O’Driscoll has the measure of Cooney
Cooney won the opening shot, but he played his second bowl into the left dyke to miss O’Driscoll’s tip by 40m. O’Driscoll increased his lead towards Geary’s and had almost a bowl at the no-play line. Cooney did well off the line, but O’Driscoll raised the bowl in full when Cooney made a second mistake at O’Riordan’s.
Cooney knocked the bowl with a brilliant shot from there to full light at the top of the long straight. O’Driscoll did well to come within five metres of that tip. He pushed almost two clear when Cooney missed light at the top of the short straight. He was two in front at the sycamores. He held that in the last two shots, with the last tips being marked dead-level.
Mick Murphy (I) won the Christy Ronan Cup final in dashing style at Curraheen, just a week after failing in the Dan Herlihy Cup at Waterfall. A once in a lifetime fourth shot was the decisive bowl that catapulted him clear of Paul Walsh.
Walsh won the first tip with a good bowl. Murphy missed light with his second, handing Walsh a chance to take a good lead, but he played his bowl to the right and missed the tip by 20m. Murphy increased his lead to 80m with a good third shot to the Hall cross. Walsh beat that tip by just 20m in four.
Murphy then played his sensational fourth bowl, which rubbed the right. It opened Ryan’s bend and ran to light at the following bend. That put him two bowls clear and he held that lead to the bridge with his fifth. Walsh shadowed him in the next seven to Richard’s lane and got the better of the last two tips to save the second bowl of odds.
Dan O’Halloran reached the Mick Keating Cup final at Drinagh through a last shot win over Jerry Gibbons. They were level for most of the score. At the Black Stick O’Halloran played his bowl too tight on the right, but it ran to Kennedy’s wall. From there Gibbons held a marginal lead till O’Halloran won the shots from the Barking Dogs. Gibbons then beat the line with a big bowl, but O’Halloran beat it by 20m.
Brian Wilmot beat Eamon Bowen Jnr in the last shot at Lyre. He won the opening shot, but did not lead again till his final throw. Bowen reached Crowley’s bend in nine where he had almost a bowl. He held his lead after two more to bare light at McCarthy’s. Wilmot finished in four from there against five from Bowen to take the last tip by ten metres.
Michael Bohane beat John Shorten by two bowls at Reenascreena. His first bowl brushed the wall and put him almost a bowl clear. He raised the bowl with his third and held it to the Four Crosses. He extended his lead from there and raised a second bowl at the Barn Studio.
Richie Harnedy beat Niall Fitzgerald by a bowl in the Rosscarbery final. He won each of the first five tips by approximately 30m. Fitzgerald took his only lead with a big sixth shot to the Priest’s house. Harnedy was back in front after his seventh. A huge bowl to De Barra Lodge pushed him a bowl clear and he held that to the line.
Brian Coughlan won the 2011 Carbery U21 champion final at Bauravilla, where he comprehensively beat Darren Shannon.
At Whitechurch, Thomas Boyle beat Padraig Scanlon in the last shot. Scanlon opened with a sensational bowl, but Boyle rallied with better second and third shots to lead at the pump. He was still fore at the top of the hill, but Scanlon edged the shots to the wall and led to Downey’s. Boyle won the next three to the top of the straight.
Scanlon then missed the farmhouse and Boyle went down to extend his lead. Scanlon amazingly regained the lead with his next. Boyle won the shots to the Devil’s bend and stayed in front past the line. Scanlon teamed up with Noel Bowen in a return score in which they outclassed Terry Sexton and David Fitzgerald.
That was Bowen’s second win of the weekend as he also won the Ballincurrig three-hand final on Saturday where he beat William O’Donnell and Oliver Searles.
Searles led early, then O’Donnell too over, but once Bowen hit the front with a great seventh shot from the big corner he was never headed again. He raised a bowl on Searles before the creamery and was close to a bowl in front of O’Donnell at the line.
At Knappagh, Donal Daly defied the odds to beat Johnny Kelly by a bowl in the Northern Builders Cup. Jim Fay gave Tyrone a second win by beating Gerard Rafferty. In a third tie Paul McCann beat Jim Cullen. Paul Rafferty had an easy win over Brian O’Reilly in a Grand Challenge at the same venue.
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