O’Donovan leaves it late to edge McDonagh
He opened with a brilliant bowl and won each of the first four tips to the wall. McDonagh got a great fifth onto the flat, which O’Donovan missed. McDonagh increased his odds to Boula lane and went on to raise a bowl just past Downey’s line. He held that lead to the top of the straight.
O’Donovan got a good bowl down to the farm. McDonagh was well short of that after playing his reply to the right. He played his next into the bend and missed O’Donovan’s tip. O’Donovan held the lead in the shots to the wall. He increased his odds to the start of the straight and had a comfortable lead to the last throws. McDonagh got a reasonably good last shot. O’Donovan should have easily beaten it but played his bowl to the right and needed two rubs to pass it by two metres.
Vincent Kiely bowled impressively to beat John O’Rourke by two bowls in the semi-final of the John Cronin Cup at Ballincurrig.
O’Rourke got the better of the opening shots, but Kiely went in front after his fourth to the creamery. O’Rourke regained a good lead after two more to Heaphy’s. Kiely then got a great bowl to light at O’Riordan’s and when O’Rourke missed he was in trouble. Kiely followed with three great shots to the big corner, where he was almost a bowl in front.
O’Rourke battled on and had the lead under a bowl at the sycamores. Kiely responded by making light at the last bend with two huge bowls to take his lead to two bowls of odds. He plays John O’Donoghue in the final at Cobh.
Terry Mallon beat Padraig Scanlon by just five metres in the first round of the Jim Barrow Cup at Gortroe. Scanlon opened with a great bowl to the railings, which Mallon just beat in two. He followed with a great second to go over a bowl clear. Mallon then got a good bowl into the wood.
Scanlon played his next two to the right and his lead was back to just 40m. Mallon led in the shots to the white piers and held an advantage of 40m to the bend past the Well Bar.
He kept that lead onto the last straight. Scanlon got a short bowl there and Mallon extended his lead to almost a bowl. Scanlon rallied with a good bowl past the novice line, which Mallon just beat by 20m in two. Scanlon reduced the odds to five metres with his second last. He then played a great last shot which beat the line. Mallon was lucky to beat that off a rub.
Three days of top class entertainment in the West and Mid Cork festival at Ballinacurra, ended with John Young’s two metre win over Dan O’Halloran in the 13th score on Monday.
On Saturday Jerry Gibbons beat Noel O’Donovan in the last throw of the feature score. He got a great first shot, which helped him go a bowl in front at Brinny cross. He held that lead onto the last straight in nine throws. O’Donovan closed the gap up the straight and had the lead down to 25m for the last shot.
He got a good last bowl to just short of the line. Gibbons did even better though by beating the line from what looked a virtually impossible position.
Denis Wilmot closed Saturday’s bowling with a bowl of odds win over David O’Mahony. A series of brilliant shots from the GAA to Brinny cross turned that score for him.
On Sunday Denis O’Driscoll beat Kieran Murphy in the last shot of the feature score. Murphy looked set to gain the upper hand after O’Driscoll made a mistake with his bowl to the bridge. He did not take that opening though and they were level to the line. Murphy got a good last shot, which O’Driscoll beat.
Billy Dalton beat Decky O’Donovan in Monday’s big score. O’Donovan led by almost a bowl at Perrott’s. He played two poor shots from there though and Dalton got one great shot to take the lead at Foley’s. He comfortably beat O’Donovan’s last tip.
Cian Boyle completed a glorious hat-trick with a three bowls of odds win over Aidan Desmond at Donoughmore on Sunday and a double over Michael Gould at Templemichael on Monday.
At Donoughmore he was in control from the off. He had almost two bowls after four to the bounds and he kept piling on the odds to the end of the straight, which he reached in 11.
He was equally impressive in his two wins at Templemichael. After an explosive start he had a full bowl on Gould at Sarsfields Court cross. Gould hit back to lead after two more, but Boyle realised five sensational shots in a row to win by well over a bowl. He was over a bowl clear after three throws in the second score and held that lead to the line.
