Road bowling: Martin Coppinger caps year with Bottlehill win

The other big winners of the weekend were James McNulty in the Charlie O’Donovan Cup final Kilcrohane and Cillian Kelleher in the Lyre final.

KING OF THE BOTTLEHILL: Martin Coppinger bowling at Bottlehill in the Eamonn Bowen Senior Memorial Cup final on Sunday. Pic: Paul Stack.

Martin Coppinger put a much nicer sheen on his 2026 campaign by winning the Éamon Bowen Cup at Bottlehill, beating both Aidan Murphy and Gary Daly.

In Saturday’s semi-final he dismissed Thomas Mackle, in his comeback score, by two bowls of odds. Murphy was equally emphatic in his two bowls of odds win over Arthur McDonagh. Daly advanced to the final from his early morning win over Eugene McVeigh and Brian Wilmot.

The other big winners of the weekend were James McNulty who beat Denis Murphy and Mark Shannon in the Charlie O’Donovan Cup final Kilcrohane and Cillian Kelleher who fended-off a late rally by David Hegarty in the Lyre final.

Coppinger’s victory in the Bowen Cup was delivered through a high octane start and finish. He got a big opening shot to get a decent early lead. Daly and Murphy did better in the second throws, but Coppinger held his advantage. He extended his odds to 100m with his third one and had a full bowl of odds on both opponents at the first bend.

Even after misplaying his next one, he had almost a bowl on Murphy and was close to two bowls ahead of Daly facing the bridge. Murphy rapidly cut those odds and had a five metre lead on Coppinger at the holy well, with Daly now just 80m back.

Murphy increased his odds to 100m at the bad bend, with Daly now a bowl off the pace. He was closer to a bowl in front of Coppinger in the shots to the dogs. He lost momentum by missing light at the transformer bend and Coppinger made it to level the score.

The closing stages were a duel between Coppinger and Murphy till Daly made a late cameo. He looked to be out of contention at the last bend, but delivered an extraordinary bowl that could have turned everything on its head. From what looked an impossible position he narrowly missed the line.

He needed both his opponents to miss the line too, to force a last shot. Neither obliged. Murphy played a decent last bowl, but still it just beat the line. Coppinger replied with a sensational bowl that went well past Murphy’s tip.

Cillian Kelleher beat David Hegarty in the last shot of the Lyre final. Hegarty made a herculean effort to pull it out of the fire with a huge second last bowl, but Kelleher beat the tip and had too much in hand for the last exchange.

Kelleher had 100m odds after two to the forestry entrance. Hegarty cut the odds with a great third shot, but he didn’t make any further gains in the next exchange. Kelleher increased his odds again in the shots past the tunnel.

Hegarty wiped out all those gains with a brilliant seventh throw to which Kelleher responded with a short shot. Hegarty won his only lead when his eighth bowl got a kind rub off the left to make light at Crowley’s bend.

Kelleher played a brilliant ninth bowl to the double gates past the crossover. Hegarty was right with his reply and only beat the tip by five metres with his following throw. They both made light at McCarthy’s next, with Kelleher still almost a bowl in front.

Hegarty rallied again with a great shot to the rose bed from there. He followed with his best shot of the day towards the line. Kelleher beat that by 30m to hold an important advantage for the last shot. Hegarty's last bowl was left of the sop and missed the line. Kelleher’s reply was on target and confidently beat the finish.

James McNulty gave a brilliant second half performance to secure a comprehensive win in the Charlie O’Donovan Cup final in Kilcrohane.

It was a tight contest between McNulty, Murphy and Shannon in the early stages. A series of mistakes by both Murphy and Shannon up to and away from Farnamanagh cross, put both of them in trouble. McNulty seized the opening by increasing his intensity. He quickly pushed clear and won by two bowls of odds.

In the Ted Hegarty Academy on the Phale Road, Fionán Twohig and Grace O’Sullivan were the two most impressive players. Twohig beat Tadhg O’Farrell and O’Sullivan beat Layla Fleming and Mia Hubbard in their U14 heats.

In the under-card at Bottlehill, Ciara Buckley’s strong finish proved decisive in her win with Michéal Desmond against Veronica O’Mahony and Edmund Sexton. Timmy McDonagh also had a last shot win over Pete Carr. Eoin McCarthy beat Jimmy O’Brien by a bowl.