Packed house as big event kicks off
THERE wasn’t a spare seat in the house for the start of the most sought after trophy in the calendar year at Greenhills Bowling Club as the championship senior singles got underway last Thursday night.
In the first match of the night Sadie Cambpell took on Gertie Griffin and the latter got off to a flying start goingg two up after three ends.
It was by no means a comfortable lead as Gertie continued to push and probe in the fourth end to increase her lead to four up.
However Sadie stayed positive missing chances in the earlier ends gradually trimmed down the deficit in the fifth end still two down so it was nicely poised at this stage the latter getting the rub of the green in the sixth end as her opponent putting bowls in the ditch Sadie took full advantage of the error to go two up.
Gertie steadied the ship in the next two ends playing some excellent shots to the head taking a two shot lead going into the last end.
However Sadie went at the head all guns blazing taking the end with great attacking play by one shot scraping through in a very tough game .
In the second match both players found scores hard to come by Jaymie Crone clashed with Claire Woods in the opening three ends Jaymie edged in front in the fourth end two up.
However Claire was in no mood to roll over for her opponent levelling the match in the fifth end. The game ebbed and flowed in the next two ends with both players enjoying a spell of dominance as Claire managed to get her nose in front in the seventh end two up with two ends to play.
Jaymie wasn’t playing bad but squander a couple of chances earlier, got his act together in the eighth end evening up the score going into the final end, Jaymie was proving to be a thorn in Claire side as he battled hard to take control of the last end, but Claire had other ideas showing how she could handle the pressure trading shot for shot of each other with the latter taking the spoils in a very tense finish by two shots.
The third game between Juvenile Megan Devin and Jack Howell it was a closely contested tie as Jack started brightly taking the first two ends on the trot two up, his opponent took a little time to settle into the game as she was very nervous got into her rhythm in the fourth end wiping the slate clean.
Megan played a combination of shots in the next end to get her first scores on the board to go two up. However Jacks persistence paid off in the next two ends taking the lead three up, Megan was really rattled at this stage despite her inexperience she eventually hauled Jack back in the eighth end to reduced the tally to one down going into the last end, all down to the wire as Megan showed nerves of steel as she battled hard to take the game at the death by two shots making a great recovery for a junior in the senior grade.
The fourth match Peter Woods was favourite going into this match playing Juvenile Ciara Floyd, Peter sprung into action and showed his experience taking the opening three ends on the bounce to go four up.
Ciara looked very uneasy in the first couple of ends but settled down in the fourth end came out firing straight away with Peter holding four shots took the shot by one reducing the deficit down to three.
The latter continued her comeback cutting the score further back still two down in the fifth end. Peter as expected almost immediately hit back in the next two ends increasing his lead once again to five up after seven ends with two ends to play. Ciara had a mountain to climb but wasn’t throwing in the towel.
She was fearing that she would pay for her failure to take her chances in the earlier end, the latter stepped up another gear in the eighth end trimming the score down to three shots going into the last end.
Peter handled the last end very well putting in blockers to protect the head as Ciara doing her best firing into the head to no avail as Peter closed up shop keeping Ciara at bay running out a comfortable winner by five shots credit to the junior who gave it her best shot in the senior grade.
The fifth match was expected to be a very tight affair between two seasoned campaigners, John Hurley and Marie Maher. They both started well as Marie edged in front by one up after two ends. John found it a bit difficult to get going in the first two ends but overcame that getting into his stride in the next two ends playing cracking bowls into the head taking a three shot lead.
Marie was on the ropes for a few ends but showed remarkable resilience and determination to battle back and grabbed the next two ends on the spin to even the score. John did not waste any time in taking control of the next end playing some lovely forehand shots to the head taking the lead three up with two ends to play.
John seemed to have the momentum in his favour stepping up to the plate to increase his lead to five up with one end to play.
Marie performed admirably in the last end playing backhand and forehand shots into the jack showing no pressure securing the end to little to late as John secured the game in fine style by three shots in an entertaining game.
In the last match of the night Jackie Maher was pitted against Tom Devin as Jackie opened the proceeding making a positive start to the game taking the lead two up after two ends, the latter continued to hold the upper hand in the next end to increase his lead to three up.
Tom hit a purple patch hitting back putting a bit of respectability on the score board in the fifth end to edge into the lead two up.
Jackie responded in the best possible fashion taking the next two ends on the trot going two up. However Tom showing great character and reacted well in the next end exerting some heavy pressure on his opponent evening up the score with one end remaining.
This was a classic last end every shot was vital with Tom showing his creative skills under pressure in a nail biting finish to come up trumps by four shots after a poor start to the game.
Note to all members wishing to travel to Killanny Club Open singles competition held from the 30th October to the 5th November, please put their name forward on the club notice board. Pick-up points Patrick Street 7.30pm and Monasterboice 7.40pm.
Time of play Tuesday juveniles 7 30 to 8.15pm seniors 8pmto 10.30pm Thursday seniors 8 to 10.30pm A FABULOUS year for young Lily Sheeran reached new heights the weekend before last when she scooped gold at the ONAKAI Karate Ireland National Kumite Championships in Tallaght Leisure Centre.
The girl from Tenure, Monasterboice, had already won first prize in the IKKU National Kata Championships in Portmarnock earlier in the month, and she completed a fabulous double when taking the kumite (fighting) title in the Girls 10 to 11 age group under 35kg.
Lily won silver and bronze in the equivalent competitions 12 months ago but has come on in leaps and bounds since then thanks to a rigorous practise regime that sees her training in her main club IKKU Navan every Wednesday, IKKU Glasnevin on Mondays and three to four evenings a week in a matted gym at home. She also attends regular ONAKAI/ Karate Ireland squad training sessions which are specifically designed to develop, train and encourage up and coming juniors.
Reflecting on Lily’s achievements, her dad Peter said: ‘IKKU are a great organisation and can boast some fantastic coaches who we’d like to thank, but most of the credit has to go to Lily for her relentless determination, dedication and willingness to learn and constantly improve.
‘She took an interest in martial arts a couple of years ago from watching me train. I’m not involved in karate but in jiu-jitsu, BJJ and MMA.
‘I began to teach her basic defence skills like punching, kicking and using knees and elbows to defend herself. She was a natural but needed to train with kids her own age and size, so she got involved in karate and joined IKKU Navan, a fantastic Kenpo Karate club run by Ronan and Jennifer Collins, my cousins.’