Coppinger fancied to lift All-Ireland crown at Dunmanway
In the Munster final, against Christy Mullins, he didn’t produce his best bowling till the latter stages. He played some well below par bowls up to Cullinane’s lane where he was a bowl of odds behind. It contrasted sharply with his 2010 Munster final when he dominated every aspect of the score with raw power and voracious hunger.
But he will need to be much sharper and focused from the toss next Sunday. A bowler of his stature, power and experience should relish the open road to Ross.
At that point he could have had the sort of lead that would make McGuigan’s task almost impossible. However, if he bowls in fits and starts, as he did against Mullins, he could find a lot of ground to make up before he reaches the Darkwood turn.
For McGuigan to win, he too will have to reverse the trend of last Sunday’s Ulster final win over Peadar Toal. He didn’t lead until the fourth shot, was level at the Condy corner and looked out of contention at Grimley’s. Much like Coppinger, he did his best bowling in the closing stages and finished with a huge bowl.
He would not want to emulate that sort of form because he is very unlikely to reel in Coppinger over the big chip in the last quarter at Derrinasafa.
I suspect both Coppinger and McGuigan will settle far more quickly on Sunday. McGuigan will be flat out and focused and he has the ability to take the score to Coppinger to Ross’s or even as far as the Darkwood turn.
However, he would need a lot of leeway at that point to be sure of holding on. Coppinger threw some very serious bowls from Walsh’s lane to the line in the Munster final — the sort of bowls that very few players have the capacity to emulate. On that count he has a very strong advantage.
Six other All-Ireland titles will be decided over two days, starting with the Boys U16 final on Saturday in which Colm Rafferty will be defending his title against Munster champion Michael Desmond. Rafferty, who is also Ulster U18 champion, is a bowler of the top order, with huge experience at this level.
It will be Desmond’s first All-Ireland, but given that all the expectation will rest on Rafferty, it might turn out to be a bonus.
Oliver Gribben will be defending the All-Ireland Veteran (O50) title against Tony Carey in the second score. Gribben beat John Murphy in Armagh last year. Carey will be in his first final, but he has oceans of experience and is a strong-willed player that will be up for every challenge that Gribben produces. Although the score will be played back, this is one that Carey should win.
Ruairi O’Reilly, a brother of Ulster senior player Brian O’Reilly, will probably start as favourite against Terry Sexton in the Junior B final.
O’Reilly doesn’t lack speed but he is not always the most reliable. This is Sexton’s first All-Ireland final, but he has plenty of experience and has the bowling to pull off a famous win.
Colm Rafferty and Patrick Cremin open Sunday’s programme in the U18 final. Cremin won the Munster final in the last shot from Michael Desmond on Tuesday at Bweeng in a score that was a mix of brilliant and average bowling.
For Cremin to beat Rafferty, he will need to be on the sop with every shot. Playing two finals on the same weekend is a big challenge and Rafferty is bound to have some hangover from Saturday’s U16 final.
Chloe O’Halloran just got the verdict against Elaine Collins in the Munster final, the sort of reality check that might strengthen her resolve against Sinéad Kiernan in the girls U16 final. Kiernan was an emphatic two-bowls-of-odds winner over Orla Vallelly in the Ulster final.
Nicola O’Sullivan overcame Lorraine Hurley in a tremendous Munster Intermediate final at the Pike, which should be the perfect preparation for Sunday’s All-Ireland final against Erin Connolly.
Connolly edged the Ulster final in the last shot against Laura Gribben.
