THE Mother Hegarty Cup senior tournament at Lyre was the big crowd puller on Sunday but the much-anticipated joust between Arthur McDonagh and Thomas Mackle failed to ignite. Stakeless at Mackle’s behest, the Armagh man using a Cork overarm swing, was quickly on the back foot, falling a bowl of odds behind after three. McDonagh was playing well and deserved his lead but a brief Mackle rally when he lined a big sixth looked like making in-roads. That was quickly scuppered when his lofted attempt at ‘Crowley’s corner’ did not get the road and the lethargy that beset him from the off set in again as McDonagh powered on. A big one from the Fermoy man to ‘McCarthy’s wall’ effectively ended the contest.
There was real excitement back the road as Cathal Creedon and Alan Brickley went head-to-head in a novice tournament contest that carried an €18,000 total stake. Brickley led early but it was Creedon who was the master from ‘Crowley’s’ onward. A brilliant last shot from the Germany-bound Ballyvourney youth set him up for a bowl-of-odds win.
Club action at Lyre on Friday had Beal na Morrive’s Conor Lucey and Castletown’s Jack O’Callaghan renewing acquaintance. This one produced another fraught finish with Lu- cey, who trailed for much of the way, availing of a late error by the Mid Cork man to snatch a dramatic win. Going for a €7,400 total, O’Callaghan raced to a bowl lead by ‘Crowley’s bend’. The Castletown man still held that advantage when both hit ‘McCarthy’s wall’ but did not drive on from there and Lucey gradually closed the gap. The North Cork man took an unexpected lead for the last shots and then won that vital exchange to take the spoils from an eventful contest. There was compensation for the Castletown camp in the return when Mick O’Callaghan came up trumps beating a massive last shot of Will Harrington’s. An exciting contest carried a €2,000 total stake.
The women’s senior championship resumed with group A and B scores at The Clubhouse and Dunderrow. Defending champion, Geraldine Daly consolidated her place at the top of group A with a second win, this time over Meghan Collins. The contest carried a €1,900 total stake and Collins made the brighter start lining four fine casts that brought her to within an easy throw of the ‘chips corner’. Daly had a lot to do to stave off a bowl of odds deficit but threw a splendid fifth to sight. Two big efforts to ‘Dineen’s lane’ had her ahead. Meghan unluckily got no purchase on her throw through ‘Clon cross’ and Geraldine went a bowl clear. Everything went her way from there and a two-bowl difference separated them at the end. Veteran Catriona Kidney took on 2022 Munster senior champion, Hannah Sexton, in the opening B contest at Dunderrow on Sunday last. A consistent display saw Kidney ahead by 40m metres after eight and held off a strong Sexton challenge to win by a bowl. Both have cores against Ciara Buckley and Maria Nagle to come in the round-robin series.
On a busy week of championship action in the South-West division both junior A and B championships progressed. A big semi-final shoot-out as Shannonvale on Saturday evening had Gavin Twohig and Johnny O’Driscoll vying for place in the final of the junior A championship. O’Driscoll was away again to a bowl of odds lead after four shots. Twohig fell two adrift in the shots to ‘Desmond’s cross’. The Rossmore man challenged on the downward stretch, but O’Driscoll held his ground and was a comfortable winner. The stake money amounted to €10,000. On the other side, Jordan O’Sullivan plays Jimmy O’Driscoll. Meanwhile in Junior B, John O’Driscoll and Ger Connolly went head-to-head at Ballygurteen on Friday. In a stakeless joust, Connolly started with a piledriver and held close to a bowl of odds after four. O’Driscoll fired two of the finest on the straight from the ‘women’s lane’ to ‘Oakmount avenue’, wiping out Connolly’s lead and turning the score in the Clon man’s favour. O’Driscoll won by close to a bowl and will play David Hegarty in the competition semi-final. Alex O’Donovan and John Joe Crean will contest the second South-West junior B semi and Ballygurteen will be hosts for all scores.
Earlier in the week, the novice veteran grade progressed with scores at Lyre. On Monday here, Toss Ahern came from a bowl down to advance at the expense of Niall Crowley and David Nixon came through against Donal O’Sullivan. On Tuesday, also in novice veteran, Seamus White played a fine score to deny form man, Michael Harrington. At Grange in novice D, Kevin O’Reilly defeated Pat O’Mahony for €800 and Felim O’Neill defeated Donal McSweeney. In the novice A championship at Fisher’s Cross, Gary Lombard defeated Stephen O’Connell, in the last shot. In South-West novice C at The Pike, PJ O’Driscoll defeated Ger Sheehy.
The West Cork junior A semi-final at Durrus had last year’s county B winner, Noel O’Regan in against Bantry’s Muiris Buttimer. Going for a €1,920 total, O’Regan took control with big third and fourth shots from ‘Glanlough cross’. These pushed him a bowl of odds clear of his Bantry rival and, hard as Buttimer tried, he could not make inroads. O’Regan’s Togher Cross clubmate and defending champion, Peter Murray plays Christy Mullins in the second West Cork junior A semi at Drinagh. In the West Cork novice veteran championship at Drimoleague, Jan Tessyman defeated Barry O’Donovan and on the Inch road, in novice D, Paul Walsh defeated Darragh Kehilly. Here too in U18 Niamh O’Connell won from Clara O’Driscoll. In U14 at Bantry, Brian Murphy won from Timmie Gibbons.
The first of the Mid Cork junior A semi-finals went ahead at Ballinacurra, Upton, on Sunday and it produced a riveting contest between two protagonists who had duelled in the host club’s tournament final just the previous weekend. It gave Kieran Murphy the opportunity to turn the tables on tournament winner, Noel O’Donovan, and he duly did after a heard-fought duel that carried a €2,900 total. The Templemartin man had enough in reserve for a last shot win. In Mid Cork novice D, Ronan Hoey defeated John Madden and, in a return double here, Chris Hayes teamed up with Tim Maloney to defeat Birol Kat and Colm O’Regan, last shot, for €1,600. In novice D at Castletownkenneigh Damien Healy defeated Bernard O’Callaghan and in the same grade at Newcestown, Eoin O’Callaghan defeated Darragh Looney, two bowls, for €1,000. In the Gaeltacht championships at Clondrohid two novice veteran scores saw wins for Noel Murphy defeated Tim Kelleher, last shot, for €800 and Tony Healy got the better of Niall Murphy.
