Mackle momentum too much for battling Bohane

Thomas Mackle from Armagh.

The seven new All-Ireland bowling champions won’t spend time reflecting on the few small things that might have gone even better, but the beaten finalists will rewind the tape to some critical moments that saw the tide retreat and not return.

With more measured reflection some on the losing side will see a lot of positives. Michael Bohane should see the glass as half full. He had a remarkable championship. Had he a second chance on a few shots in the middle of the score he might have taken other options. Both his and Thomas Mackle’s performance dipped in that middle section, but Bohane was certainly the master for the first third. Mackle recaptured the sparkle that made him special a few years ago in the final third. His brilliant 10th bowl past the mushroom houses seemed to lift a dark cloud. He was possessed after that, repelling Bohane when his bowling was a good as at any time in this special campaign.