Sexton leads Munster challenge in balanced All-Ireland series
Picture: Cathal Noonan
Hannah Sexton leads the Munster challenge in next weekend’s All-Ireland bowling final series at Ballinagree. Six titles are up for grabs, divining who will take each one is virtually impossible.
Expectations are invariably inflated for Munster wins when All-Irelands are played in Munster. That is an added burden that often inhibits performance. On paper all six are very evenly balanced, bowling is not played on paper though and very tiny margins can lead to big disparities in odds and results.
Sexton was strong and confident from the off in her win over Denise Murphy in the Munster senior final. It would be hard to point to a single flaw in her performance, yet her lead shrunk from two bowls to one in the latter half of the score. Most of that is down to a storming finish from Murphy, but it also points to nothing being over till it’s over on this road.
Rewinding the All-Ireland reel to her opponent, Dervla Toal-Mallon’s, 2024 win over Geraldine Daly-Curtin at Castletownkinneigh could be instructive. The Ulster woman went from barely holding onto the lead, to winning by almost a bowl in the last few shots.
If she’s in a similar spot on Sunday, she’ll be looking at contours around An Capaillín Bán and Coakley’s lane strongly reminiscent of those she faced in 2024.
Sexton is a rising star. She is athletic, stylish, fast and focused. In Toal-Mallon she is facing someone who has been here before, who understands the tight corners and knows how to apply that extra bit of pressure at vital times. Sexton should have enough to win, but she faces a far more formidable rival than many of her supporters may appreciate.
Paddy Stokes gave the most complete Munster final performance on the course up to Ballinagree in his win over Timmy McDonagh in the intermediate final. A repeat of that bowling would almost certainly get him over Ulster’s Pete Carr on Sunday.
Finals rarely follow such simple lines though, as Stokes found out in last year’s junior A final in Keady-Tassagh. Carr will be unburdened by expectation and free to give it one hell of a go.
The clash of the Darraghs – Dempsey and Gribben – in the men’s junior A final is a generational test that could herald a rivalry that spirals to the top of the sport in the next five years. Both are young bowlers on a mission. Both deliver incredibly fast bowls, but like all young stars are open to occasional lapses.
The rising road in Ballinagree poses so many physical and mental questions. In the Munster final Dempsey looked to have the job done as he went into the long straight. In the end, he was sweating on getting the right cannon off the kerb to see off Johnny O’Driscoll. Don’t be surprised if the kerb is in play again on Sunday.
Gerald McDonagh really raised his game in the second half of his Munster U18 final win over Culann Bourke. He bowled with a maturity and poise that suggests he could be a huge force in adult bowling. If he can beat Ulster’s Johnny Campbell on Sunday he will have moved a step closer to reaching that potential.
Campbell was unheralded at national level till he downed Caolan Carr in the Ulster final at Benburb. He went toe-to-toe with Carr, one of the most exciting young talents in the game. He then did the unthinkable, he beat Carr from hind bowl in the last shot. With that line on his CV he will hardly be overawed by McDonagh.
The girls U18 final is a repeat of the 2024 All-Ireland U16 final in which Ulster’ Megan O’Reilly beat Méabh Cuinnea at Eglish. O’Reilly nipped past Cuinnea in the closing stages of that one.
O’Reilly was brilliant when retaining her title last year at Castletownkinneigh. In the meantime Cuinnea has advanced too. She was outstanding in her Munster final win over Darcy O’Brien and will be hard to beat on this course.
Rachel Desmond had to battle all the way in the Munster junior women’s final. In the end she had to beat a massive last bowl from Kay Kelly. The standard of bowling is worthy of note. They were on a par with Hannah Sexton’s senior final win for much of the course.
Her All-Ireland opponent, Alice Mackle, is the latest member of the extraordinary Toal family to bid for a national title. Mackle dominated the Ulster final against Louise McKee at Tullysaran. It is hard to see her beat Desmond though. The surface and camber at Ballinagree are grist to the mill for Desmond and largely alien to Mackle.
9.30am: Official Opening
11am: Boys U18—Gerald McDonagh (Munster) v Johnny Campbell (Ulster)
12.30pm: Girls U18—Méabh Cuinnea (Munster) v Megan O’Reilly (Ulster)
2pm: Junior A Men—Darragh Dempsey (Munster) v Darragh Gribben (Ulster)
11am: Senior Women—Hannah Sexton (Munster) v Dervla Mallon (Ulster)
1pm: Junior Women—Rachel Desmond (Munster) v Alice Mackle (Ulster)
2.30pm: Intermediate Men—Paddy Stokes (Munster) v Pete Carr (Ulster)
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