Murphy seals Mick Barry Cup and place in King of the Roads semi-final

Gene McVeigh was the one left with all the regrets, missing out on a chance to become the first Tyrone bowler to contest the classic.

Aidan Murphy added his name to the Mick Barry Cup in a three-way last-shot win over Thomas Mackle and Gene McVeigh at Ballincurrig.

Murphy secured the cup and a place in next Saturday’s King of the Roads semi-final. Mackle won a ticket to the semi-final too by finishing second. McVeigh was the one left with all the regrets, missing out on a chance to become the first Tyrone bowler to contest the classic.

When he rewinds the tape he will know that being too cautious with his second last was a key contributor to his loss. He had earlier rescued what looked a lost cause with an incredible bowl from the short straight to Din Tough’s.

He went for that shot with a vengeance, shaving the first bend in a do-or-die act. It took him from third to first and was the perfect template for the second last that never was.

After they rounded the last bend, Mackle was in third spot. He ran the middle and played right of the white line. His bowl nudged the line, but never crossed left. It still went well into O’Connell’s green, but it looked comfortably within the reach of the other two.

Murphy had a target to beat and he went for it, his bowl got into the left track and pushed him into the lead.

McVeigh needed to beat Murphy for outright victory, but he had to at least get past Mackle for a place in next Saturday’s semi-final. Being fore bowl was poor currency. He hadn’t carved out the odds he could have done with in his second last. Had he been even 30m further along both of these tips would have been easily mastered.

As it stood all the pressure was on him. Both his opponents were in a somewhat similar lie. The chances were he would beat both or neither. His bowl was always too far right. It went straight onto the green and he was straight out of a competition that looked his for the taking two shots earlier.

Murphy was the first to open a decent lead. He played a great fourth shot to the creamery. Mackle misplayed his reply into the left, leaving McVeigh as Murphy’s closet challenger. Mackle crossed the no-play line in a modest seven, McVeigh just missed it in six and Murphy beat it in six. Murphy was a full shot clear of Mackle and had a big lead on McVeigh.

A huge bowl up the long straight edged McVeigh ahead of Murphy by a metre. Mackle did his best bowling from there, making light at the big corner with two great bowls and following with another one to the top of the short straight. Murphy now had just five metres odds.

McVeigh failed to open that bend and looked in trouble. He went for broke with his next one. It skimmed the bend and wheeled past Din Tough’s. He was suddenly in the lead. He consolidated his lead in the next shots past the serpent.

Murphy and Mackle could do no more than round the last bend. McVeigh was a nice bit past the serpent though, which gave him a chance of getting close to the line. He didn’t go for that one though and ultimately paid a big price for his caution.

Hannah Cronin won the Gretta Cormican Cup and a place in Queen of the Roads in a scintillating last shot battle with Denise Murphy, also at Ballincurrig. After a promising start Juliet Murphy fell off the pace.

Denise put down a marker with a brilliant bowl out the first bend after both her opponents had missed. She raced past Din Tough’s in two more to raise a bowl on Juliet and close to a bowl on Hannah. Juliet and Hannah closed the gap to the big corner in seven, Juliet being unlucky not to make full light there.

Three massive bowls in succession won Hannah first lead at O’Riordan’s. Denise won it back in the next exchange and drove clear till she made a mistake at the creamery. She looked to have recovered from that, but Hannah regained the lead with a brilliant second last shot.

Denise closed with a decent bowl, but Hannah’s reply was like a laser, cutting the sop and racing well past the tip.

Arthur McDonagh got the perfect bounce ahead of his King of the Roads defence when he won the inaugural Johnny Creedon Cup final at Clondrohid, beating fellow Fermoy bowler Patrick Flood by two bowls. In the semi-final he beat James O’Donovan by the same margin. Flood beat Martin Coppinger in his semi-final.