Magnificent Bowls Final

What a dramatic finale to what must surely rank as one the best ever zone finals. Despite all the comments made about who might win, those from both zones knew there was going to be no runaway winner and so it proved with the winner in doubt until the last penultimate bowl was delivered. Bowls was undoubtedly the winner with both teams and sets of supporters showing the greatest respect  and a great appreciation of good bowlers by both teams.

In the first half Mid Ulster always had the slight edge though little separated the sides. On mat 1 the Armagh front end had particularly good games making it difficult for the Mid Ulster rink of Mark Wilson, Trevor Turkington, Sean Davidson and Damian Grimes. After 4 ends it was all square at 3 each but the Armagh rinks skipped by Alan Roberts moved into a 2 shot lead after 6 ends. Mark Wilson played some excellent deliveries when heads were against him and the rink began to get the weight of the mat they put pressure on teh Armagh rink to move into an 8 – 6 lead after 9 ends. The Armagh rink squared the game on the final end. On mat 2, the Armagh lead had an excellent game especially over the first 6 ends. The Mid Ulster rink of D McStravock, T Johnston, C Hill and S McGlinchey were always ahead leading 6 – 4 after 7 ends. They moved ahead of D McDonald, S Conroy, N Uprichard and G Crothers to lead 8 – 5 after 9 ends but Armagh picked up 2 to finish 8 – 7 down. On the final mat, Mid Ulster’s A Paul, G Smith, C McKnight and J Martin played A Leckey, P Moore, C Lecky and C Deering. The Mid Ulster rink were always ahead with the rink having their best performance of the season. They led 7 – 3 after 7 ends and went on to win 9 – 5. They were unfortunate not to win by a greater margin with the Armagh skip saving his rink on a couple of vital occasions. At the interval Armagh who have been 10 shots down closed the gap to just 5, 28 – 23.
The early ends of the second half were crucial for both sides, Mid Ulster could move away or the momentum could swing Armaghs’s way. It was Mid Ulster who made the more impressive start. Colm McHugh, D Jordan, B Kyne and G Merron picked up 3 against M Trainor, D Wright, P Whittle and I Irwin, D McElroy, L McHugh, S Kyne and C Hogg picked up 2 against J Beattie, S Conroy, L McCartan and D Beattie while S Quinn, L Conway, A Bradley and D McAllister did likewise against A Hughes, I Perry, R Hunter and J Moffett. Suddenly Mid Ulster 12 ahead and looking good for a win. After 4 ends Armagh had managed to reduce the deficit by 1 shot. C McHugh’s rink were unlucky to drop a 4 on the 3^rd end to be 6 – 5 after 5 ends, D Mc Elroy’s rink were 6 – 4 up after 5 and S Quinn was 6 – up after 5 and the lead was still 12 shots for Mid Ulster. While Quinn’s rink continued to dominate and  forge ahead with 4 singles from the 6^th to 9^th ends, the situation began to change on the other mats. From leading 7 – 6 after 6 ends, C McHugh’s  lost four singles with Trainor in impressive form leading his rink home 10 – 7. The last end between Quinn and Hughes favoured the Armagh rink but a superb bowl by L Conway managed to keep Armagh restricted to a single shot to finish deservedly 10 – 4 up having controlled the game throughout. On mat 2, the game was all square after 6 ends. A combination of excellent bowling by the Armagh back end of Beattie and Conroy and some missed opportunities by Mid Ulster saw the Armagh rink picked up 8 shots to lead 14 – 6 after 9 ends. With the other games completed and just one end to go the scores were tied at 47 each. The game hinged on this last end between McElroy and Beattie. Mid Ulster lay 4 shots with Armagh having just one back bowl. Conroy made no change to the head nor did Beattie with his first bowl. McElroy closed a gap with his first delivery and like everyone else waited anxiously hoping not to have to play his last bowl. It was a difficult shot for Joe Beattie, too little weight and he would not reach the heads or make no change, too much and he could have taken out his back bowl. He played controlled weight and disturbed the head but the Mid Ulster back bowls won the day.
It was a tragedy for either side to have to lose. Armagh looked doomed with a 14 shot deficit but deserve great credit for their comeback which nearly paid off. Mid Ulster, while not quite reaching the standard of play of the Oriel game, were never behind in the game and would have shattered to have lost the lead at the death. After 7 bleak years they have reclaimed the Boomer Cup and the question now is can they do what others in recent years have not been able to do and that is retrain it. The team now go to Wales in December to attempt to reclaim the Top Team trophy they have already won on six occasions.

It was an excellent afternoon, a credit to both sides on a game which kept everyone on tenderhooks until the very end and an excellent advertisement for the game of bowls.

Results

M Wilson             8             A Roberts            8
D McStravock       8             D McDonald         7
A Paul                 9             A Lecky                5
C McHugh            7             M Trainor            10
D McElroy            7             J Beattie              14
S Quinn              10           A Hughes              4