Campbell proud of Ireland after Scots humbled
IRELAND may be still looking for their maiden title success, but at least they ended their British Under-25 Home International campaign at the County Antrim Indoor Bowls Club on a high!
Colin Campbell’s team approached the two-day event more in hope than expectation, but with the backing of home supporters were not ruling out the possibility of causing a shock against the might of the other Home Nations.
Unfortunately, their early optimism hit the buffers as they fell to a 33 shots defeat to Wales in their opening match, the Irish failing on all four rinks.
And, things didn’t improve in the Saturday afternoon session when the title holders England turned the screw, roaring to a 9354 victory.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the home team. They stitched together their most impressive performance in yesterday morning’s final session which finished with a 81-76 win over the Scots.
Although the rinks skipped by Robert Kirkwood and Jamie Watson fell to defeat against Jason Banks (23-17) and Connor Milne (23-17), the Irish hit back through Stephen Kirkwood and Ryan Cavan.
Kirkwood stormed to a 22-13 win against Ryan Burnett, while Cavan racked up a 25-17 victory over John Fleming. The win meant the Scots finished bottom of the table, with England retaining their crown.
“The players can be proud of their performance,” said manager Colin Campbell. “After the two defeats, they showed great character and heart to bounce back and claim the win against Scotland.” Results: England 80 Scotland 78; Ireland 64 Wales 97; Scotland 73 Wales 83; England 93 Ireland 54; England 74 Wales 68; Scotland 76 Ireland 81. TIGER Woods continued his return to golf with his first appearance at the Riviera Country Club for 12 years, and with him came the return of one of golf ’s more tedious phenomena: the drunken imbecile.
“Mashed potatoes!” was one of the many enlightening hollers from the galleries as a minority of well-hydrated fans followed Woods and his playing partner, Rory McIlroy, in the blazing Californian sun.
The meaningless shout-out has now become the standard accompaniment to Woods’ tee shots and is believed to be an attempt to gain TV and social media exposure.
“It might have always been like this, the whole Tiger mania,” said an exasperated McIlroy. “But I swear, playing in front of all that, he gives up half a shot a day on the field.
“It’s two shots a tournament he has to give up because of all that goes on around him. Whether that calms down the more he plays and it doesn’t become such a novelty that he’s back out playing again, I don’t know, but it’s tiring. I need a couple of Advil tablets... I’ve got a headache after all that.
“You’ve got a six-foot putt and they’ll shout: ‘It doesn’t break as