By DARAGH SMALL\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ireland, featuring Oughterard’s Kate Dillon and Athenry’s David Kitt, were crowned Women\u2019s and Men\u2019s Home Internationals champions for just the second time in history after a thrilling victory over England.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hosts\u00a0had a narrow lead after the morning\u00a0foursomes\u00a0in Woodbrook,\u00a0and\u00a0England bounced back\u00a0to take\u00a0four of the women\u2019s singles matches\u00a0to\u00a0put themselves in the ascendency.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Ireland held firm and a remarkable afternoon saw the men claim five matches as\u00a0Keith Egan\u00a0finished\u00a0things off\u00a0with\u00a03&2 win over Jamie Van Wyk, for a 11.5-9.5 result.<\/p>\n
It completes a brilliant month\u00a0for the men with Damien Coyne\u2019s side claiming European glory for the first time\u00a0since 2008, while\u00a0the women had\u00a0an\u00a0outstanding\u00a0week\u00a0here\u00a0with\u00a0victories over Wales and Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelighted,\u00a0the lads put in some great performances all week. We had an awful lot of matches that went down 18. It was nice to finish a few matches a little bit earlier today,\u201d said Coyne.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome great performances from David Howard, some of the new lads during the week were brilliant, Fionn Dobbin\u00a0brilliant again today. Keith Egan, class shot into 16 there to finish his match.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome really\u00a0really\u00a0good performance. Delighted for Thomas Higgins again,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just been a great afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a powerful\u00a0morning session from\u00a0the Irish\u00a0and they took a 4-3 lead into the afternoon singles.<\/p>\n
Katie Poots and Kate Dillon held Patience Rhodes and Sophia\u00a0Fullbrook to a halve,\u00a0while Rebekah Gardner and Olivia Costello came up short, Emma Fleming and Anna Abom grabbed a crucial 1up win.<\/p>\n
Howard and Dylan Keating were comprehensive 4&2 winners, before Gavin O\u2019Neill\u2019s brilliant putt from off the green\u00a0sealed\u00a0a 1up result.\u00a0John Doyle and\u00a0David Kitt finished
tied in their match\u00a0and\u00a0Egan and Dobbin lost the bottom match.<\/p>\n
Rhodes and Naughton were first across the line in the afternoon, with Poots securing a 3&1 win.\u00a0Fullbrook\u00a0and Lily Hirst also landed\u00a0points for\u00a0England\u00a0but\u00a0Fleming\u00a0was\u00a0also\u00a0on target with a 1up win.<\/p>\n
Daniel Hayes got England off to a winning start in the men\u2019s singles while Doyle was held to a halve. But there were wins for Higgins, Dobbin,\u00a0Egan\u00a0and Keating.<\/p>\n
England claimed the Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s titles\u00a0separately\u00a0but it was Ireland who won the overall crown for the first time since 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did a brilliant job. There was a bit of banter earlier in the week, so the lads promised that they were going to deliver today,\u201d said\u00a0Ireland Women\u2019s Captain\u00a0Gillian O\u2019Leary.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fairness, the team spirit across the week, the whole team have been brilliant all week. Our girls battled away this afternoon,\u00a0just\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0get over the line against England but\u00a0great performance\u00a0there so we\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0ask any more of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did have a little chat, we were a bit disappointed\u00a0afterwards\u00a0but we said the best thing we could do is get out and support the lads and hope that they could deliver\u00a0there this afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did brilliant, it was class.\u201d<\/p>\n