Very few upsets occurred in the preliminary rounds or even big ties but definitely the tie of the round was Gill and Vera Mohan. It was a great game of bowls throughout with Gill eventually taking the tie by 2shots. Michelle Martin was involved in a tough stater, struggling to overcome Minima from Lordship, eventually winning in a tied end.

1st Round

It didn’t get any easier for Gill, this time she was drawn against Mae Flanagan. However Gill, playing great bowls, comfortably beat her Carrick rival. Rachel Brennan was drawn against her third on the zone team Mary O'Hare and what looked like a dream draw, was anything but, as Rachel ran away with it, winning with a couple of ends to spare. Marion Martin was involved in a great tussle and after 10 ends couldn’t be separated and it took the last bowl in the last end for Marion to come out victorious. Patricia Hanlon was given a tough stater drawn against Tracey Martin but in the end won comfortably. The biggest surprise of the round came when Bernie Cunningham knocked out Sadie Larkin. Sadie a regular skip for the zone would have had high hopes but they were dashes by Bernies brilliant bowls. Caroline McSherry's dreams of retaining the title were extinguished when Rosie Durnin beat her by the odd shot

2nd Round

Carol McMahon was involved in a ding-dong battle with Patricia Hanlon. Patricia ran into an early 7-2 lead but Carol fought back to tie the match playing the last end. Patricia however with her last bowl drew the shot to knockout one of the favourites Carol McMahon. Another favourite was soon to follow Carol, when Anna Farrell knocked out Rachel Brennan. Rachel was 3 down going into the last end and even with all her skill could only find 1 shot to lose by 2. Imelda Hanratty faced Sadie’s conqueror Bernie Cunningham. Bernie couldn’t continue her exploits with Imelda winning without any difficulty. Gill was having a close game against Catherine McArdle. With 2 ends to go Gill was 2 shots to the good, but Catherine was holding a count of 3. Gill played a fantastic last bowl to get shot and go 3 up last end and ultimately that shot ended up the winning of the game.

 

Quarter-Finals

It wasn’t getting any easier for Patricia, this time facing Michelle Martin. Patricia couldn’t rekindle the magic she had against Carol and lost 10-5 with an end to spare. Imelda was drawn against Ann Maguire from Geraldine’s and again continued were she left off, running away an easy victor. Gill played Anna Farrell and it looked like Rachel’s game took everything out of Anna as Gill ran away with the tie. Margaret played Marion Martin. Margaret was playing wonderful bowls and playing the last end was 4 shots to the good. Marion failed to get the 4 which left Margaret through to the semi-finals.

Semi-Finals

Imelda Hanratty was drawn against her third from last year Michelle Martin and Gill was drawn against Margaret Carrol. Imelda, who had cruised through every game so far, knew that Michelle would be much tougher then her previous opponents. Would her lack of tough games go against her? Could Michelle continue her form which seen her qualify in so many tournaments this season? Only time would tell. They both traded the first few ends but around the middle of the match the tie turned in favour of Michelle and playing the last end was 4 shots up. Imelda couldn’t manage to get the full house which left Michelle the first Lady into the finals. The other semi-final was postponed due to the time and will be played at a later date.