The final of the national club championship was eagerly awaited with both Cookstown Parochial and Cookstown High qualifying for the final. These two fierce Mid Ulster rivals have won this competition between them on three of the four occasions it has been played. Coming from the same town and league added intensity to the final.

Cookstown High were convincing in their qualification while their opponents had a couple of close shaves. In the run-up to the final the two clubs met in their league only two nights beforehand with the High winning by a margin of six shots. Indications were that the High were in better form going into the game while Parochial seemed to be searching for consistency.

In the rink match-up the Parochial’s Sean Quinn was drawn against Dayne Jordan, Damien McElroy faced Mark Wilson and Colum McHugh was up against Alan Paul. The start to the game was going to be all important as there was no trial ends. CP found the mats more to their suiting as they opened up a seven shot advantage with McHugh’s rink leading the way with a count of four.  All the CH rinks hit back on the second end claiming singles and after the completion of the third end had reduced the deficit further to only two shots. Alan Paul’s foursome then scored their third successive single to leave only one shot between the sides.

The momentum was now with CH however a firing shot by Jordan on the fourth end went over the fender to give CP three shots and this combined with a single for the McElroy quartet opened the gap to five in favour of CP.  At the end of the fifth end the scores stood at CP 16 CH 8.

Jordan’s four then lost their third successive end with the bowl over the fender appearing to have an adverse effect on the skip. Colin Hogg and Bridgett Davison had a tremendous battle at lead with numerous touchers. CH scored the first double in the McElroy/Wilson encounter to draw level at four shots each but overall they trailed by 10 shots as McHugh claimed three shots to lead by five against Paul. All four on the McHugh rink played some exceptional bowls and were by far the more consistent. The performances of his opposition left Paul in trouble on several occasions and with a massive up hill task.

Wilson’s rink hit the front by one shot and Jordan recovered his composure and form to guide his rink to a double and a triple on successive ends to lead Quinn by one shot. The three count could have signalled a momentum swing for CH but just as CH were receiving a boost having reduced the deficit to only three shots it was immediately snatched from them by Colum McHugh. On the penultimate end Paul faced four shots against but delivered a superb drawing bowl to lie shot, he was a fraction from falling in and hiding his bowl. Colum then responded with a perfect weighted shot to remove Paul’s bowl and stay in the head for a count of four. This was an untimely body blow for CH. At the same time Quinn’s rink added pressure to CP forcing Jordan to kill the end.

In the final end Paul came very close to turning the game into a dramatic climax as he appeared on course to take out a CP bowl and lie five shots, surprisingly to the players on this mat the bowl swung at the last second when the consensus was that the line Paul had taken would stay straight. Instead of gaining five shots the jack was moved for a loss of three which ended any outside chance of claiming the title for a second time.

D Jordan	0	1	3	3	3	3	6	9	9
S Quinn	2	2	2	5	7	8	8	8	11

M Wilson	0	1	1	1	2	2	4	5	6	7
D McElroy	1	1	2	3	3	4	4	4	4	4

A Paul	0	1	2	3	3	4	4	4	4	4
C McHugh	4	4	4	4	6	6	9	10	14	17

The game was played in an excellent spirit with the respective clubs gracious in defeat and victory. CP led from start to finish and quietened the enthusiastic younger team from the outset.

The competition is considered as one of the top events in the shortmat calendar by all clubs who take part.  Clubs from Donegal and Larne participated for the first time left impressed hoping to return in future seasons. The competitions Secretary informed all at the presentation that proposals are to be put forward to increase the number of clubs in the competition.

Cookstown Parochial have now claimed the trophy three times reaching the semi final twice over the five occasions that the competition has been run. They are without doubt the premier club team in the country who relish the big games. They did it the hard way this year defeating Moneydig by the narrowest of margins in the first round coming from behind to snatch victory, in the quarter final Mossley pushed them all the way while Ballylennon proved a tough nut to crack in the semi final before CP conquered their great rivals to claim the title, without doubt CP are worthy to be called champions.

Plate competition

This season a plate competition was introduced with Spa and St Anthonys contesting the final. Spa had a six shot advantage by the middle of the game and seemed in control with Paul McNamara’s rink leading the way as they had a nine shot advantage going into their final end. The Conroy rink then gave St Anthonys a major lift by scoring four shots on the final end to lose by five shots. With Martin Trainor producing some excellent bowls in a low scoring game on the middle mat the Spa advantage was reduced down to manageable proportions. Spa’s Alan Laughlin delivered an exceptional bowl with the final bowl on mat2 to claim shot which ensured that Spa would take a two shot lead into the final end of the game. The Christie rink in a nerve jangling final end held off the attack of the Moore foursome to claim victory for Spa.

P McNamara 13 v S Conroy 8; A Laughlin 3 c M Trainor 9; P Christie 11 v P Moore 7

Spa 27 v St Anthony’s 24

A close match that was decide by fractions here and there, proof that every bowl can have an impact on the game whether at the beginning or the end of the match, one additional accurate bowl could have given the title to St Anthony’s and it could have been played by anyone of the twelve. Spa held their nerve in a game that showed that a game is never safe no matter how much a team seems in control. It also shows that a beaten rink can also be the rink that changes the course of the game, first Conroy’s to get St Anthony’s back in the game and then Laughlin’s to give Spa a cushion going into the last end. The evening was an excellent advert for shortmat bowls and this new competition. It highlighted how intriguing and exciting the shortmat format of bowls can be.

Differing formats have been used to run the competition and it is now time for the organisers to sit down and review all aspects and finalise the format. A knock-out competition with a plate competition for the first round losers seemed to be welcomed by the clubs and it would be a surprise if this was changed. The plate competition ensures added interest and it is always difficult to define its role. Is it to give the strong clubs a consolation event or is it to give less renowned clubs an opportunity of silverware? Either way it should be here to stay and has lifted the competition to a new level.

Other finer details also need to be settled. A finals day was not successful last season while this year the finals evening could be regarded as a relative success. However was this as a result of the final being played at a local venue between two teams from the same town and league?

Another point that needs to be addressed is the mats. Players participating in a major final should be entitled to the best available mats, mats should be consistent. Players should have confidence that the full range of shots can be executed on the mats on the majority of the four hands. Mats should not have demons that are ready to pounce at inopportune times.

Slow play needs to be addressed to ensure the smooth running of such a large event. For one club to be responsible for the scheduling to overrun by an inordinate amount of time from the first run of mats is unreasonable and unfair to all the other clubs.

The entry fee could also be considered as excessive, clubs already pay their annual subscription and league fees. It may be prudent to halve the entry fee and reduce the monetary amount of the winners’ prizes. Medals or badges which can be kept as a memento may have more meaning to individuals and would also enable spare medals/badges to be given to other club members who assisted their team to qualify for the competition but were unable to play. Zone competitions are an excellent example. A small replica trophy could also be given to the winning club for retention.

Overall this is an excellent competition which could be refined to a first class level in every aspect. Bowlers and administrators should be promoting this competition within their local area to achieve optimum participation, this is obviously subject to the qualifying criteria being met.