Carthy claims Jordan Cup
South East League decided
THE SENIOR South East skittle league was decided in Carrig-on-Bannow recently.
Two old rivals, St. Leonards and Frank Jordan’s of Rathangan, faced each other for the sixth year in the final, and both teams had three victories under their belts.
St. Leonards were aiming for winning three-in-a-row while Rathangan were hoping for a comeback after losing out in the semi-final last year.
St. Leonards had ousted Tallaught in the semi-final, with both teams said to have played poorly. Meanwhile, the Rathangan team overcame Clonmines in the second semi-final, only conceding one game.
The ball alley in Carrig-onBanow was the venue for the final and has been since the league began seven years ago. St. Leonards arrived with their four players while Rathangan had their choice of four players from their squad of six which they had the luxury of changing throughout the competition.
The two games of doubles were first before the team games of four players. After the toss of the coin, St. Leonards were first to get into action. The first team to win four games out of seven would be champions, with each game to reach 101 on the scoreboard.
Michael Murphy finished the first double for St. Leonards, with Jordan’s unable to match it due to two short throws. The second double was much closer with only eight between the teams in the end when Francy Stafford grabbed it for St. Leonards.
The first of the team games saw Jordan’s come up a gear, and Bill Redmond gave his team their first score. The second team game saw Jordan’s throw short in two throws to give Francy Stafford an easy finish on ten.
Bill Redmond and Michael Carthy put up two impressive scores in the third match but St. Leonards kept in touch and Francy Stafford again finished with four lobbers. Redmond had still to play though and finished with two lobbers.
The fourth game saw Bill Redmond again finish for the Rathangan team. Both teams were now on three each and it was now down to the wire for the seventh game.
The large crowd were now getting value for their money as they watched from the perimeter of the ball alley.
Both teams played well in the last match but with Ger Jordan’s last throw leaving Rathangan on 16 to finish, it was Francy Stafford’s chance to finish for St. Leonards on a score of ten which he did with ease. It was St. Leonards’ day and the celebrations were held in Doyle’s bar afterwards.
The winning St. Leonards team featured John Mackey, Michael Walsh, Francis Stafford and Michael Murphy. Members of the runners-up team from Frank Jordan’s were Bill Redmond, Michael Carthy, John Fardy,Tolic Tol, Andrew O’Brien and Ger Jordan.
The final of the Senior singles was held at Sammy’s of Duncormick. Eighteen of the leading players in the south-east had taken part in this contest and some thrilling matches were played over the last couple of months.
However, it was down to two in the end: Tommy Colfer, who is a member the Clonmines team, and Michael Carthy, who is a top scorer on the Frank Jordan’s team.
Michael holds the title of skittler of the year since the championship began four years ago and was determined not to part with it yet. Tommy put up a challenging battle but the scoreboard told the story throughout the play as Mick put up impressive scores during the games and won all of the first four games to claim the Frank Jordan Perpetual Cup for the fourth year running.