David Murphy wins with last shot at Bauravilla
O’Donovan missed the cross with his first bowl. Murphy’s opener went right but it straightened to just beat the tip. They both missed Robin’s cross with their second throws, but Murphy was still fore bowl. O’Donovan played his next to the left and Murphy extended his lead to 70m. O’Donovan was too far left with his fourth too and Murphy beat Coppinger’s gate to hold his odds.
O’Donovan then played a massive fifth to the netting, which Murphy missed by 10m to concede the lead. They were just short of the rock in three more with Murphy leading by 10m. Murphy gradually edged clear and looked to be secure with two to go.
O’Donovan then played a brilliant bowl to just short of the line. Murphy had a shot to beat, but he released the bowl of the day, which beat the line by 50m.
Denis Wilmot advanced at the expense of John Cahalane in the Bill Barrett Cup at Caheragh.
Cahalane won the first tip by 30m and pushed that to 50m with a good second to the church. Wilmot then got a brilliant third to the top of the rise. Cahalane replied with a fine effort too, but it just missed the tip. He failed to make the top of rise with a very short fourth.
Wilmot put him on the back foot with a good bowl through Lisangle cross. Cahalane missed that by 20m to fall over a bowl behind. Wilmot increased his odds in the shots to the soccer field. He went past the bridge in two more to take his lead to over two bowls. He increased his lead to three bowls after two more good shots to the farm.
David O’Mahony and Denis Murphy will face each other in the semi-final of the Billy Molloy Cup following good wins at Whitechurch. O’Mahony beat Thomas Boyle by a bowl and Murphy beat Terry Sexton by almost two.
O’Mahony edged the opening shots and pushed almost a bowl clear with his next three to the top of the hill. He held that lead down the hill. He was still a bowl clear after two more to Boula lane. Boyle got a short shot towards the guard’s house, which left him well over a bowl behind.
Boyle rallied strongly with three great shots to the top of the straight where he had the lead under a bowl. O’Mahony then got a good shot down towards the farm. Boyle’s reply hit a pothole, which left him almost a bowl down again. O’Mahony restored his bowl of odds in the last four shots past the line.
Denis Murphy opened with three good bowls to the top of the hill where he led Terry Sexton by a bowl. He made a mistake with his next. Sexton tightened the odds with a good bowl down the hill and clipped it to 20m on the flat. He made a mistake with his next and Murphy regained control. He increased his odds in virtually every throw and was almost two clear at the farmhouse.
The steady deepening of Irish underage talent continued in 2015. A number of youth bowlers built on their reputations and some very exciting new talent emerged at national level.
One of the most significant signs of progress came in the performances of Alex O’Donovan and Veronica O’Mahony in the Proto-Mark Technologies Youth International at King and Queen of the roads. The Irish pair emerged with gold stars in their last shot win over a really top Dutch duo in Mark Muntel and Lisa Jonkers.
Both had earlier won their respective All-Ireland u18 titles and the maturity of the their form continued through the last quarter of the year.
In the All-Ireland series in Armagh Odhran Rafferty grabbed attention in his powerful win over Tom O’Donovan in the u16 final. He did everything right on the day and made O’Donovan look like an ordinary player.
It’s truly the sign of O’Donovan’s character that he bounced back and showed what a special talent he actually is. He was sublime at King and Queen of the Roads and equally impressive in the international youth trials. If he continues to progress at this pace he will be a very serious player in a short period.
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