ON a weekend packed with action, the stand-out fixture was the opening round score in the new Dan O’Riordan Cup senior tournament at Bantry as it pitted cup holder Arthur McDonagh against Munster champion David Murphy.
McDonagh was on the receiving end of a big money loss to Aidan Murphy in the Christmas fundraisers at Castletownbere but came with confidence to a road where he had delivered some excellent performances on the way to taking last year’s prize.
That confidence wasn’t apparent early on as a poor opener left Murphy away to a big early lead, but it was a rare blip as he immediately recovered and cut Murphy’s odds to 30 metres after three shots. Murphy’s fourth and fifth went left and McDonagh’s went in front to the tune of 40 metres after six. The Munster champion, and the punter’s favourite in the €24,400 total stake, could not get traction either on his seventh and eighth shots and McDonagh went the bones of a bowl clear after ten. Murphy tried hard to stem the tide, but it was a day when little went right for him after the opening exchanges.
McDonagh, assured now in all his deliveries, went a bowl clear approaching the last quarter and there was no denying his victory as his lead stretched to close on two bowls with three to go.
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Two tournament finals were played at the weekend. Timmie Murphy, Mallow, took the winner’s prize from the Templemartin junior B play-off on Sunday thanks to his ability to extricate himself from a few sticky situations and the failure too of his rivals, Johnny O’Driscoll and Shane Shannon, to sustain a consistent challenge when the opportunities presented themselves.
Murphy’s slack start saw him struggle to gain sight at ‘Slynne’s’ in five and it was O’Driscoll, with a superb fourth shot, who held handy law at this point. Shannon, who led for the first three, was in second place and not far off the pace at this juncture. O’Driscoll stretched out his lead to 60 metres before Murphy brought it back to level with a big ninth. Both O’Driscoll and Shannon erred on the rise to the school-house cross with the Clon man going from first to third after a misplayed 12th.
A bad misjudgement from Murphy with his 11th had him on the hind foot, but he upped the gears with a cracking 13th down to the ‘stonefield bend’. Shannon misplayed his 15th into the right and with it went his chance of victory while Murphy, now in the ascendancy, followed up with a score-winning 14th. O’Driscoll pipped Shannon for second place. The stake at issue amounted to a combined €3,750.
The Ballinagree novice 1 tournament, playing for the Dan MacSullivan Cup, was also a three-way shoot-out between Macroom’s David Crowley, Conor Lucey, Beal na Morrive, and John Connolly, Shannonvale. For a combined €3,300, it was a well-contested affair throughout with all three having time at the helm.
Connolly made the better start reaching ‘Manning’s lane’ with two fine openers at which point he held commanding odds on both rivals. Unfortunately, for the Shannonvale man that good form wasn’t maintained, and a poor third left it practically level. Lucey showed well in the next exchanges and led after five, but it was Crowley’s super sixth to ‘McCarthy’s corner’ which then set a big marker. It pushed the Macroom man into a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
He still had plenty to do especially after Lucey’s big one to the ‘bridge’ brought it almost level, but he rose to the challenge and went well clear again with two to go. Lucey tried hard again with a big final effort, but Crowley would not be denied the winner’s prize and the MacSullivan Cup. Back the road, junior B’s Alex O’Donovan and David Hubbard engaged for a €4,000 total. O’Donovan came from a long way back to win this one in the last shot. The Clon man’s last seven were exceptional.
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In the intermediate tournament at Shannonvale on Saturday, Wayne Parkes advanced to the last four with a big last shot win over Eamonn Bowen. For a €2,000 total, Parkes rose a bowl lead in the shots down past ‘Hayes’ and it gave him cushion enough for a semi-final joust with Donal O’Riordan. On the other side of the draw, the winner of Tim Young/Brian Wilmot will play Paul Buckley.
