Tim Young’s win over Wayne Callanan at Templemartin on Saturday sets up a tasty Tim Foley Cup decider against Wayne Parkes on November 6. The semi-final set-to between the Bantry and City rivals carried a €3,000 total stake and, although it proved to be a trap-to-line win for Young, it was keenly contested to the closing stages. The Bantry man beat a big opener from Callanan and got a good touch with his second to stay twenty metres in front. Callanan’s third was unlucky and had the impact of leaving him too much to do make sight at ‘Slynne’s’ with his fourth. Young extended his lead at this juncture but not by a big margin and Callanan stayed within fifty metres of the front man. Up at the ‘schoolhouse cross’ it was still very much all to play for with Young holding odds of just under the bowl. Callanan made a good effort to close the gap with his eleventh but Young fired two exceptional casts down to ‘Buttimer’s’ and he was now in the clear to the tune of a big bowl of odds. Callanan made no further inroads, and it will be a Bantry-Clon Foley Cup final on the first Sunday in November. Back Templemartin on Saturday there was a local win when Tim Allen took a last shot victory from Luke Connors for a €2,000 total. At Jagoe’s Mills a cracking score between Declan Murphy and Frank Kiely carried a €2,600 total and was won in the last shot by the City based Murphy.
In a women’s junior quarterfinal contest at Terelton, Siobhan Kelleher, the Mid Cork representative won a good contest with North’s Emer Galvin and will now play East Cork’s Anna Hurley in the semi-final round. Second round scores in the vintage (over 60’s) grade made up for much of the weekend’s action. A lively section B encounter at Drinagh had Christy Butler and Donal O’Mahony in opposition. In their heyday a disparity in grading would have existed but the years have been kind to both, and a €1,350 total stake indicated an even enough contest in the eyes of the punters. That was how it panned out as, playing out from the village, Durrus man O’Mahony lined an impeccable second shot which compensated for a wayward opener. That kept it level in the shots to ‘the pond’ and it stayed that way on to ‘Shandrum cross’. Butler’s super throw from here ran to sight at the ‘rectory gates’ and yielded a nice advantage that would prove vital. O’Mahony pressed in the closing stages but Butler’s cushion stood to him, and he won by a good fore bowl. In Drinagh on Sunday in a section C, Jim Walsh and Donal O’Sullivan had an engaging shot for shot duel that ended with Kenneigh man, Walsh, just ahead. They played for a total of €600. At Lyre on Saturday Jimmy Nyhan produced an explosive display to deny D D Carroll by almost two bowls for a €1,000 stake. On the lower road, Nyhan went sight in three and countered Carroll’s big seventh with a huge effort to sight at ‘the school cross’. Almost a shot up, Nyhan hit another piledriver to ‘Ballinascarthy cross’ that ended Carroll’s challenge. Liam O’Driscoll kept the Carbery flag flying with a narrow win over Denis Nyhan in the second of the day’s section B scores at Lyre. Again, carrying a €1,000 total, O’Driscoll rose a bowl after three but was on the backfoot after three more as Nyhan came ahead in the shots approaching the ‘Mason’s hill’. Skibb man, O’Driscoll came again with two big efforts down to sight for the last straight and just held on in a tight finish. At Ballinacarriga on Sunday also in section B, John Nagle won from Jim Cronin. The Ross man rose valuable odds after Cronin’s misplay at ‘McSweeney’s’ and held his lead to the end. In section C west a good contest at Shannonvale saw P J Hegarty eclipse Pat Joe Connolly in the last shot and in another here, Pat Joe Sheehy won from Batty Foley, one bowl, for €500. At Peake in North Cork, last years outright winner, Micheal O’Céallacháin stayed on course with a bowl of odds victory over Paddy Kinsella. In vintage C at Carrignavar, Tom Fulham won from Eddie Barry, last shot, for €400. At Ballinacurra, Upton, on Sunday in section C, Crookstown’s Kevin O’Sullivan bowled well in a one-shot victory over Association chair, Michael Brennan.
