Martin Coppinger and David Murphy set for battle royal

European champion David Murphy and recent Phair Cup winner Martin Coppinger face each other today in the feature score of the RNLI annual fundraising day at Castletownbere.

These two have been at or close to the top of Irish bowling this decade. Coppinger was sharp when he ended James O’Donovan’s fine run in the Noel Phair Cup at Shannonvale. He got one of the longest bowls on record that day and held on despite a great late challenge from O’Donovan.

Murphy created history in May when he became the first player to win three successive European road titles. After that heady start though his year only sputtered along.