No end to the drama in Greenhills singles ties
ALL five matches in round four of the Greenhills Juvenile Singles were closely contested and a good crowd turned out to see the action unfold last Tuesday night.
The games were played in a very sporting manner over nine ends and first up Ciara Floyd took on Tadg Reilly, and after falling two shots behind early on Tadg turned it around to lead by three after four ends.
Ciara needed to respond and she did just that, going two up with two ends remaining as Tadg failed to take some gilt-edge chances.
In the last two ends both players playing superb backhand shots to the head and it was looking good for Tadg as he was holding a full head with Ciara to play her last bowl. This proved decisive, scraping through by one shot in a very tense finish.
In the second match between Aaron McKenna and Megan Devin the latter was giving her opponent five shots of a handicap and Aaron increased that lead to seven after two ends.
Despite a mini rally from Megan she was still trailing by six with just three ends remaining. but with the help of a bit of luck she halved the deficit in the next end.
With the momentum now in her favour, Megan had the gap down to one shot going in to the last end, and although Aaron wasn’t giving up without a fight he was eventually overhauled and went down by three shots.
Next up was Sophie Thornberry against Jane Whelan and the latter went four up after three ends, only to find herself trailing by two with five ends completed. Jane responded in the next end to level the match and went on to take a two-shot lead with two ends left.
Sophie was on the rails and had to do something special - and she did just that, showing nerves of steel by taking control of the last two ends to pull the game out of the bag by three shots.
In the fourth match Tadg Reilly clashed with Caitlin Floyd and the latter went two up after two ends before Tadg took over and went three in front after five ends.
Tadg halted a dangerous attack by his opponent in the sixth end to extend his lead to four, but Caitlin came back again and two ends remaining the gap was back down by one.
Tadg was under pressure, but when it came to the crunch he played some lovely bowls and went on to secure victory by three shots in a topsy-turvy game played by two competitive juniors.
In the last game of the night Cain McKenna took on Chloe Dykstra and it was Cain who came out of the blocks quickest to storm five ahead after four ends.
It looked like curtains for Chloe, but after firing into the head in the sixth end she got the gap down to two shots - game on!
After taking the next end she actually led by one, and although Cain attacked the head in the eighth end to square the match, Chloe was confident and she played excellent bowls in a nail-biting finish to get over the line by three shots.
Members should note that the Killanny Open is on this week until Sunday and the Corduff Open runs from next Monday until Sunday November 5th. Put your name on the noticeboard if you are willing to travel.
Times of play this week are as follows: Juveniles 7 to 8 15pm Tuesday, Seniors 8 to 10.30pm Tuesday and Thursday. The club will be closed next Tuesday.