Mid Down qual 09

Mid Down Bowls Finals 09: report courtesy of ARice
Double Delight for Laughlin, Wilson, P McNamara & Ward

A large crowd gathered to watch the Mid Down Bowls finals held in Edengrove Church Hall, Ballynahinch. Both players and spectators alike were very complimentary about this excellent new venue for the Zone finals. A number of bowlers had reached more than one final but it was the Spa Golf Club combination of Colin Wilson, Paul McNamara and Alan Laughlin who walked off with both the Triples and Fours titles.

National championships
In the National Fours Final the experienced Spa Golf Club rink of Colin Wilson, Don McNamara, Paul McNamara and Alan Laughlin played Sally McAllister, Ken Young and Josephine and Roy Copes of Second Saintfield. The Spa Golf Club rink turned in a polished performance to complete a comfortable win. Alan opened up with 2 shots on the first end but Roy replied with a single shot on the next end. The next 3 ends were all won by Alan to open up an 8-1 lead. Roy scored a single shot on the next end but disaster struck on the eighth end for Roy as Alan played a perfectly weighted bowl to remove the nearest Saintfield bowl. When Roy missed with his final delivery Alan drew another shot to collect 6 shots. The next ended was tied and this left Alan’s rink worthy winners by 14-2.
The rink won the Irish title in 2007
and will be considered a real threat to repeat the success.

Alan Laughlin teamed up with Colin Wilson and Paul McNamara to play Philip Woodside, Karen Woodside and Pat Rooney of St Mary’s Killyleagh in the Triples Final. This was an intriguing game as Alan’s triple opened up a 3 shot lead after 2 ends. With the help of 3 shots on the fourth end Pat was now leading 4-3. But the lead was short lived as Alan collected 3 shots over the next 2 ends to lead 6-4 after 6 ends. Two singles were exchanged to leave Alan’s triple 7-5 up playing the last end. The Spa front end took control of the last end leaving Pat’s only option to make a no head. He fired his last bowl but narrowly missed to leave the Spa Golf Club triple winners by 9-5.

The Pairs final was between Kieran McMullan and Tony Ward of St Mary’s Killyleagh and Colin Gibson and Paul Fitzsimons of Downpatrick Cricket Club. Both pairs had already qualified for the Irish finals in Ballymoney by winning their respective sections. The McMullan/Ward combination got the weight of the mat right away to led 5-0 after 2 ends. Colin and Paul then replied with 2 singles but went 5 behind at the half way mark after conceding 2 shots on the fifth end. By the eighth end Tony had taken a 10-3 lead with only 2 ends left. Paul gave his pair a glimmer of hope scoring 3 shots on the ninth end but it was no avail as Tony collected 2 shots on the last end to win 12-6.

The zone singles final was another interesting affair with Spa Golf Club’s Graham Christie pitting his wits against Tony Ward of St Mary’s Killyleagh. This had all the makings of a close match and it lived up to its billing with the score 5 all after 5 ends. Graham moved 7-6 ahead after 8 ends and made the decisive move scoring 3 shots on the ninth end to take a 4 shot lead going into the last end. This proved to be too much for Tony as Graham collected 2 shots to win 12-6. Both Graham and Tony have qualified for the Irish finals in Ballymoney having won their respective sections.

Ladies Championships
The Ladies Triples Final was contested between Clare Tumelty along with Mary Doherty and Teasie Connor and the St Mary’s, Killyleagh triple of Sarah Reid, Meghan Ward and Karen Woodside. Clare opened up with 3 shots but lost the next 4 ends to trail 5-3. Two ends later Karen’s triple led 6-4 but Clare scored a single shot on the eighth end to be one shot behind going into the last end. What a nail-biting finish this proved to be with Karen producing a brilliant delivery to lie the shot with her first bowl. Clare then removed Karen’s bowl to hold 2 shots and Karen’s last bowl drifted past the head to leave the Ballycruttle triple winners 7-6. All players played their part in an enthralling match including young Sarah Reid who showed no nerves playing in her first Zone final.

In the Ladies Pairs Final Mary Woodside and Teenie Bell of St Michael’s Downpatrick played Geraldine Morgan and Peggy Rice of Teconnaught & Crossgar. Geraldine and Peggy made a dream start collecting a maximum 4 shots in the first end. Mary and Teenie hit back scoring two shots on the next 3 ends to take a 6-4 lead. Two shots to the Teconnaught & Crossgar pair levelled matters at the halfway mark. The sixth end proved to the decisive end in the match with Mary and Teenie collecting 4 shots. The last 4 ends were evenly divided with both pairs claiming 2 shots. This left the final score 12-8 in favour of Mary and Teenie.

In the Ladies Singles Final Geraldine Morgan had a chance to make amends for her earlier disappointment when she played Anna McElnea of St Patrick’s Ballynahinch. It wasn’t to be Geraldine’s night as Anna raced into a 9-1 lead after 6 ends with some very impressive drawing on a tricky middle mat. Geraldine finally found her form to score 5 shots to leave her 9-6 in arrears going into the last end. Anna placed her first bowl on the jack to take control of the end and collected 2 shots for a comfortable 11-6 victory.

Over 55 Pairs
In the Over 55 Pairs the Downpatrick Cricket Club/ St Mary’s Killyleagh combination of Frances McCann and Pat Rooney met Jim Jellie and Roy Savage of Comber Bowling Club in the final. This match looked to be heading for an early finish with Frances and Pat opening up a 8-1 lead after 6 ends. Jim and Roy put a run of 3 ends together collecting 4 shots and leaving them 8-5 in arrears going into the last end. When Pat delivered his last bowl the Comber pair lay 3 shots for a tie end but Pat removed all the Comber bowls to lift 3 shots and the title by 11-5. Both pairs had already qualified for the Irish finals in Ballymoney as this competition becomes more popular.

Junior Championships
In the Under-18 Singles Final, Meghan Ward from St Mary’s Killyleagh played Nathan Madine from Loughinisland. Meghan played a brilliant opening end scoring 4 shots. Over the next 2 ends Nathan scored 3 shots to be just one shot behind. Meghan then won the next 3 ends scoring 5 shots to take a 9-3 lead. Nathan stopped the rot with a single on the seventh end but Meghan scored 5 shots over the next 2 ends to take a 14-4 lead into the last end. Nathan collected 3 shots on the last end but it was too little too late as Meghan won convincingly by 14-7.

The Under-18 Pairs Final had already been played with Shauna McLaughlin and Ashleen Gallagher of Loughinisland defeating Jamie Lee Hunter and Meghan Ward from St Mary’s Killyleagh with Ashleen drawing the winning shot in a tie end.

All winners will represent Mid Down Zone at Ballymoney in the Irish Finals sponsored by the Stonebridge Restaurant, Richhill in March. There is strong representation from Mid Down in all competitions and it is hoped that another Irish title could be brought back to the Zone on the 28th March.