Mullins seals super last shot victory
Brian Wilmot, James O’Donovan and Tim Young also had wins, but the biggest winner was the RNLI which netted €3,500 from the event.
Mullins opened with a good first bowl, but it fell left and Daly beat it by five metres. Mullins got a good second bowl to the first house. Daly’s bowl fell left 60m shy of that tip. Daly got a better third shot past the petrol station, but Mullins beat it to hold his 60m margin.
Daly’s fourth was tight on the left too but it rose onto the road and made the 80kph sign. Mullins played his bowl to the left to avoid a pothole but he still held the lead. Daly took his only lead with a good fifth, which Mullins missed by one metre when his bowl encountered surface water.
Mullins countered with a brilliant sixth shot when he went 50m past the next bend. Daly missed the bend with his reply. He spun his next bowl perfectly around the bend to the start of the rise and beat Mullins’ tip by 70m. Mullins played another great bowl past Roadeen cross, but it fell left. Daly now had a chance to cut the lead, but he only beat the tip by 25m to leave almost a bowl between them.
The tips were virtually identically placed after the next exchange to the hollow. Mullins’ next bowl broke right soon after hitting the road. Daly got a good bowl in reply and cut the lead to just 30m when Mullins just made Gleeson’s with his next. Daly increased the pressure with a good second last, which stopped just 60m short of the line. Mullins beat that tip by 30m.
Daly closed with a good bowl, which beat the line well and left Mullins with a 140m target. Mullins handled that challenge well and beat the tip comfortably.
Brian Wilmot beat Donal Riordan by a bowl in the first score of the day. There was nothing between them in the opening shots, but Wilmot took a big lead with a great second bowl. He was a bowl clear after four to the petrol pumps and was too consistent for Riordan for the remainder of the score.
Tim Young beat Brian Daly by two bowls in the last score. They were level to Roadeen cross. Daly got two poor shots from there, which allowed Young raise a bowl at the petrol station. He got a massive bowl from there to raise a second bowl.
Castletownbere marked the mid-point in an exceptional week for James O’Donovan who beat Thomas Mackle by two bowls in the second score. This came just two days after his big doubles win with Ian Callanan at Grange and three days before his victory over John Creedon in the PJ and Paddy Flynn Cup final on Saturday.
He started with three super shots to Roadeen cross where he had a bowl on Mackle. He lost some odds in the next shot, but he was almost a bowl clear again after his subsequent throw. He got a great sixth, which Mackle missed by 70m. He was two bowls clear at the petrol station and they played just one more shot.
Creedon was 60m clear after two great opening shots on Saturday. O’Donovan cut the odds to 20m with a huge third, but Creedon pushed clear again with his next to light before Bateman’s. O’Donovan’s fifth rubbed Bateman’s wall and gave him his first lead. He held a good lead at the next two tips. Creedon cut the odds to 10 metres with a great eighth and regained the lead with a good ninth.
Creedon failed to build on this despite too poor bowls from O’Donovan. O’Donovan went back in front after a massive 12th, but missed a chance to push clear with his next. He increased his odds to 30m at Deasy’s and looked to be cruising after getting the better of the shots to Barryhall cross. Creedon recovered with a brilliant second last to cut the lead to 12m, but O’Donovan easily won with his last.
Trevor O’Meara and Killian Kingston advanced to meet Thomas Mackle in the Ballinacurra final. O’Meara bowled economically to beat William O’Driscoll and Brian Donovan in his semi-final. Donovan had a big lead after three, but O’Meara was in control at the GAA field. He won by a bowl, with O’Driscoll overtaking Donovan at Cronin’s for second.
Killian Kingston beat Seamus Sexton by over a bowl. Sexton was almost a bowl in front after six to Perrott’s. Kingston’s superior speed counted from there as Sexton took 11 more to beat the line.
At Ballydehob John O’Brien had a good win over John Cahalane. Noel O’Donovan also beat Cahalane at Drinagh, where Dan O’Halloran had an impressive win over John Young. At Bantry, Donal Riordan teamed up with Tim Young to beat brothers Brian and Denis Wilmot.
At Knappagh there were wins for David Clarke over Eamon O’Neill, Michael Rafferty over Conor O’Neill and Malachy Lappin over Paddy O’Neill in the Northern Builders cup.
