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The eagerly awaited clash between local rivals Cookstown Parochial, winners in 2006 and Cookstown High, winners in 2007 proved the quality of the Parochial side. This is a club which has won the Mid Ulster league on 19 occasions including 16 out of the last 18 and the charity shield on 12 occasions as well as bringing back many Irish , British and world titles. The Parochial may not have been confident follwoing their league defeat against the High two days earlier but this was a stronger and better balanced Parochial side. Parochial amde a good start to lead by 7 after the first end with the best bowler never to win an Irish singles title, Colm McHugh picking up a 4 against fellow international Alan Paul. It was clear from early on that the game would probably be decided by how this game turned out and so it proved. Alan Paul is an exceptional talent and on several ends produced shot saving deliveries, as he has done all season, but in the end it proved too much for him. The rink managed to stay within striking distance of the Parochial rink for 6 ends but proceeded to drop 11 shots in the last 4. Colm's rink played exceptionally well and even when Alan managed to produce a wonder as with his first delivery on the 9th end, the Parochial skip stepped up to the mark with an excellent bowl to pick up a four and go on to win 17 - 4. The other two games were much tighter. Mark Wilson and Damian McElroy's rinks were never far apart and were all sqaure after 7 ends. Single shots over the remaining ends gave Wilson a 7 - 4 win. It was not perhaps the best bowling by both rinks but neverthless a keenly contested one. The final game pitted Dane Jordan against Sean Quinn. The Parochial rink got off to the better start leading 8 - 3 after 6 ends, including a costly bowl over the fender. A pair of three's on the next two ends brought the High back into the game and a 9 - 8 lead. Quinn's rink then picked up a three to retake the lead and clinch the game 11 - 9.
With the High currently in top spot in the league by 7 points , the scene is set for a league decider in the last game of the season and a Parochial side, if they produce a similar performance amy wel be favourites to retain that title too.
Spa Win Plate
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The plate competition has proved to be a major step forward from the round robin format and has been keenly contested. Both Spa and St Anthony's would have been expected to progress further in the main competition and a keenly contested final was expected. Spa made the early running and lead by 8 shots after 2 ends with McNamara picking up a 5 and Christie a four. McNamara's rink was always in control against S.Conroy Snr,s St Anthony's rink who struggled to adapt to the mat. By the 9th end the Spa rink had built up a 13 - 4 lead but the 4 they conceeded on the last end ensured that the game would go to the wire. M.Trainor was St Anthony's best bet for a win. They controlled the game throughout against A Laughlin with the 9th end crucila to the overall game. Trainor had a chance, but a risky one, to move the one Spa bowl in the head but with the overall close chose to draw but did not change the head. Laughlin then drew a top class bowl to pick up the shot. In the end the single was not sufficient to make an impression on this mat with Trainor running out a 10 - 3 winner. The final game betwen P Moore and P Christie saw the two rinks all square after 4 ends after the St Anthony's rink picked up a four. The Spa rink picked themselves up and remained on top for the rest of the game. With only a couple of shots overall, the St Anthony's rink had a chance to get a last ditch win if they could remove a Spa bowl but despite the best efforts of the two back end players they could only succeed in promoting the bowl closer to the jack to give the Spa rink a 12 - 7 win.
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