Buckley turns back the clock in no uncertain terms

James Buckley bowled like an Oisín returned from Tír na nÓg in Sunday’s Hurley’s of Midleton King of the Roads final at Ballincurrig, we hadn’t seen anything like this from him since the 1990s.

Before the weekend the stars did not look aligned for one of the greatest stylist to ever grace the sport. To begin with he got a very bad fall the previous week at Ardcahan and was struggling to get fit during the week.

On Saturday he looked to have his final place secured till Bryan O’Reilly played an extraordinary second last shot to snap a totally unexpected lead. Buckley turned crisis into glory with an exquisite last bowl that was virtually impossible to beat. Conventional wisdom would suggest that such a demanding score was bound to sap him of both psychological reserves and freshness for Sunday.