3 days ago
Field almost set for King and Queen of the Roads
James O'Donovan, Gary Daly, and Aidan Murphy are just one step away from competing in next month's King of the Roads semi-final at Ballincurrig.
After two rounds of the Mick Barry Cup, they have the highest points tallies. They will play a three-hand final for the Mick Barry Cup and a semi-final spot in King of the Roads.
Reigning King, Colm Rafferty is already in the hat, as is his brother Ethan, as Ulster and All-Ireland champion. Munster champion Arthur McDonagh, German champion Manuel Runge, and Dutch champion Patrick Zieverink are also in the semi-finals.
Denise Murphy took a step closer to Queen of the Roads when she defeated former Queen Catriona Kidney, in the Gretta Cormican Cup at Grenagh. She plays Hannah Cronin in the semi-final. Megan Collins and Veronica O'Mahony meet in the other semi-final.
The winner will join an impressive line-up in next month's Queen of the Roads. Already in the semi-final are defending Queen, Silke Tulk, All-Ireland champion Kelly Mallon, German champion Anke Klopper, and Munster champion Hannah Sexton.
The road in Ballincurrig is currently a 'black-top' asphalt surface. Were it to stay as is, it would definitely tilt the scales in favour of the continental players, who regularly bowl on a similar surface.
On Saturday Gary Daly created a new record for the asphalt, beating the line in 14 shots in his win over Martin Coppinger. The jewel in that crown was a sensational 13th bowl from Din Tough's that went almost to the finish line. That perfectly demonstrated the capricious nature of the new substructure of the road. All the old tracks have been ironed out, leaving more gradual planes. Sometimes what looks a well-played bowl yields little, but others deliver exceptional rewards.
Daly led from the off. He opened up a big lead with a great fifth bowl to the pony's gate. Coppinger closed the gap with a big eighth shot onto the long straight. He made an heroic bid to level the score with a massive tenth bowl that unluckily missed the big corner. There was an even bowl between them at Din Tough's. Daly then delivered his miracle bowl.
James O'Donovan, Michael Bohane, and Séamus Sexton were in a virtual blanket-finish on 15 shots. O'Donovan might have been rivalling Daly, for best performance of the round, but he missed the line with his 14th. Bohane and Sexton went flat out with their last shots, with Bohane filling second place and giving O'Donovan a target to beat for the score.
Bohane opened with an exceptional bowl that almost reached Moore's gate and set the early pace. He scorched to Heaphy's in five. O'Donovan had closed the gap to just eight metres there, with Sexton a shot behind. O'Donovan won his first lead in the next shots to O'Riordan's.
Bohane lost ground with two poor shots from the top of the long straight to the elbow, this left O'Donovan a shot clear and Sexton fighting for second. Bohane levelled with O'Donovan through two brilliant bowls to the top of the short straight Sexton made an equally dramatic recovery with two great bowls to light at the last bend, that brought him level with Bohane. O'Donovan kept control by opening the bend too with a great 13th shot, but he missed the line with his 14th.
Aidan Murphy set the tone from the off against Patrick Flood. He had well over a bowl of odds after six to Heaphy's. He missed light with his next one, but still had a clear bowl on the long straight. The road was playing mind games out to the big corner, with a mix of long and short bowls, where the lead was just under a bowl. Flood reached Din Tough's with two brilliant shots from there to cut the lead to 2m.
Murphy held a slender lead with his next one past the serpent and then played a smashing bowl past the last bend, that was unlucky to miss the line. Flood closed with a big one, but Murphy beat it.
Timmy McDonagh advanced to the Munster final of the Jim O'Driscoll Cup against Páidín Stokes. He beat Tim Young and Michael Murphy.
The race to Drogheda intensifies this week with a series of Munster semi-finals. The junior C takes top billing, with Conor Lucey and Cathal Creedon meeting at Ballinacurra tomorrow and Eoin O'Donovan and Michael Ahern meeting in the other semi-final at Curraheen on Sunday.
In the Tim White Cup at Rosscarbery there were wins for Kenneth Murphy over Ger Connolly, for Timmy Murphy against David Hegarty, and Darragh Dempsey beat Andrew O'Callaghan.
