THE opening score in the 2024 women’s senior championship took place at Beál na mBláth last weekend.
With John Lowney Jewellers, Clonakilty, on board as sponsors for the 24th year, the championship has two groupings and 16 round-robin scores to deliver a quartet of players who will contest the semi-final rounds.
Saturday’s opener was a repeat of the 2023 decider, an extraordinary contest at Castletownkenneigh filled with drama and excitement. Conditions were different at Beál na mBláth when Geraldine Curtin and Denise Murphy re-engaged with intermittent rain and mist making it a difficult day for players and spectators.
The pattern of play was different too as Geraldine, thanks to a blistering start, needed no comeback charge to achieve victory. In getting her defence underway, Geraldine fired two opening shots of the highest order. Taking her from the start line above the monument to a point 20 metres beyond ‘the palms’, they yielded a bowl of odds lead on her north Cork rival who had not made any major errors.
Denise fired good fourth and fifth shots and, with Geraldine not getting the same traction as in her opening brace, the odds were down to 60 metres as they played past ‘Murphy’s house’. It was as close as the 2022 intermediate champion would get as her form dipped in the subsequent exchanges.
Geraldine found her groove again and regained her shot advantage after six throws. She quickly doubled her lead and there was no way back for Denise after the defending champion fired an exquisite effort through ‘Bradfield’s cross’ that put her out of sight. In a competitive Group A that includes Veronica O’Mahony, Meghan Collins and Emma Fitzpatrick, Denise will have opportunities to re-ignite her challenge while Geraldine’s winning point will stand her in good stead for future battles.
