Magical Maria Nagle wins All-Ireland intermediate bowling title

MARIA Nagle reserved her best championship bowling of the year for her biggest day. 

Rival of a few years back, Aoife Trainor again proved a worthy opponent in the women’s intermediate final and the pair stayed locked together in an opening half of top-class bowling. 

The Rosscarbery lady held the fore bowl at all points, defiantly beating a superb fourth of Trainor’s to ‘Kilpatrick’. Her winning shot came with her eighth just as Trainor again looked like taking the ascendancy. 

That magnificent effort from the ‘farm entrance’ not only beat a formidable mark but set her on her way to victory pushing her a bowl of odds clear. Her next two to the ‘sand hole’ doubled her lead and a first All-Ireland in adult grades was secured before the finish line was reached.

John Shorten dethroned Joe Shortt in the veteran’s final on Sunday morning to make it four wins from five for Cork champions. The Kilmurry man, although led briefly after three, was dominant on the rise going over a hundred metres up after five. He increased his advantage to a bowl after ten and lined his next two to perfection to double his lead. There was no way back for the defending champion after that.      

Armagh’s two champions from the All-Ireland series came in the underage sector but not before Darragh Dempsey took up where he left off at Castletownkenneigh on Sunday week, turning in an outstanding performance to win U16 from a gallant Eugene McVeigh. 

The Carbery champion didn’t have it easy with the Ulster champion also in form, particularly when delivering an expertly played fifth of the ‘parley que’ variety. McVeigh led after six but then watched as Dempsey hit one of his specials –a thundering drive on the rise to the ‘farm entrance’. 

That catapulted the Cork champion into a 100-metre lead and, although the gap closed subsequently, his ability to deliver a killer shot was seen again in a monstrous tenth down the ‘orange Hall hill’ that effectively put him out of sight. His winning margin at the end was close to two.