David Copeland wins Irish singles but Dunbarton lose three other Irish finals

On Friday in the semi final David faced Aaron Tennant from Ballymoney and produced a magnificent performance. He started like a house on fire and led 15-4. From thereonin he was always in control, eventually cruising to a facile 21-9 victory.

This then set up a local derby against Kyle Blakely from Banbridge on Saturday afternoon and it was the Banbridge man who started the better. Indeed David trailed 4-9 before slowly clawing his way back and levelling the scores at 10 shots apiece. On the next end it was the Banbridge man that looked so have seized control with a treble and when his first two bowls were very close to the jack on the next end he looked in pole position. However on a tricky rink David played a perfect delivery to secure shot and followed this up with a single and double to lead 14-13. Three ends later and Davy still held a one shot advantage at 16-15 and still anyone's game. But the next end was decisive.

With four excellent bowls, David drew four shots while his opponent raced through the head with three bowls and suddenly it was 20-15 and David was one good bowl from the title! And sure enough on a full length jack he drew close with his first two bowls and when his opponent was short with his first three bowls, he was almost there. And when Blakely pulled his last bowl tight, scenes of celebrations ensued. A wonderful achievement by David!

Unfortunately David was unable to make it a double success as alongside Jack Kidd, Ben Hogg and Brian Prunty, they lost out in the final of the Irish Fours. After a nailbiting semi final win against Bangor's Gary Scott on the day before, they took on the Crumlin rink skipped by Shane Leonard. And for 9 ends of this game the locals held the advantage as they led 8-5. The next end came the turning point as with the Dunbarton lads lying one shot and hoping to move ahead 9-5, Leonard produced an excellent final delivery to turn the jack for 3 and over the second half of the game there was only one winner. Trailing 9-10 after 12 ends, the locals then dropped scores of 2,2,3,2 to leave themselves 10 down with two ends to play and their wonderful run was over. A magnificent effort by this Dunbarton rink but unfortunately they fell at the very final hurdle. They should be very proud of their efforts.

And unfortunately it was a bad day for lead Jack and second Ben as they both lost their other Irish finals, the triples and Under 18s respectively.

Ben was in scintillating form in the under 18 singles semi final when he disposed of D Murphy (Blackrock). In the final he faced reigning champion Josh Thompson (Donaghadee) but the young Gilford starlet endured a nightmare start. With Thompson playing extremely well it took Ben a while to settle and he looked in real trouble at 1-12 but slowly he began to reduce the arrears and narrowed the gap to 6-13. The loss of a further single and treble left him again in trouble at 6-17 but after scoring a single Ben changed tactics. Bringing the mat up the green, he scored successive trebles and now the score was 13-17. When Thompson scored a double next end it seemed that the writing was on the wall but in true Dunbarton character Ben never gave up and two singles and a double saw the score narrowed to 17-19 and suddenly he now had the finishing line in sight! And there was real drama on the next end! With one bowl remaining, all four of Ben's bowls were closer than his adversary's and suddenly from nowhere, the Dunbarton youngster lay match!! However credit must be given to young Thompson who produced a magnificent pressure bowl to draw shot and then proceeded to play a fantastic last end forcing Ben to play weight with his last two bowls and when both missed he had lost our narrowly 17-21.

Whilst he started poorly, young Ben should be very proud of his efforts and he undoubtedly has a very bright future ahead!

In the triples there was heartbreak for Richard McMullan, Jack Kidd and Marty Trainor. Having defeated the Bangor triple skipped by M Crawford on Friday afternoon they took on Bryan Smyth's Ballymoney triple in the final. And what a start they got scoring 4,2,1 over the first three ends. And on end four they looked like they would extend their lead lying another three shots only for the Ballymoney skip to drive off target and fluke a double. This seemed to deflate the Dunbarton boys and a few ends later they trailed 7-8.

However they quickly regrouped and over the next few ends there was nothing in the game. Indeed with three ends remaining the scores were locked at 12-12 and then came the turning point. With his second bowl skip Marty turned the jack to lie two shots and when his opponent missed he had a chance to count a treble to lead by three with just two ends remaining. Alas, Marty threw his bowl a yard too heavy and flicked the jack and gave away two shots. The loss of a single on the penultimate end left them three shots in arrears but with one bowl remaining on the last end they actually lay two shots and needed one more for an extra end. But with both drawing lines blocked, he had a very difficult shot and despite a valiant attempt, he missed with his last bowl to succumb to a narrow defeat. He will be kicking himself about that last bowl on end 16. Again, a terrific effort nonetheless and with a bit of luck, the Gilford men could easily have won this title.

Finally in the Pairs, Richard McMullan and Myles Greenfield were aiming for glory as they opposed the Crumlin pair of Carruth and Leonard in the semi final on Friday morning. The Dunbarton bowlers got off to a blistering start leading 8-1 and after 12 end led 15-8 and were in great shape to make it through to the final. However the loss of back to back trebles suddenly made this a much closer game but importantly with one end remaining, Myles still held the lead, albeit by one shot having led the entire game. And with one bowl each remaining, the Dunbarton pair held two shots and a place in the final beckoned. Credit must be given to Leonard who played a fantastic pressure bowl and when Myles was unable to remove it, the game went to an extra end. And unfortunately despite a terrific final bowl from Myles on the extra end, they lost out by the narrowest of margins.