Boyle proves too strong for Noonan
Noonan opened with a good bowl to the lane to take the first tip by 30m. Boyle won the second and held off a strong challenge from Noonan to hold his lead after four to the Bounds. He increased his odds with his fifth to Ring’s corner. Noonan regained the lead with a great bowl to Ring’s and followed with two more good shots to the start of the straight, where he was 30m fore.
Boyle was hampered by ice for his next shot, but he played a super bowl onto the straight and regained the lead by 30m. He doubled his odds with another good bowl to the middle of the straight. Noonan now needed to make the nooks in two to level the score. He overplayed his first into the right and missed his target with his next. Boyle made light in two and went well over a bowl in front to finish the contest.
The Ballinacarriga final between Killian O’Sullivan and Brendan O’Neill got under way, but had to be postponed with the verdict still in the balance.
O’Neill won each of the first two shots by 20m. O’Sullivan cut the odds with a great third shot. He was too far right with his next and didn’t reach the bridge. O’Neill’s bowl rubbed off the right bank and beat it by 15m. The frozen bank came to O’Sullivan’s rescue too in the next exchange when he again played to the right but got a perfect brush that took him past Finn’s. O’Neill put his bowl into the left track and beat that tip by 20m.
O’Sullivan took his first lead with a great seventh shot, which O’Neill missed by 10 metres. O’Sullivan held that lead in the next exchange to McCarthy’s Lane. O’Neill cut the odds to two metres with a great bowl from there towards Drinagh Cross. He regained the lead when he skinned the left dyke with his 10th shot to the bungalow. O’Sullivan missed that tip by just four metres.
They were now facing into a heavily iced road and it was decided to postpone the final third of the score. The date of the re-fixture will depend on how they negotiate a heavily backlogged fixture schedule.
MICK Hurley beat Jim Coffey by a bowl of odds at Ballincurrig on Saturday. He was given a handicap on the first shot from which Coffey profited with a good start. He played a great bowl from the green past the creamery to take a big lead. Hurley did well to come within a few metres of the no-play line with his next, but Coffey beat the line to hold a solid lead.
Hurley went through the lines to Heaphy’s with his next and Coffey beat that by just 40m. Hurley followed with a good bowl to light and took his first lead. He increased his odds with a brilliant bowl to the top of the long straight. Coffey did well with his bowl to Leahy’s and made light at the big corner with his next to effectively level the score again.
He opted to play tight on the right with his next bowl, but he drove his across to the left short of light. Hurley punished him with a good bowl to the top of the short straight. From there on they battled over the bowl of odds lead, which Hurley won comfortably. Patrick Butler delivered a second blow to Coffey when he beat him by over a bowl in the return score.
Francie Duffy made a bit of history on the Cathedral Road on Sunday when he qualified with Shea Mulllin for the final of the Paddy Duffy Cup, in honour of his late father. Mullin opened with a brilliant bowl from the finger post that put them a shot ahead of Adrian O’Reilly and Tonto McGale. They set the pace to Campbell’s corner where they were almost two in front.
They lost momentum from there to the top of Starr’s Hill, but were still a bowl in front. Duffy got a poor shot to Donnelly’s and O’Reilly and McGale were just 30m off the lead at the coal sheds. O’Reilly closed the gap in the shots to Brannigan’s, but Duffy lifted the siege with a good bowl to the hollow to push them 60m clear.
O’Reilly cut the odds to 20m with his next, but McGale then missed the line. Duffy beat it well to gain a place in next Sunday’s final against Jarlath and David Devlin.
The annual convention of Ból-Chumann na hÉireann scheduled for tonight has been deferred until next Wednesday at St Finbarr’s Pavilion in Cork.
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