Murphy completes brilliant season on Boston triumph

BALLYCLOUGH’S Timmy Murphy hit a winning groove on capturing the All Ireland Junior C Road Bowling Championship title from a fancied Adrian Lappin representing New York hosted in the Wompatuck State Park south-east of Boston.

The triumph added to a rewarding season for the North Cork star after landing earlier victories in the Regional and Munster title races. Lappin had held command from the outset in the All Ireland decider to dominate the initial exchanges only for Murphy to recover and soon forced parity.

Indeed Murphy maintained his momentum to assume dominance and enjoy a share of the better throws. Still the outcome remained up for grabs, some consistant throwing from Lappin allowed the hopes of the Armagh native to remain firmly in the hunt.

Crucially Murphy held sway during the closing exchanges and grew in the ascendency come the finishing line to savour All Ireland glory.

“It was just brilliant to win, travelling to Boston was a huge experience, I was just delighted to come through a stiff challenge. Through a tarmac course wound in a clockwise circle on a wooded park, the terrain had plenty of variety and challenges,” said Murphy.

The All Ireland champion credits participation in the Béal na mBláth Tournament as a stepping stone towards his run of championship triumphs.

“That tournament was up and running last November, a series of wins put me in the right direction. The outright win stood to me for later in the season, though I picked a hip injury, a number of physio sessions put me right,” said Murphy.

The slick moving Murphy powered his way to an impressive victory over Kieran Daly from Carrig na bhFear in the North Cork Final to the Enniskeane hosting. And in the Munster decider, Murphy settled quickly and proceeded to operate with supremacy to ultimately withstand a comeback from former Cork footballer Michéal O’Sullivan from Rosscarbery.

“I had attempted to win the title on a number of occasions over the past 10 years. Though capturing a few Regional titles, a Munster and All Ireland titles had alluded me but it was nice to come through and follow in the footsteps of my brother who had sampled All Ireland glory in 2008,” said Timmy.