Thrills and spills in five county junior C and novice finals, as All-Irelands in Courtmac loom
SUNDAY’S finals at Courtmacsherry and Ballinacurra, Upton, completed an exhaustive month of junior C and novice championships.
Hectic it may have been, but the thrills and spills delivered by so many regional champions in their quest of county glory captivated the bowling populace on an almost nightly basis.
The junior C and novice B deciders were in keeping with much of what had gone on in the lead-up. The junior C final at the All-Ireland venue may have ended in a two-bowl winning margin for Mid Cork’s Trevor O’Sullivan but Alan O’Leary, though well below his best, did threaten throughout.
A poor opener by the North East champion was his original undoing. O’Sullivan powered on and wouldn’t be led. O’Leary did have chances to capitalise on average third and fourth efforts of O’Sullivan’s but didn’t avail and, when the Templemartin man hit a beauty through ‘Lislee Cross’ a bowl of odds came between.
He beat big tips of O’Leary’s to hold that advantage but was reeled in significantly when the North East man lined a big ninth and came again with quality shots at ‘O’Driscoll’s’. He did not maintain that momentum and by ‘Fleming’s’ and on the ‘Vincent O’Donovan’s’, O’Sullivan had restored his bowl lead. He increased it over the closing shots and was a comprehensive winner by the end. Trevor O’Sullivan will be part of the All-Ireland series at Courtmacsherry and will carry the Cork banner in the junior C title race. The stake in Sunday’s final totalled €26,420.
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Sunday morning’s novice B final at the Mid Cork venue was the proverbial belter. Two outstanding finalists, Brian Horgan and David Crowley, representing the West and North regions, had won terrific semi-finals from opponents who would have been worthy finalists themselves and were brimming with confidence as they played from Brinny for an €8,000 stake.
Crowley had the better runs from his first three before Horgan fired a beauty through the ‘main road’ that levelled it. There followed a series of top-class exchanges with Crowley back in front by a slender margin. When Horgan cut a shade too tightly at the ‘GAA pitch’, the advantage looked with the North Cork man. Horgan’s response was electric as he drilled an inch-perfect reply that ran past ‘Innishannon cross’ and to clear sight beyond. It restored a handy lead at a vital juncture.
Crowley needed a big one and, trying too hard on the left, caught the grass and suddenly the Dunmanway man was a bowl clear. In what road was left, Crowley tried to his limit, but the Brendan and Connie O’Callaghan Cup was deservedly heading for the Doheny town. Another savage battle awaits now as he plays off with another rising star, the higher graded Anthony Crowley who won the novice A title race. Novice 1 representation at Courtmacsherry is at stake.
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It was perhaps the most eagerly looked forward to of the five finals played and it lived up to its billing in that respect, fighting to a standstill on a difficult waterlogged road.
Two of bowling’s best from the underage sector, international teammates in Germany in May, one a gold medal winner and the other a vital cog in a magnificent team winning performance, Anthony Crowley of the City and Liam Murphy (Gaeltacht) had been brilliant in their campaigns to the final and they exhibited again as they struggled through the water-filled channels.
Murphy had the better of it at the start, beating good tips of Crowley’s and was a shade unlucky with his fourth not to increase a 25-metre lead. A miscalculation with his fifth was a rare error but it cost him the lead. Crowley held the ascendancy until the Gaeltacht man fired an exquisite tenth to regain the lead.
It looked like it might have been the Gaeltacht youth’s day when he took a massive break with his third last. This transferred to a 40-metre lead for the last shots. Crowley had been game all through and, in a similar fashion to the late charge that defeated Conor Lucey in the semi-final at Carrignavar, he found the gears to fire another big when he needed it most. Murphy’s game reply missed by six metres. A galling defeat no doubt for the Ballyvourney youth but one in which he lost no caste. Anthony Crowley will play-off this week against B county winner Brian Horgan for the right to Cork novice 1 nomination at the Courtmacsherry on September 7th.
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For Colm O’Regan the final hurdle looked particularly daunting. Martin McSweeney was coming like a train, wiping out the bowl of odds deficit he incurred early on and was now within metres of the long-time leader as the finish line loomed. And yet, as in so many instances through the summer months, the Belgooly man survived and has put the sheen on the most dramatic of winning runs with the county novice D championship for 2024.
Played at North East venue, Grenagh, for a combined €11,200 in total, and with former All-Ireland junior and intermediate champion Mick O’Driscoll refereeing proceedings, O’Regan was, a rarity for him, out of traps fast and was the bones of a bowl of odds up after three. McSweeney, North Cork’s fine champion, did well to keep the margin under the shot. O’Regan enjoyed a huge touch with his ninth but once again McSweeney beat a big tip to stay in touch.
The odds eventually closed after the 13th exchange and, amid a welter of excitement, McSweeney’s next was the proverbial ‘screamer’ and now just metres separated them. O’Regan still held the fore but just 20 metres was all that was in it for the final exchanges. Unfortunately for the North Cork challenger, his finish did not match his comeback rally and his shot for glory was easily negotiated by Colm O’Regan who became the proud possessor of the Mick Wiseman Cup. He must play C winner Jamie McDonagh for a place in the novice 2 section of the forthcoming All-Ireland series at Courtmacsherry.
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The novice C final at Firmount on Friday was the most disappointing of the five played. Perhaps not so for North East’s Jamie McDonagh whose facile win was assured long before the end, but for the second evening in succession it marked a Gaeltacht defeat, only this time by an unexpectedly wide margin.
Garoid Lucey had enjoyed a magnificent campaign, escaping from some tight corners in county rounds particularly against Mid Cork’s Joshua Murphy, and had high hopes against McDonagh. Garoid’s second compensated for a wayward first and, ahead at that point, might have made more of a third that would have raised big odds. Not availed of, it was McDonagh who raced ahead but with more chances going a begging only 12 metres separated them after eight to the ‘pump’. It was Lucey’s tenth, dropped to the left, that really undid his challenge. McDonagh was soon a bowl clear. The North East man was now finding his groove and a massive cast to ‘McCarthy’s’ put the seal on his county title. He will take a lot of beating when he takes on D winner Colm O’Regan in the play-off for a place as Cork novice 2 in the All-Ireland series at Courtmacsherry. The total stake at Firmount amounted to €10,300.
