Kildare West Wicklow Indoor Bowling Association (KWWIBA)
Ned Byrne Shield
The Ned Byrne Shield semi-finals and final took place on Sunday 15th May in the Rathmore Community Hall.
This event always attracts a large number of spectators to the venue, as the late Ned was the founder of the Rathmore club in 1994, and the instigator of setting up this competition for newly formed clubs joining the Association.
The first Semi-Final was contested between Balyna and Donard/Glen and was expected to be a very tight fought game.
Comfortable
Mat 1: The Balyna side settled quickly and scored one on the first end and repeated the dose on the next end to give them a lead of two. On the third end their opponents drew level and started to settle into the game.
Slowly they started to open up the gap and by the tenth end were five clear and looked comfortable. On the next end Balyna had fought back to reduce the margin to two scores. But from thereon to the finish the Donard/Glen side gradually eased into a lead of five once more and the game finished on a score of Donard/Glen 17 Balyna 12.
Donard/Glen: Gertie Carpenter, Helen Jones, Eddie Farrell and Eamonn Lennon.
Balyna: Carmel Dixon, John Mangan, Seamus O’Connor, Frank Holden and Bernie Flanagan.
Inexperience
Mat 2: Again as on mat 1 the Balyna side were first to score, but on the next end Donard/Glen were on level terms on a score of one all. Were we going to get the thriller we expected? Unfortunately no was the answer. From that third end up to the eleventh end it was all one way traffic as the Balyna team eased into a whopping thirteen score lead. Game looked over, Donard/Glen looked dead and buried.
But the West Wicklow side suddenly found their form and made an unbelievable recovery, and squeezed all the drama into the last four ends.
On the fourteenth end the margin was down to five. Now the game was in the melting pot, as per rule the winners would be decided on the aggregate score of the two mats. At this stage with the scores level on aggregate it was all down to the final end.
What a dramatic finish with Balyna securing a score of one to get them into the final.
Balyna will wonder how they left such a healthy lead slip and put such pressure on themselves at the finish. As the Donard/Glen club is only a couple of years old and this is their first time to reach the semi final, inexperience probably was a factor during the game.
Balyna 18 Donard/Glen 12. Aggregate score: Balyna 30 Donard/Glen 29.
Balyna: Kathleen O’Connor, Eileen Grifferty, Val Callanan and Noel Kinsella.
Donard/Glen: Mary Farrell, Hugh Fox, Heather Pierce and Billy Jones.
The second semi-final was between Ardclough and Allenwood; both of those teams lost their respective semi-finals last year and were favourites to reach this stage again this year.
Allenwood were deemed the slight favourites this time around, having come through the campaign unbeaten so far.
No Mistakes
Mat 3: This was a very close game up to and beyond the half way mark, with neither side giving away much in the line of scores. Indeed on the sixth end the side were level at five all. The expectations of the game continuing in this trend soon fizzled out. From the tenth end onwards the Allenwood side upped the ante to take control and widen the gap and ensured there was no mistakes that would allow Ardclough a chance of a comeback. Allenwood 18 Ardclough 9
Allenwood: Ann Doyle, Jim Clancy, Miriam Malone and Tom Sullivan.
Ardclough: Noel Cassidy, Chris Cullen, Frank Byrne and Tony Maguire.
Mat 4: This mat followed in the same manner as mat 3 with the scores very close up to the fifth end. But from that point on it was the Allenwood side dictated matters and never seemed to be any danger of being overhauled.
Allenwood 17 Ardclough 13 Aggregate score: Allenwood 35 Ardclough 22
Ardclough: Brigeen Byrne, Tommy Maguire, Barry O’Leary, Margaret Fogarty and sub Kay Nolan.
Allenwood: Carmel McHugh, John Phelan, Liam McHugh and Tony Smullen.
Donard/Glen defeated Ardclough to finish in 3rd place and win the bronze medals, while sadly for Ardclough they finished 4th for the second year in a row.
Donard/Glen: Mary Farrell, Hugh Fox, Heather Pierce, Billy Jones, Gertie Carpenter, Helen Jones, Eddie Farrell and Eamonn Lennon.
Ardclough: Bridgeen Byrne, Kaye Nolan, Barry O’Leary, Margaret Fogarty, Noel Cassidy, Frank Byrne, Tony Maguire and Chris Cullen.
Shield Final
We were now down to the grand finale between Balyna and Allenwood. Both team by virtue of reaching the final were assured of promotion to Division 3 for next season. It was a question of which team would be crowned champions.
Allenwood who were in brilliant form all year and continued with this form in the semi-final were most definitely the favourites in this final. But they were under no illusion that this Balyna side were going to be a tough nut to crack, especially as they had met on many previous occasions, with very little separating the sides.
Top Gear
Mat 1: This was a really, really good game of bowls, with both sides trading shot for shot.
On the first end Allenwood took the lead by two. On the next two ends it was Balyna who took a lead of two. The fifth end the sides were level. This was a real cracker of a game at this stage. Balyna once more pushed ahead by one. We were only a little over the half way mark at this stage at it was looking like it would be a case of the game going down to the wire.
Allenwood now went into top gear and started to play with much more composure and gradually opened up a huge gap. During this period they had held their opponents scoreless for six consecutive ends, thus eliminating any chance of a recovery for Balyna. Even though Balyna somewhat narrowed the gap on the last end, it was not a concern to Allenwood as they knew the game was well and truly over at that stage. Allenwood’s experience from last year certainly helped, as they were a much - battled hardened outfit on this occasion. Final Score: Allenwood 16 Balyna 11.
Allenwood: Carmel McHugh, John Phelan, Liam McHugh and Tony Smullen.
Balyna: Kathleen O’Connor, Eileen Grifferty, Val Callanan and Noel Kinsella.
No Way Back
Mat 2: Although Balyna were trailing from the very start of this match they were always within arm’s reach of their opponents. Allenwood seemed very much at ease throughout the game and even when Balyna got a score it was always kept to the minimum. On the ninth end Balyna closed the gap to two, as they did on several occasions before, but were never able to get any closer on the scoreboard. The next end Allenwood pushed themselves ahead by four. On the eleventh end Balyna had closed the gap to three but never looked like they could rein in their opponents.
It was in the final quarter of the game that Allenwood really turned the screw to put some considerable distance between the teams and left no way back for Balyna. Even though Allenwood were always in control it still was a hard fought game with a final result of Allenwood 16 Balyna 10. Aggregate score: Allenwood 33 Balyna 23.
Gold for Allenwood and Silver for Balyna, but more importantly but teams gain promotion to Division 3 for next season.
Balyna: Bernie Flanagan, Johnny Mangan, Seamus O’Connor and Frank Holden.
Allenwood: Ann Doyle, Jim Clancy, Miriam Malone and Tom Sullivan.
Tony Hegarty Perpetual Memorial Trophy
The Ardclough Bowling Club’s annual Tournament will run from Thursday 2nd June to Sunday 5th June inclusive. This tournament was set up last year by the Ardclough club in honour of the late Tony Hegarty, one of the club’s outstanding bowlers. Matches will be played in the Ardclough GAA Centre. Times to be announced later.
Recent league results (home team first)
Div. 1: Rathmore 0 Caragh 5
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