DUNMANWAY bowler Danny O’Donovan put in a near-flawless display to beat John Hickey, Templemartin, by one bowl of odds as Lyre wrapped up a novice C tournament.

A trap-to-line winner, O’Donovan made the school cross in four excellent shots where he had almost a bowl of odds. He raised the bowl with his fifth. Hickey held it to the bowl at the bottom of the mason’s hill, but O’Donovan was in control here, as he stayed in front to win.

Elsewhere, Whitechurch Bowling Club has moved temporarily to the Sloggera road while their own is being resurfaced. On Saturday, Michael Bohane played Patrick Flood for a stake of €1,200 a-side. Bohane raised a bowl after three shots. Flood knocked it briefly until Bohane unleashed a miler of a shot that restored the bowl again for him. Flood didn’t take any chance he was given and at the traffic sign a bowl still separated them.

Flood could make no inroads into Bohane’s lead and he still held a bowl advantage with four shots to go. The atrocious weather conditions helped neither player and it was Bohane who won by a bowl of odds. In a return score at Whitechurch, a score that failed to excite saw Mike Quilligan beat Eoin McCarthy for a stake of €2,200 a-side.

A junior A championship score took place at Ballincurrig between Wayne Callanan and Patrick O’Brien, for a stake of €2,300 a-side. Callanan took the first shot and O’Brien the second – that was as good as it got for him as he miscued his third and Callanan raised big odds. Six and seven each to the no-play line where Callanan had a bowl and 30 metres. There was no stopping Callanan now, and when the lead went out to two bowls of odds, O’Brien called it a day.

Sean Paul McDonagh bowed out of the junior A championship to James Cooney at Templemichael; there was no stake in this one.

Ballygurteen held a Paddy Murray Memorial Cup score between Darragh Dempsey and Cillian Kelleher, playing for a stake of €3,000 a-side. After three shots each out the first bend Dempsey had 15 metres of odds. Kelleher took the lead with his fourth with a nice touch off the right dyke at Dullea’s new house, and Dempsey was too tight left. Dempsey lined four huge bowls from here one after the other that raised two bowls of odds on Kelleher at O’Mahony’s avenue. Three more back of O’Donovan’s bend and Dempsey had a comfortable win of two bowls. In a return score at Ballygurteen, Andy McCarthy beat Jer O’Leary by the last shot for €1,500 a-side.

In a Michelle Hayes junior score at Rosscarbery, local man Micheál O’Sullivan took victory from Kenneth Murphy, playing for a stake of €1,200 a-side. O’Sullivan started very well, and was up past the priest’s house in four great bowls heading for a bowl of odds. At Barry’s Boreen he still had almost a bowl of odds, but Murphy got a great bowl from here and O’Sullivan got two poor bowls in succession. They went out to Cahermore cross level. O’Sullivan got a poor bowl off the cross but Murphy didn’t capitalise on this as he was too tight right. O’Sullivan threw a good next shot past Froe cross and followed up with four more great bowls on top of the line to win by almost a bowl.