NATIONAL PAIRS The national pairs competition was always going to be intriguing with the expectation of top quality bowling highly anticipated. The competition and competitors did not disappoint. There were many well established partnerships in the draw but equally there were many pairings that were unknown but who were out to show their talent and rise to the challenge of the occasion. A few byes occurred as is usual with such a large competition covering the whole country but a few issues arise as a result. It is an extremely long haul for all the Cork qualifiers and it may be prudent to look at the possibility of moving the qualification every other year to a more central venue {Oriel or Monaghan}. This would also have the additional benefit of showing the clubs in the area that they are very much an integral and important part of the association. The second issue that arises from byes relates to the competitors who are receiving the bye. Should they be entitled to a throw -up for a maximum of ten minutes on the allocated mat as often they will then be playing against a partnership that has already got a game and thereby could be more settled to the playing conditions. Opportunities to progress were open to the majority of pairings with so many of an equal standard. These competitions are great to watch, they are so unpredictable and the previous match and form counts for nothing. It is simply a ten end sprint and whoever gets over the finish line in front has to go thru the same procedure again and start from scratch. At the top of the draw Michael Hand was expected to get thru the early rounds as he had shown good form only two weeks ago in the singles qualifiers. He could have had a tricky game against the wise and canny IIBA President Ronnie McDermott and partner but Ronnie was short of match practice and was affected by an injury he was carrying. In no way would Mr McDermott use any excuses but he was disappointed that he could not match Michael at the important times and gave his opposition all the credit for their performance. Previous winner Liam Conway was in the next mini section of the draw and expected to mount a challenge. He overcame the wily Tommy Cathcart from Western in the first round which was a tight encounter with only eleven shots scored. However in the second round they were put under pressure by Eddie Campbell and partner. Eddie was very steady in the first game and secured victory. The lead found the pace and line of the mat to her liking as she responded to the challenge. They caused one of the surprises of the competition with a hard fought win. They went from strength to strength defeating M Hand in the last sixteen winning the majority of the ends. In the quarter final their opponents were Eddie Jamison and Kenny McNeill. Kenny is a recent champion of champions pairs winner and therefore knows what it takes in the later stages of a major competition. The game was close with only two shots separating the duos as the North West pair took the spot in the semi-final. The West Down pair enjoyed their outing but were disappointed that they did not take all the opportunities that were available to them. McNeill had a very difficult opening game against 2007 national pairs champions Gordon & Raymond Stubbs. Jamison and McNeill had taken the lead by the middle of the game and a full count of four gave them the impetus they needed to finish the game ahead and enter the second round where they then took on Kevin McConville and Paul Corvan. The NW pair kept the Armagh duo under wraps to progress to the last sixteen. They continued their impressive form against the young partnership from Foyle skipped by L Britton who had edged out the more established partnership of Gareth Bell and Eddie Crawford in a tie end. Game was against Britton when he delivered his last bowl and he was able to disturb the head and secure it as they progressed in a mighty battle. Tommy Mullan and Uel McKeeman set out on their quest by defeating the Larne pairing of Paul Robinson and Jason Kerr. They then had a more comfortable win over O Gallagher from Donegal before coming up against Stephen McMahon in the last sixteen. McMahon has showed great improvement this season and was always going to prove a stiff test. McKeeman opened by scoring the first six shots then McMahon responded by winning five shots in a row to enter the final end one shot behind. The North Eastern pair then stopped the rot to win the final end and the match. In the quarter final they were opposed by the Mid Ulster pairing skipped by T Turkington who won the junior singles in 2007. The young skip had already impressed defeating Malcolm Cunningham and Derek Spratt in a close encounter by a solitary shot. The MUlster pair trailed by two shots starting the ninth end. A single then a brace in the final end sneaked them over the winning line. Singles were the scoring trend between McKeeman and Turkington with the more senior pairing coming though. Young Turkington comes highly recommended by those who know him well and will be a name to watch out for in the future. He is certainly an individual that would benefit from an u25 set-up. McNeill v McKeeman semi-final
The opening two ends were shared with a shot each then Mullan & McKeeman took control of the game winning the next five ends accumulating six shots in the process. McNeill did claim singles on the next two ends but required a full count of four in the final end to extend the game into an extra end. Mullan and McKeeman are too long in the tooth to become complacent and held their concentration for a place in the final next week in Richhill. Bottom Section
The first two names out of the bag for the bottom part of the draw paired Rae McCausland + John Quinn from Donegal against the long established partnership of John Kennedy + Keith McCullagh. The game was tight in the early stages with neither side taking control then over the middle part of the game Quinn began to shake his head and raise his arms in despair and frustration as the rub of the green went against him. McCullagh opened a gap at this stage allowing the North West pairing to see out the win. It got no easier for McCullagh in the next round as he faced Ron Stubbs and Paul Reid. Reid had trailed to O'Hanlon and Murnaghan in the first round but a slack ninth end by the Oriel pair enabled Reid to claim three shots and level the match going into the final end. The Lisburn duo then claimed the final end and the match. In the round of sixteen Reid faced McCullagh. The scores were all square at 6-6 after eight ends. North West won the final two ends to progress to a quarter final encounter with Aidan Corrigan + Mark Sproule. Corrigan and Sproule have qualified for the fours final but they were no match on the day for Kennedy and McCullagh who opened a five shot lead after two ends then followed that up with consecutive threes on ends four and five to set up victory. They faced Ernie Clarke and Raymond Carroll from Western in the semi-final. The Western pair had shown great temperament in their previous three matches producing the pressure bowls when required over the concluding ends to come from behind and win by one shot on each occasion. In their first game the Western pair never hit the front until the last end. They won the last two ends with singles to go through by one shot. In their next game they again came from behind this time scoring singles over ends nine and ten to draw the game and send it into an extra end. Raymond drew the shot with the last bowl of the game to gain an exciting last gasp win. In the quarter-final they came up against the North West duo of B Broom and A Daly who had been unshaken in close finishes of their first two games. Broom and Daly took an early lead and held it until the sixth end when Carroll claimed four shots to level the match. Daly hit back to go two shots in front with three ends remaining but Clarke and Carroll again dug deep and were unperturbed by the scoreline to take three singles on the last three ends for victory and a place in the semi-final. They came straight of one game and into the semi but could not bring their best game with them as Kennedy was machine like in his precision drawing. McCullagh always tidied the head up making it extremely difficult for Carroll to have any effect as he was constantly facing heads with one or two shots against. The previous three games had obviously taken their toll as unfortunately the Western pair could not re-produce their previous form that had seen them move from outsiders to serious contenders. Kennedy and McCullagh have lost one National Pairs final. They will be hoping to emulate the precise bowls they produced in the semi-final and if they do the final should be a classic as both pairs are capable of a high class drawing game. | 
