Munster duo make Toals pay

James O’Donovan and Martin Coppinger made it a fruitless trip south for Armagh brothers Peadar and Cathal Toal when they handed them a double defeat at Whitechurch on Saturday.

Both Munster bowlers struggled before finishing strongly. In the first score O’Donovan trailed Peadar Toal by well over a bowl, but he rallied strongly in the second half. It took two big last shots from Coppinger to see off Cathal Toal in the second.

Peadar Toal opened with a brilliant bowl to just short of Brickley’s. O’Donovan missed that by 50m. He followed with a good bowl, but Toal beat it by 100m. O’Donovan’s third was poor and just beat Toal’s tip. Toal kept up the pressure with a great bowl to the top of the hill and he was down to the wall in four for a clear bowl of odds.