Sisters battle each other in Greenhills bowls tournament

THE clash of the two Floyd sisters was one of the highlights as a good crowd turned out to see the latest matches at Greenhills Bowls Club last Tuesday night.

Caitlin produced a very impressive start and found herself five up against her sibling after only five ends, and it must have been tempting for Ciara to throw in the towel at that stage. However, she stayed positive and bounced back in fine style to level the match with two ends remaining.

Caitlin, who must have been shell-shocked by her sister’s comeback, managed to get her drawing skills back on track and eke out a two-shot lead going into the last end, but Ciara responded by producing her best bowls of the match, clinching victory in an exciting finish.

Robert McCormack came out all guns blazing to take a four-shot lead after four ends as opponent Leo Mc Donnell took time to settle on the fast rink, but Leo weathered the storm and by the seventh end he was ahead by two. Back came Robert and he showed admirable calmness to re-establish control with the help of some creative shots, eventually running out the winner by four shots.

Saoirse Allen took control early on to eke out a three-shot lead against Diarmuid Loughman after four ends, and that was still the gap with just two ends remaining despite a brief rally from Diarmuid.

When it came to the crunch, though, Diarmuid went on the attack and eventually secured a draw despite heavy pressure from his opponent.

In the fourth match Aaron Mc Kenna led for most of the game against Noel McDonnell and held his biggest advantage - four shots - with only two ends remaining, but Noel kept coming back and levelled for the first time in the penultimate end. He was on the front foot at this stage and in that final end he fired into the head at every opportunity to snatch a three-shot win.

When Tadg Reilly stormed into a six-shot lead after just four ends against Sophie Thornberry, few could see any outcome other than a comfortable win for Tadg.

Sophie, who had missed giltedged chances in those early ends, picked up three shots over the next two ends to make a real game of it, only for Tadg to take the seventh to increase his lead to four.

With the ends running out Sophie had to pull a rabbit out of the hat and she did just that in the eighth end, playing two superb backhand and forehand shots to a short jack to square the match! Tadg tried to redeem himself in the last end, but Sophie ultimately came up trumps by three shots as she completed a great recovery.

In the final match of the night Cian McKenna had a tough match on his hands as he had to give Saoirse Allen a three-shot handicap and found himself five down after only two ends.

Cian turned it around by the fifth end, by which stage he led by two, only for Saoirse to play a combination of shots to a short jack and middle jack respectively in the next two ends to edge into the lead - three up. Cian got the deficit back to one, but Saoirse retained her discipline and showed creative skill and commitment to take the spils by three shots in a very tense finish.

Times of play are as follows: Juveniles Tuesday 7 to 8.15pm, Seniors Tuesday and Thursday 8.15 to 10.30pm.