced a performance no one could have predicted. At one stage the men from Durrow led 6-1 before Ryan’s got themselves back into the game and brought the score back to 7-6, in favour of Lennon’s. The men from Durrow then took the next frame to lead 8-6 and in doing so recorded a well earned victory. Ryan’s did go on to win the last frame of the night to leave the score at 8-7 to Lennon’s B team.
Lennon’s have a slight advantage going into the second leg but they will need to keep up the performance if they want to advance to the semi finals as Ryan’s are still favourites to advance. The second leg encounter kicks off this Friday in Ryan’s Bar, Portlaoise.
In the other LPPL Cup quarter final ties, Ryan’s B team also from Portlaoise defeated The Phoenix Inn 11-4 in their first leg and therefore are heavy favourites to advance to the semi finals where the winner would play either Group B winners The Horseshoe from Abbeyleix or The Gatehouse from Emo.
Nappers A from Stradbally advanced to the LPPL Cup semi finals with aggregate win of 16-14 over The Final Furlong. Nappers first played the furlong in Stradbally coming out 9-6 winners on the night.
On Wednesday night last the travelled to the Furlong to play the second leg where they lost the game 8-7 but won on aggregate. Hard luck to The Furlong in what was a very close game. Nappers A team now await the winner from Ryan’s A and Lennon’s B in the semis. The Furlong await the loser of Ryan’s B & Phoenix Inn in the shield quarters.
In the Shield quarters The Hawthorn Bar had a heavy first leg defeat of 11-4 against Lennon’s A team. The Hawthorn Bar will be right up against it going into their second leg. Nappers B team are due to kick off their LPPL Shield first leg match against Lennon’s C this week.
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Weather for Portlaoise
Sunday 19 May 2013
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