Vintage scores at The Clubhouse on Sunday week survived the day’s rain and resulted in a Skibbereen double. In the first of these, two likely contenders in section B clashed and it is last year’s runner-up, Donal Harnedy who progresses at the expense of former junior A, David Walsh. It was a good contest despite the conditions as both made ‘sight’ level tips in four good shots to ‘the chips’. Walsh missed an opportunity when Harnedy got little out of his next two and the contest stayed level to ‘Clon cross’ and on to ‘Murray’s’. Harnedy forged in front by forty metres in the shots to ‘O’Riordan’s’ and held that advantage to the last bend. Walsh did not get justice with his last and Harnedy beat the line with a fine delivery. They played for a €700 total. The evergreen Charlie O’Neill can still produce the goods as he showed in defying the elements with a fine display against Jerry O’Donovan of Mid Cork. Neither got much purchase in their opening shots and it was O’Neill who settled to rise a bowl of odds after three. Consistency was his hallmark as he doubled his lead in the next segment and he matched O’Donovan’s best efforts in holding his advantage to the finish. The stake at issue was €520. Charlie plays Tom O’Donovan in the next round at Castletownkenneigh.
At Bweeng in section B (East) two men who have had their share of success in the elder grades had a good battle. James O’Leary, the novice veteran winner in 2016 won this second round contest from 2011 vintage winner, Denis Hickey, one bowl, for a €1,000 total.
West Cork’s regional fund-raisers were well-supported at the weekend. The popular Clubhouse venue hosted the six-score series with four on Sunday headlined by the meeting of Noel O’Regan and David Hegarty. A slack sequence through the middle third when the county junior C champion took four from ‘Clon cross’ to ‘O’Riordans’s’ was his undoing and resulted in O’Regan taking a handy lead at a vital stage. A super shot to the brow had Hegarty back in it especially as O’Regan stuttered with his response. With just twenty metres in it, the Lyre man unluckily failed to get sight beyond the ‘old school’ with his next and O’Regan took his chance to regain control. O’Regan won it by a big fore bowl for a stake of €8,100. The Hegarty camp rebounded with a stirring win in the return score when Ger of the clan got the better of Tim Cahalane by a two-bowl margin for a €6,400 total. A morning clash here saw Johnny O’Driscoll gain the win from Newcestown’s Ger O’Driscoll. Both men carried big support in the €8,000 total stake and the crucial difference here was a slack start by O’Driscoll which resulted in a bowl of odds deficit at ‘O’Brien’s’. The Newcestown man did fire a huge effort from here, but Johnny O’Driscoll followed in kind and yielded no more for the remainder of the score. Back the Clubhouse in the morning Ballineen’s Eoin McCarthy kept a good run going with a last shot victory over Darren O’Donovan, Kinsale. Saturday’s opener between Jack O’Callaghan and Alan Brickley got proceedings off to a fine start especially for the Castletown man’s wide-ranging support. He was a bowl to the good when his fourth ran to sight at ‘the chips’ and rose a second shot of odds with a big shots past ‘Dineen’s lane’. O’Callaghan’s ten to the brow past ‘O’Riordan’s’ represented excellent bowling for the Clubhouse and had him in an unassailable lead over his Doheny rival. They played for a €2,800 total. Back the road on Saturday Eoin Murray defeated Jim Connors by a bowl for €1,000.
In Mid Cork novice E, a semi-final contest at Castletownkenneigh, Eoin O’Callaghan defeated Dylan Murphy by a bowl for €740 and will play Kevin Walsh in the final. In Gaeltacht novice E, at Ballyvourney, Ronan Lynch won from John Murphy and Cathal Roche won from Shane Foley. At Cill na Martra Donal O’Shea won from Kevin Kelleher and Homer O’Connell defeated Tim Scannell. In the same grade in West Cork James O’Driscoll defeated Conor O’Brien and Liam O’Brien defeated Dunmanway’s Michael Carroll, both scores taking place at Drimoleague.