Report on the National Rinks

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Written by Dermie

Monday, 05 December 2011 23:48

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The National rinks have been an elusive title for Oriel. Could this be the year? Only time will tell. With many top rinks including the Mackin's, Kevin Conroy's rink, Michael Hands rink, Stephen McMahon's rink, Paul Duff's rink and Paddy Hanlon's rink, there is no doubt that we have the rinks to win it.

Preliminary Round Report:

There is only one match we can begin with. Two of the favourites, Stephen McMahon faced off against Paddy Hanlon. Paddy playing with Brendan McCabe, John Murnaghan and Gerry McCabe began brightly racing into a 6-1 lead but Stephan fought back to within 1 playing the last end. Paddy managed to hold on to knock out the Carrick rink. Jim fox had a good win over Sean Conlon and Pat Cunningham hammered Fra Woods from Cooley.

Second Round Report:

Conor Mackin's rink of Noel, Philip and Gary had a great tussle with the current Champion of Champions Singles holder Jim Fox eventually winning by the odd shot. Paddy Hanlon looked like a comfortable winner against Gerard McKeown with 2 ends to go but Gerard managed to pick up a count and playing the last bowl had a great chance to spring the shock of the night but just missed! Kevin Conroy's rink picked up a count of 8 on his way to victory over Mary McAteer.

Quarter-Final Report (Last Game of the Night):

Kevin Conroy's rink including Sean Trainor, Billy Taaffe, and Fra Dillon were drawn against the Corduff rink of Emma Colgan, Shane Hand, Niall Hand and Michael Hand. Kevin raced into an early lead and while Michael never gave in, the lead was too great and Kevin was the first to reach the semi-finals. Paul Duff's rink of Patsy Duff, Colm Minnock and Andrew Meegan had an easy passage against Patsy Goss. Conor Mackin was a massive favourite against Noel Casey, but it took Conor to play a fantastic last bowl to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Paddy Hanlon was involved in another nail-biting victory this time over Paul Corvan. This victory setup a fascinating semi-final against Kevin Conroy