Sexton eyes strong start to upset favourite Mallon

Kelly Mallon will be expected to see of the challenge of Munster champion, Hannah Sexton in Sunday’s All-Ireland senior final 

Kelly Mallon won the Queen of the Roads for the seventh time at Ballincurrig in September

Every time Kelly Mallon stands on a bowling road, she is the favourite. This has been earned through an unparalleled career in which she leads both the All-Ireland and Queen of the Roads roll of honour.

Next Sunday’s All-Ireland senior final is no exception. She will be expected to see off the challenge of Munster champion, Hannah Sexton, especially as the final will be played over the Keady-Tassagh road in Armagh. Some factors offer a case that Sexton can cause an upset.

Sexton had to come through a much more exacting Munster campaign. Her form has been on a steady upward trajectory and she was sublime in the Munster final. She will also be totally unburdened by expectation. Unlike most Munster contestants she comes into the final with absolutely nothing to lose and more than a decent chance to upset the odds.

Mallon is bidding for her 12th senior All-Ireland while Sexton is looking for her first. In the 2023 final Mallon stormed home against Geraldine Daly-Curtain in Eglish. After missing out in 2024, she is back with a renewed appetite for success this year.

It’s a cliché, but Sexton will absolutely have to start strongly to cause an upset. Any hesitancy in the early exchanges and she will have the task of trying to reel in the greatest woman bowler of all time.

Munster intermediate champion, Páidín Stokes, is also in search of his first All-Ireland. He faces Tyrone’s Gene McVeigh. Stokes may lack experience at this level, but he is not deficient in talent. He turned around the Munster final against Timmy McDonagh through sheer dent of consistent excellence. Keady-Tassagh is made for his assertive bowling.

McVeigh, is arguably the highest ranked Tyrone player of all-time. He was part of a most unusual combination of Tyrone v Kerry in an All-Ireland bowling All-Ireland at Eglish in 2023. As frequently happens on the football field, Denis O’Sullivan had the last word for the Kingdom in that junior A final. McVeigh should be a tougher and more calculating competitor as a result of that loss.

Eoghan McVeigh, Gene’s cousin, will wear the red-hand shirt too against Shane Crowley in the u18 final. Crowley’s bowling in the Munster final confirmed his status as a potential senior champion. He has explosive power, which he will be able to flaunt at Keady. If Crowley is in the zone, it is hard to see McVeigh staying with him.

The girls u18 is far less clear. This pits two very hot prospects in opposition. Emma Hurley emerged from an incredibly competitive Munster cauldron, beating a highly rated Darcy O’Brien in the final. Ellie-May Carr, daughter of former world champion Eddie, beat last year’s Ulster champion Lilly O’Rourke. She will also be playing over her home club road too.

Laura Sexton or Jessica Hughes will become the first ever winner of a women’s Junior final. Ulster’s Hughes comes with strong credentials, which she will need. Sexton was astonishing in her Munster final win over Darcy O’Brien. Her bowling was impeccable and her focus and resolve were exemplary.

The men’s junior A final is an intriguing contest between Conor McGuigan and Patrick Stokes. Stokes is oozing talent and his bowls carry huge velocity, but neither is a guarantee of success. McGuigan has made a career of pulling off unlikely wins. The most audacious being his three bowls of odds win over David Murphy in the 2011 senior All-Ireland, over the same road as next Saturday’s final.

Eoghan Kelly’s form in Munster will make him favourite against Emmet O’Rourke in the Boys U14 final.

All-Ireland Programme, Keady-Tassagh, Co. Armagh:

Saturday August 2 11am, Boy U18: Shane Crowley (Munster) v Eoghan McVeigh (Ulster). Back, Girls U18: Emma Hurley (Munster) v Ellie-May Carr (Ulster).

2pm, Junior A men: Patrick Stokes (Munster) v Conor McGuigan (Ulster). Back, Boys U14: Eoghan Kelly (Munster) v Emmet O'Rourke (Ulster) Sunday August 3 11am, Senior Ladies: Hannah Sexton (Munster) v Kelly Mallon (Ulster). Back, Junior Ladies: Laura Sexton (Munster) v Jessica Hughes (Ulster).

3pm, Intermediate Men: Páidín Stokes (Munster) v Gene McVeigh (Ulster).