Coill Dubh take top spot in KWWIBA after claiming points in Rathmore clash

Coill Dubh Community Hall was the venue for this Round 7 Division 2 bowling clash on Monday 27th November between Coill Dubh and Rathmore. A notorious venue for any visiting team to try and secure some points as the home side have perfected the art of winning most of their games in this venue.

As Athy even with home advantage surprisingly took all five points from leaders Baltinglass/Kiltegan it presented Coill Dubh with a prime opportunity to take over top spot.

However even though Rathmore going into this tie are lingering third from the bottom of the table it would be very foolhardy to think of it as a foregone conclusion. Rathmore are always a very difficult side to beat whether playing home or away, their inner belief will always make them formidable opponents.

Costly Error

Mat 1 was a very competitive match throughout. The visitors started off very well and built up a lead of 5/0 in the first four ends before Coill Dubh settled into the game. It was the home team that did the scoring on the next four ends to lead on a score of 7/5. Back came Rathmore to bring the sides all square on the tenth end, but on the next end disaster struck as an accumulation of costly errors allowed a score of seven to Coill Dubh to give them a lead of 14/7.

Coill Dubh now with that cushion, began to play with more confidence and pressed home their advantage to finally shake off their opponents and win on a score of 23/11.

Coill Dubh: Mary Hogan, Henry Farrell, Jody Gordon, Thomas Hogan and sub Albert Perris.

Rathmore: Detta Gaffney, Joe Watters, Rupert Hayden and Tony Fitzpatrick.

Hard Earned Victory

Mat 2: This was a mighty, mighty, hectic game of bowls between two evenly matched and committed sides. Apart for the first end it was the visitors that always seemed capable of causing an upset, even though they were never leading by more than a score or two at any time.

On the eight end Coill Dubh levelled up the game at ten scores apiece, but on the next end Rathmore took the lead again by the slender margin of one, again the home team rallied and brought the sides level for the second time at eleven scores each.

Similar to mat 1 disaster played its hand again, but this time it was the home side that were the culprits, as errors on their part allowed their opponents a score five. Coill Dubh narrowed the gap to two on the next end, but it was Rathmore that hammered home their advantage on the last three ends to secure a hard earned victory on a score of 23/15.

Coill Dubh: Joe Butler, Mike Hogan, John Moran, Joss Gordon and sub Thomas Baker.

Rathmore: Joe Cox, Ann Shaw, Pat Madden and Dave Pitt.