Murphy and Bowen show their class
Road champion Murphy had a tight call from Gary Daly in the Barry Cup at Donoughmore, where he won by just three metres in the last shot.
Daly started well, winning the first shot to light by 20m and increasing his lead to 50m with his second. He looked to heading for a bowl of odds until Murphy played a great fourth shot to the Bounds to cut the lead to 20m.
Murphy missed light at Ring’s while Daly made clear light. Murphy reduced the odds to 20m again with a great shot around the corner. Daly doubled his lead with a good bowl to the halfway line and held it until he played a poor bowl in the middle of the straight. Murphy punished him with a brilliant bowl to take his first lead. Daly rallied when Murphy missed the nook and was just five metres hind with three to go.
He played his second last too far to the right and Murphy looked to have sealed it but his bowl unluckily missed the line. Daly then beat the line well and gave Murphy a tricky tip to beat. Murphy’s last bowl broke to the right, hit the verge 20m shy of Daly’s tip, but came back onto the road and just beat it.
Eamon Bowen hit top form at Bauravilla, where he had a runaway win over Gavin Twohig and Christy Mullins. Mullins won the first three shots, with Bowen second and Twohig already almost a bowl down. Bowen then turned the score with a huge bowl to just short of light at the netting, which effectively put him a bowl clear of Mullins and almost a bowl on Twohig.
Twohig beat Bowen’s big shot to Dekker’s, but conceded the bowl after his next shot to light. Bowen made the rock in seven where he had a bowl on Twohig and two on Mullins. Twohig halted his rout with his next shot but Bowen picked up the pace again with two great bowls to the bridge. He was now almost two clear of Twohig and three in front of Mullins. He consolidated that lead with his next shot to the novice line, which effectively ended the contest.
Michael Murphy beat Eoin O’Riordan by two bowls at Ballyclough. He dominated the early exchanges, but O’Riordan fought back to lead at Ballyhass lakes. Murphy raised his game again, raising a bowl at the school and adding a second before the line. John O’Donoghue beat Aidan Bowen by the same margin in the return. He took advantage of a poor first shot from Bowen to lead all the way.
John Young beat Killian O’Sullivan by almost two bowls at Drinagh. Making light at the Black Stick in five, after O’Sullivan had missed, put him almost a bowl in front. He raised a bowl after six to Kennedy’s wall and was almost two in front after two good shots to the Barking Dogs.
Noel Dempsey beat Aidan Hurley comfortably in the last shot of the Pike semi-final. Hurley started well and was 50m clear after two. He missed a chance to raise a bowl by making White’s Cross in five. Dempsey grabbed that reprieve, winning the shots from the cross. He lofted his odds at Dreaper’s and held the upper hand to the finish.
Vincent Kiely beat Richard Murphy by almost a bowl at Bweeng. Neither player excelled in the early exchanges Kiely broke the deadlock with a great shot on Buckley’s straight that put him a bowl in front. Murphy knocked the bowl at the novice line, but Kiely finished with three great shots to go clear again.
Brian O’Mahony beat PJ Sheehy in the Jimmy Cahalane Cup final at Grange. Donncha O’Brien beat Denis Murphy by two bowls at Ballinacurra, after Murphy picked up an injury. At Derrinasafa Brendan O’Neill beat Freddy Scannell by two bowls and Connie Connolly beat Christy Butler in the last shot of the Phale Semi-finals.
Silke Tulk and Robert Meijer booked their places in next October’s King and Queen of the Roads when they won the Dutch national championships on Saturday. The titles are decided over eight rounds on a 1km course.
Tulk, who was Queen of the Roads in 2009, had already secured the title when she accumulated an unassailable lead after six rounds. Rookie Jerry Dekker led the men’s championship into the final day, but Meijer wiped out his seven-point lead despite torrential rain and wind.
West Cork (Michael Nyhan, Oisín O’Donovan, Sean O’Leary) 1,413.3m won the Munster Boys team title at Ballineen on Sunday. North East (Patrick Connolly, Evan Murphy, Chris O’Flaherty) 1,401.5m were second and South West (David Hegarty, Dillon O’Driscoll, Damien O’Gorman) 1,345m were third.
An Ghaeltacht (Maree Ní Loingsigh, Eilís Ní Mhurchú, Laura Ní Chriodáin) won the girls title with a score of 1,354m, with Carbery (Maria Nagle, Mairéad O’Driscoll, Katie O’Driscoll) 1,305m second and West Cork (Marlene Murray, Julia-Ann Hayes, Aileen Murphy) on 1,203m third.
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