Bowling Report - Week ending 14th December

FESTIVE CRACKERS TO LIGHT UP CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE

The Christmas-New Year fixture list contains a varied mix of scores at venues across the county. Tournament cup finals, charity fund-raisers, club benefits, social club events and traditional club challenge scores are all in the mix leaving punters spoilt for choice over the ten day period.

Ballinacurra will have their annual Junior A 9-man tournament starting on Christmas Eve with Kieran Murphy v Denis Wilmot v Conor Creedon followed on Stephens’s day with Noel O’Donovan v Noel O’Regan v David Hegarty and on the 27th Cian Boyle v Andrew O’Callaghan v David Shannon.

Grange is the St Stephens Day venue a stable in the calendar for many years and the feature score here will be local man James O’Donovan playing Gary Daly.

The headline event is once again is the RNLI benefit day, now a Christmas week hardy annual at Castletownbere. The cream of the crop as it were have been approached and have given commitment resulting in a four score programme on December 28th & 29th that is sure to entice a huge throng to the fishing town. Opening proceedings on Sunday 28th @ 9.30am will be Timmy McDonagh and Anthony Crowley playing Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Crowley, this will be followed by a mixed doubles score, Gary Daly v Martin Coppinger and John Cahalane v Jim Coffey will finish off day one. On Monday Cathal Creedon v Sean Murphy will be followed by Conor Creedon v Noel O’Donovan with Intermediate players Paul Buckley v Tim Young and to finish off the weekend Eoin McCarthy will play Jimmy O’Brien.

Ó'CRUALAOI GETS HOURIHANE CUP UNDERWAY

Back to last weekend bowling and a lot of scores fell foul to the poor weather conditions, Bauravilla held a Mikie Hourihane Cup semi-final on Saturday, here newly promoted to Junior C, Kevin Ó’Crualaoi took victory from Paul Kingston and Eoin McCarthy playing for a stake of €1,300 a-side. Ó’Crualaoi made Robins Cross in two good bowls where he had fifty meters on both his opponents, he made the netting in two more raising big odds on both Kingston and McCarthy, he kept up his dominance of the score when he made the rock in four more to raise a bowl on both. He held this odds to the Bridge and won comfortably.

Clondrohid held two semi-finals on Sunday, a Novice E and a Novice ladies. In the Novice E Mark O’Callaghan from Macroom played Pat Healy from Clondrohid. After four each to the bark mulch Healy was in control but got a poor fifth that allowed O’Callaghan back into the score. O’Callaghan got two great bowls past Tier Beg cross that gave him his first lead. Healy carrying an injury found himself almost a bowl down at the black house, but he battled on and forced a last shot score that O’Callaghan beat easy. O’Callaghan now plays Darragh Murphy in the Novice E final on Sunday next at Baile Bhuirne.

GOOD COMEBACK BY DESMOND

In the return score, a novice ladies semi-final Louise Desmond played Ava Ronan for €200 a-side. Starting a Geoff’s Lane Ronan had a bowl of odds after three shots at Kelly’s Hill. Ronan held this and raised further odds in two more to the Graveyard wall, but from here Desmond dug deep and played some super shots to take her first lead at Tier Beg cross, she powered on to raise a bowl at Riordan’s small gate and another passing the bark mulch to win out in the end by two bowls and now plays Katie Moynihan in the final at Baile Bhuirne also on Sunday next.

JAMES O'DONOVAN PROVES TOO STRONG FOR COPPINGER AT LYRE

Lyre held the first score in their new Mother Hegarty Cup senior tournament where James O’Donovan beat Martin Coppinger for a stake of €3,000 a-side. Coppinger started well in this score beating the forest entrance in two bowls where he had fifty meters of odds. But a turn of fortune for O’Donovan with his third shot got the most incredible rub of eighty meters or so out of the left dyke that took him just back of the tunnel. Coppinger missed this well and was only over the tunnel with his fourth. O’Donovan opened Crowley’s bend in three more, hasn’t been done in six shots for a while, here he had almost two bowls of odds. O’Donovan crossed over sight for McCarthy’s bend and Coppinger only came poor sight and missed McCarthy’s bend again where he conceded.