Coppinger regains crown
Mullins was in contention with three shots to go and might have been better placed had his bowl to Ross’s not been blocked. That said there was little doubt about the verdict once Coppinger strung some serious bowls together.
Mullins opened with a good shot Coppinger beat by 40m. Mullins made the high gate with his second. Coppinger beat that tip by just 80m in two —he only made the end of the wall with the first and the cut rock with the second. Mullins kept his lead with a good bowl over the bridge, another to Cullinane’s lane. Coppinger’s sixth blew right and missed Mullins’s tip to concede a bowl of odds. Coppinger recovered instantly with a brilliant bowl to just the point of the bend at Ross’s. Mullins’s reply drifted right and was accidently blocked close to the right bank. That cost him vital metres.
Still he held the lead too in the next two exchanges. Coppinger then got a perfect ninth bowl to the palms past Cotter’s cross. Mullins beat that by just 20m.
Coppinger followed with a fast bowl that looked a little left, but it settled well and made the Darkwood turn. Mullins played the right track, but he got a good bowl too and only missed the tip by a metre. Mullins regained a good lead when he made the top of the rise with his next bowl. Coppinger played his to the left and missed it by 40m. Coppinger was even tighter on the left past the walls with his next. Mullins pushed his lead out to 50m when he made Walsh’s lane. Coppinger then released a sensational bowl on the centre that ran all the way to “Han Grady’s”—amazingly Mullins beat that tip by two metres and it looked set for a grandstand finish.
Mullins was still 20m fore after the next shots. Coppinger then had a bit of luck with his 15th, which he played too tight on the left, but it got a perfect rub. Mullins was even tighter with his and caught the bank, it hit a stone and crossed the road 30m hind of Coppinger. A mood of inevitability descended with that shot.
Mullins was left with his next too. Coppinger played a stunning 16th bowl that ran all the way to the well. Mullins just beat that with his 17th. Coppinger reached the big tree with his next and Mullins just held the lead under a bowl. Coppinger’s was just short of the line after another and although Mullins beat it, he too missed the line. The score was effectively over then, but Coppinger symbolically played his last to beat he line.
