THERE was no joy for Rosscarbery’s Maria Nagle in her ladies senior championship score against Ciara Buckley from Ballyclough on the Masseytown road in Macroom.
Nagle had to dig deep from the off to keep herself in this clash. A big second shot from Buckley over the hill gave her an early lead. After two more to the start of the railings, Buckley led by a full bowl. Nagle made Bantry cross in two great bowls, the kindness of the kerb saved Buckley as Nagle knocked the bowl. On past the Gap in two more, Nagle was making inroads on Buckley’s lead.
Buckley, pin straight, threw a super bowl over the back of ‘Poundys Lane’ but again Nagle beat this well. Buckley was right of play with her next and suddenly the odds were down to forty metres. Nagle got a beautiful bowl to the new house, but Buckley, while very left, got a kind rub that gave her a valuable 40m lead with the line approaching. Nagle missed the line in two more and Buckley beat the tip to progress.
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Ballinacurra held a junior B tournament score, as a very promising up-and-coming player Shane Crowley, Schull, played Kenneth Murphy, Brinny, for a total stake of €4,000. Three throws each to Brinny cross where Murphy took his first and only lead in the score. Murphy made Foley's entrance in two more and Crowley made the Waterworks; it was two more each down to Perriots and Crowley was rising odds. Murphy got a super eight halfway to the GAA entrance, but Crowley beat this by 40 metres. From here, Murphy’s score fell apart. After another big bowl from Crowley to the bridge, Murphy was a bowl down. Next he was back of the double gates and after Crowley made the back of the D line, Murphy missed this tip, and two bowls were between them.
Denis Murphy, winner Luka Bowen and James Murphy were the finalists in the Denny/Frankie Cup in Schull. (Photo: Dan McCarthy)
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Jimmy O’Driscoll booked his place in the Grange junior A nine-man tournament with a convincing win over Noel O’Donovan and Gavin Twohig. Playing for a total stake of €9,000, O’Driscoll was out the stud farm bend in three good bowls where he had 25 metres on O’Donovan and almost a bowl on Twohig; the latter never got going in this score at all.
O’Donovan took his first lead in the shots to Holland’s wall. O’Driscoll and O’Donovan were down to the green in three more each where O’Donovan had sight and O’Driscoll was caught for sight. After two more back of the muddy passage the odds were down to ten metres as O’Donovan scattered his ninth badly left and caught a tree. Twohig was almost two bowls down here.
Two more back of Noelies bungalow and it was O’Donovan with a marginal lead of ten metres. O’Driscoll unleashed a very impressive 12th shot up the right track and pulled it to the middle where it held and won him back the lead by a 50-metre margin, and followed with another phenomenal shot to Fiona’s house. Even though it was under the bowl here, O’Driscoll made the Pub and O’Donovan missed sight to concede a bowl, and O’Driscoll progressed to the final where he will play Noel O’Regan and David Hegarty.
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Schull held the final of the Denny/Frankie Cup. In opposition were two local men, James Murphy and Luka Bowen, taking on Denis Murphy from Skibbereen, playing for €650 a-side. At the B & B, James Murphy led Luka Bowen by 50 metres and Denis Murphy by 60 metres, and there wasn’t much of a change from there to McFarlane’s. All three were still in the running with three shots to go and where Luka Bowen had taken up the lead from James Murphy with Denis Murphy trailing by 50 metres. Denis Murphy put in a good finish but Luka Bowen was not to be denied, getting his name on the Denny/Frankie Cup for 2025.
Meanwhile, the new format of junior A got up and running at Conna where Timmy Murphy from the North East played Craig Moynahan from the City for a total stake of €1,600. Honours went to Murphy who won by a bowl.
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Ból Chumann held the finals of the county youth team event at the Phale Road. Here the West Cork boys of Oisin Murray, Jason Deane and Tommy Coppinger blitzed a trail and came in almost 200 metres further that then nearest rivals, Gaeltacht and South West. In the girls it was the North Cork team of Jenna Healy, Chloe Hubbard and Layla Fleming, who came in 100 metres ahead of Gaeltacht and Carbery. Both teams received the Denis Kelleher Memorial Shields. Willie Murphy, chair of Ból Chumann, thanked all the regional youth officers for running off their own team events, he thanked the parents for their dedication, and all who helped out on the morning, and he thanked the Kelleher family for the two beautiful shields in honour of Denis Kelleher, a great youth man. Murphy was a little bit disappointed with the turnout, as out of a possible 18 teams only 11 showed up.
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Lyre was the venue for a junior A tournament score on Monday where Mark Bourke was back again after his success of the previous week to play Noel O’Regan; they played for a total stake of €6,500. O’Regan was a trap-to-line winner in this score. Three bowls each past the forest entrance O’Regan had 80 metres of odds. O’Regan rose the bowl back of the tunnel, Bourke knocked the bowl with a great seventh to Crowley’s wall. Both up to Crowley bend in eight and nine shots where it was under the bowl. O’Regan missed the crossover and Bourke went full sight. It looked like a level score here but O’Regan got a nice touch off the left dyke that took him halfway to McCarthy’s bend. Bourke made full sight at McCarthy’s bend and O’Regan got a nice break off the right ditch but his bowled was ‘called’, his next stuck in a stone and the odds were down to 25 metres. Bourke got caught at the high wall and O’Regan got a huge bowl to the big tree and followed with another huge bowl that raised the bowl and secured his victory.
