Cooney wins at the death in Ballincurrig
It was crowned by two of the most memorable King and Queen of the Roads finals ever, with Martin Coppinger winning his first King of the Roads and Dutch star Silke Tulk dethroning Kelly Mallon. Before that, there were three really great scores.
PJ Cooney finished strongly to deny Paul O’Reilly in the Jim O’Driscoll Cup final. He won the first three, but O’Reilly hit the front after a huge effort to the green. They both passed the no-play line in six. O’Reilly did better from the line and increased his lead in the next three to Leahy’s. He then surprisingly missed the big corner and Cooney levelled.
Cooney got the better of the shots from the corner as O’Reilly played his into the right dyke. Cooney went out the sycamores in two more to take a commanding lead. He made the elbow with his next. O’Reilly then missed the last bend and Cooney played a perfect reply to end the context.
John and Cian Shorten beat Paul Rafferty and Mark Kiernan in a tremendous Charlie McCarthy Cup. The score was closely contested to the top of the short straight. John Shorten then got a good bowl to light at the big corner. When Rafferty missed, there was almost a bowl between them, which the Shortens raised at the top of the long straight.
They then beat four good shots in a row to the pony’s gate. From there, Rafferty played a brilliant bowl past the creamery. The Shortens just beat that in two. Kiernan regained the lead by 20m with a big bowl past Geary’s
John Shorten then played a magnificent last bowl that raced along the yellow line past the finish and rounded the school bend. Rafferty missed that well with his reply.
Ciara Buckley stepped in for the injured Megan Collins in the Junior Queen of the Roads and finished strongly to beat Sinéad Kiernan and Hannah Janssen of Germany.
She was a bowl behind Kiernan after two to the elbow. Janssen bowled well to win the lead at the top of the short straight, which she held to the big corner. Kiernan reasserted her dominance with three brilliant shots from Leahy’s to Heaphy’s, where she still had almost a bowl on Buckley.
Buckley got an exceptional bowl past the pony’s gate, before the score stopped due to fading light. Kiernan got a poor shot on the resumption, but held her lead with her next onto the straight. She had just one metre of odds at the creamery, but she beat a big shot from Buckley onto the last straight.
Buckley took her first lead with a good bowl towards the line. Kiernan blew her bowl right and could not do enough in her last shot to deny Buckley. Janssen finished well after a bad patch in the middle of the score.
On Friday Terry Sexton beat Philip Corrigan with a great last shot in the East Cork Oil Challenge. They beat the line in four each from Moore’s, but Corrigan took a good lead in the next two past O’Riordan’s. Sexton regained the lead at Leahy’s and increased it to the big corner. Corrigan closed the gap to the top of the short straight, but Sexton pushed clear again.
Niall Smith and Oliver Gribben gave Ulster it’s only win in the supporting scores when Smith’s big last shot denied Gene Twomey and Thomas O’Callaghan in the Smart’s Bar President’s Prize.
O’Callaghan gained a good lead with his third to the muddy gap, but Smith and Gribben battled back to lead at Leahy’s. They were locked together till another big one to Geary’s from Smith raised a bowl. They held that lead in the last two throws.
Also on Friday PJ Cooney beat Trevor O’Meara by two bowls in the Cork final of the Jim O’Driscoll Cup. He made the first break with a great sixth to the no-play line, which put him a shot clear. He had almost two bowls at the big corner. He was facing the line in four more where he had well over two bowls.
On Saturday both Martin Coppinger and David Murphy equalled the road record by making the last bend in 14 shots in their respective Hurley’s of Midleton King of the Road semi-final wins.
Coppinger gave plenty of warning for Sunday’s victory when he led all the way against Aidan Murphy and Arjan Hassink. He was through the play line in six and raised a bowl on Murphy with his next. He went almost two in front at the big corner — where Murphy got massive applause for a beautiful loft. He had two bowls on both opponents at the sycamores and made light with a massive 14th.
David Murphy was equally impressive in his win over Conor McGuigan and Robert Djuren.
Murphy ended McGuigan’s early promise with a huge third shot to the green. He had a bowl on both players after his next. McGuigan contested that lead to the big corner, but after that he was always facing two bowls, which Murphy won comfortably.
