Sunday March 20 was an eventful day for the club. Team manager, Noel O’Halloran fielded the Sutton Wooden Spoon team at Howth GC, while assistant manager Sam Kelly with his Intermediate young guns battled it out for the inaugural Sindy Moran Intermediate Wooden Spoon over Sutton links (see separate report here)

Having held  the Wooden spoon for 2 years in a row, the pressure was certainly  on the Sutton team to hand back the dreaded spoon to Howth. With only two away victories in Howth (1984 & 2013) in 40 years, the odds were stacked against Sutton. On a windy but very pleasant day 11 pairs of Sutton’s finest did battle around the hill.

In customary fashion, match 1 saw Sutton’s Captain Derek  & Vice Captain James matched up against their Howth counterparts Karl Dunne & John Clancy. The result was a win for Sutton . The next 5 matches, 2 through to 6 were again competitive, but all seemingly going Howth’s way winning 4 from these 5 matches. All matches closely fought, Sutton very competitive and just coming out on the wrong side of the line. Danny Buckley & Michael O’Halloran’s match saw a comprehensive win over their Howth opposition. All matches had the same ingredients, competitive golf, yet all played in a spirit of fairness and strong local comradery evident. Over half way there, 6 matches complete and Howth leading 4 to 2.

Onto the remaining 5 matches. All 5 matches coming back down the hill and on the back 9 in Howth Golf Club looking back towards Sutton. Another Sutton loss and now the membership in the bar in Howth Golf Club are happy and confident. They lead 5 to 2, 4 matches remaining on the course and they only need to half one to hand the spoon back to Captain Derek. For Sutton, could  2012 Ryder Cup miracle at  Medinah occur in an even bigger setting?...Howth golf club and the annual Wooden Spoon match. Surely history could not repeat itself ??

When the going gets tough , the tough gets going !! One by one, Sutton’s Gerry  McInerney and David Carson were followed by Corks finest Gerry Griffin and Brian Nevin, both fantastic wins. Two matches remain on the course and the scoreboard is updated --Howth 5 -- Sutton 4. A hard fought match 10 saw young guns Conor Litchfield and Mark Hogan deliver another win for Sutton. Its now 5 points each and the bar membership is suddenly tense and materially more nervous

The final match, match 11 remain on the course. Can Wooden Spoon veterans Mark Logan & Noel O’Halloran (they won in the 2013 Howth victory under Seamus Campbell’s management) prevail and deliver a win for Sutton?. They duly deliver the final win on the 16th green and both happily shook hands with their gracious Howth opponents , Pat Meade and Donal Blake. The visiting Sutton team’s comeback victory now clearly eclipsing Medinah.

The ever observant David Jones quietly slips a larger 54’’ chest Captains jacket to Captain Derek. Its snug but worked on the night .

The night finished with a lovely dinner at Howth Golf Club with all 22 of Sutton’s senior team joined by Sam and his team from Sutton as well as Brendan Smith and his Howth intermediate team. Short speeches, a great atmosphere of comradery and friendly local banter ensued and a great night was enjoyed by all. A big thanks to Howth GC for their hosting of the day

In the end, Sutton had a fantastic win, winning by the narrowest of margins 6 versus 5