Brian O’Driscoll shows his star quality at Killea

STAR QUALITY: Brian O’Driscoll’s burgeoning talent and the maturity of his All-Ireland novice I final win over Alan Long captured hearts and minds. File pic: INPHO/Tom Honan

Brian O’Driscoll’s burgeoning talent and the maturity of his All-Ireland novice I final win over Alan Long captured the hearts and minds of the vast majority of bowling fans at Killea in the historic Gaultier quarter of county Waterford on Sunday.

His win closed a weekend that yielded two All-Ireland titles for Munster, Michael O’Driscoll opened the day with a last shot win in the Novice II final against Danny O’Shea. Between the two Munster wins Barry O’Reilly, representing Ulster, beat his first-cousin Padraig Nugent in a really high quality Junior C final.

Brian O’Driscoll led from start to finish, but Alan Long was competitive right into the closing stages. There was little in it in the first two exchanges, but O’Driscoll raised a bowl with a big third shot. Long then settled into his best period, holding the lead at a bare bowl of odds in the next four past the Commons cross.

O’Driscoll put more daylight between them with a big bowl to the stone wall. Long played a great bowl past the bend and down the hill to keep in touch. He lost traction though when he just made the start of Davey’s bend with his next one.

O’Driscoll’s reply was an act of supreme talent. He stretched his bowl away in a sublime loft. It hit the road at speed and raced past Davey’s.

The entire gallery erupted into spontaneous applause. Only once before, have I witnessed such a reaction. On the previous occasion it was a spectacular loft from David Murphy that elicited applause, from a mostly German audience, at a European championship. That was Murphy on his way to becoming the most decorated player in the history of European road bowling, who knows what heights young O’Driscoll can reach.

That spectacular shot put O’Driscoll almost two in front and left Long with an impossible Everest to scale. O’Driscoll was now settling into a mesmerising performance. Long put in an heroic defence, down to a brilliant 16th shot past the line. Nothing could stem O’Driscoll’s charge though as he beat that with a perfect 13th bowl to win by three bowls of odds.

His victory was tinged with poignancy as his father, Teddy, who contested exactly the same championship in 1991 was unable to attend due to illness.

Barry O’Reilly led at all but one tip in the Junior C final. After taking the second shot Padraig Nugent could not get back in front. He lost serious ground when he carried his fifth bowl too far and it hopped left onto the bank. O’Reilly’s response was to raise the tempo up the hill to push his lead close to a bowl. Nugent dug in and refused to let the odds rise, but he could not break O’Reilly.

A sensational last shot won Mick O’Driscoll the All-Ireland Novice II title by a mere 11m from Danny O’Shea. After a slow start he settled into what looked like being a comfortable path to victory, till he lost momentum in the second half. O’Shea gradually took over and looked to have it sealed till he made a mistake with his second last. Even then O’Driscoll needed an exceptional bowl to change the course of history.

O’Shea won the first three, but O’Driscoll shaded the fourth exchange with a big bowl. He raised a bowl with a brilliant fifth to the white wall. He consolidated that lead in the next four past Commons cross. The tide started to turn when O’Shea got a massive bowl to light past Finegan’s, which cut the lead to just 80m. Two shots later O’Shea won an unexpected lead at Davey’s.

He exploited some uncharacteristic mistakes from O’Driscoll to gain a big lead. O’Driscoll got a miraculous rub on his 15th that at the time looked of little significance, but later proved vital in helping him to reach the last bend in 16. Most of O’Shea’s advantage dissipated when he missed light and then landed his 16th on the bank to leave him just 25m fore. O’Driscoll replied with a laser accurate fast bowl that shot past the line to snatch victory.

Wayne Callanan is a step closer to the King and Queen of the Roads weekend after beating Tommy O’Sullivan by two bowls in the Jim O’Driscoll Cup at Ballincurrig. O’Sullivan won the first three towards Geary’s. Callanan then played two huge bowls past the no-play line to go a bowl of odds in front. They contested that lead till Callanan pushed the odds closer to two with a great shot up the short straight. Veronica O’Mahony secured her ticket into Queen of the Roads, when she beat Denise Murphy at Grenagh.