News

A clash of dates with the Senior Triple Crown in Lisburn contributed to the low turnout of 28 bowlers for the final qualifying event of the Rocks Jewellers 2018/19 season. The Kegel Wall Street 40ft oil pattern provided good scoring on the morning where 10 bowlers were ahead of par (200 Avg.) and Gareth Williams provided great excitement in the 4^th game when he put 12 strikes together for a 300 game.

Paul Chandler topped the Scratch qualifying with an 1151 series (230 avg) and was drawn against Karl Dryer (who qualified 4^th) in the first semi-final match. Paul got off to a fast start with a spare and a treble to lead by 20 pins after 5 frames as Karl was unable to carry. With Karl hitting a double thru 7 frames and Paul having an open frame in the 7^th the match was level. Paul put 3 strikes together to close out but it wasn’t enough to hold off Karl who finished with 4 strikes to move into the final with a 226 to Paul’s 222.

The 2^nd semi-final between Gareth Williams and Grant Dugan was tight with only 1 pin separating them in a low scoring match where both players opened twice in the first 8 frames. Grant who had only one strike up to this found form and struck out with 4 more to take the match and his place in the final by 187 to Gareth’s 177.

Despite a late rally, Karl, who had opened 4 of the first 6 frames, couldn’t overcome the 70 pin deficit in the final to lose with a 157 to 198 for Grant’s first win of the season.

For the second event in a row a Junior bowler has led Handicap qualifying. Taylor Williams using the “2 handed style” qualified with 1202 and played P J Shine in the first semi-final. Taylor had a couple of openers early on but used a double and treble to move into the final by 225 to P J’s 212.

A fast start with a double for Ken Foley was unfortunately followed by 4 open frames in the next 6 to give Anthony Byrne a 30 pin cushion in semi-final 2. Anthony closed out with a double to progress to the final by 228 to Ken’s 179.

The Handicap Final was hotly contested with both players hitting 8 strikes in a high scoring match.Taylor had the edge bowling a clean game for 274 incl. hcp to outscore Anthony who had a couple of open frames in his 235 game.  

Congratulations to the winners Grant Dugan (Scratch Division) & Taylor Williams (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. 

Full details from Event 9 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

The 2019 End of Season Finals will be held on 19th May and will, as advised previously, revert to the Double Elimination Matchplay format.

The provisional list of Scratch & Handicap Qualifiers for the Finals are included on the Standings sheets posted.

All qualifiers must confirm their availability for the Finals by return email, WhatsApp or Text to Tom Byrne.

More details including Oil Pattern will follow closer to the date, please make sure you check the web for up-to-date information on the Finals.

38 Bowlers contested the 2^nd last qualifying event of the season on the Kegel Stone Street 42ft oil pattern. The scoring continues to improve with 15 bowlers shooting above a 200 average.

Karl Dryer led the Scratch qualifying with an 1199 series (239 avg) and faced off against Gareth Williams in the first semi-final match. Gareth couldn’t maintain his qualifying form where he shot a 297 game and lost out to Karl by 211 to his 164 game. The 2^nd semi-final was a much closer match between Alan Bride and Joe Clancy who matched each other through to the 8^th frame where an open frame from Alan gave Joe the lead and he struck out to take his place in the final by 211 to Alan’s 198. In the Final Joe started off strongly, was never really put under pressure by Karl and went on to take his first win of the season by 226 to Karl’s 183.

4 bowlers making their first finals of the season would do battle to take their first win in the Handicap section. Sean Farren who led the Handicap qualifying with 1229 played against Sean Staines in a very tight 1^st semi-final for the 2 junior bowlers with Farren edging ahead in the last couple of frames to take the match by 198 to 188 for Staines. Another close match between Brian Dagger and Arturas Baltonis saw Brian come out on top in the 2^nd semi-final by 230 to 210 to move on to the final.

The semi-final win for Sean Farren looked as if it gave him a lot more confidence and he came out in the final making better shots and took the initiative in the match which he went on to win by 230 to Brian’s 212 to give him his first win of the season.

Congratulations to the winners Joe Clancy (Scratch Division) & Sean Farren (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 8 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Next Event 28th April 2019

Congratulations to all who took part in the 2019 Charlestown Spring Super Split Singles Tournament. Final Results are available now on the Leisureplex page. For photos from the event click here

The Kegel High Street oil pattern gave a welcome boost to scores for the 33 players. The cut to make the Scratch finals was a 221 average posted by Eoghain Lebioda a significant 19 pin increase on Event 6. Jason Byrnes led the qualifying with a 1174 series (234 Avg) and faced Eoghain in the 1st Scratch semi-final. A very tight match saw Jason take the lead early only to be pegged back in the closing stages where Eoghain had to double in the 10th frame to take the win by 198 to Jason’s 194. The 2nd semi-final was another close match with Alan Bride a 3-time winner this season taking on Gareth Williams. It came down who was able to carry and that proved to be Gareth with a strong strikeout finish to take the match 216 to Alan’s 202.

The change of lanes for the Final suited both bowlers who were exchanging strikes throughout the game. Gareth, finishing first in the 10th frame had a chance to shut Eoghain out but failed to double giving Eoghain the chance to take the match if he doubled and got an 8 count, which is exactly what he did to win by 246 to Gareth’s 245.

Sean O’Connor led the Handicap qualifying with 1216 and continued his good form in the 1st Handicap semi-final against Ken Foley (who was playing in his first event of the season following a hip replacement at year end) to claim his spot in the finals by 238 to Ken’s 185. The 2nd semi-final was more of a make the spares and keep out of trouble game which went to Paul Chandler by 205 to a 191 from Paddy Gibbons.

Paul picked up the pace in the final and was never really in trouble from Sean who struggled early in the match following the lane change and despite a ball change was not able to make up any of the lost ground going down by 195 to Paul’s 233.

Congratulations to the winners Eoghain Lebioda (Scratch Division) & Paul Chandler (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. Full details from Event 7 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

The Kegel Easy Street oil pattern once again proved to be anything but an “Easy” condition for the 34 bowlers in this event with only 5 of them managing a 200 average or more in what was to be the lowest scoring Rocks Jewellers event for the past couple of seasons.

Joe Clancy posted an 1109 (221 Avg) to top the scoring on the day but was beaten in the 1st Scratch semi-final by Jason Byrnes (202 Avg qualifying) 201 to Jason’s 248. In the 2nd semi-final, a very low scoring match, Alan Bride just managed to take the match by 186 to Colm Cloake’s 179. Jason was able to continue his good form from the semi-final and pulled ahead of Alan in the final frames to take his first title of the season by 245 to Alan’s 226.

Dymphna Kestell who led the Handicap qualifying with 1171 couldn’t shake off a persistent Nickey O’Malley in the 1st Handicap semi-final where Nickey closed the game out well to win by 226 to Dymphna’s 207. In the 2nd semi-final Bernie Moriarty took control from the very start of her match against Sheron Sweeney and took the match by 231 to Sheron’s 200. The final was another low scoring match with Bernie failing to convert a couple of easy spares early on to give Nickey a comfortable win by 207 to Bernie’s 183.

Congratulations to the winners Jason Byrnes (Scratch Division) & Nickey O’Malley (Handicap Division) and all the finalists. Full details from Event 6 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Next Event 3rd March 2019

The first Rocks Jewellers event of 2019 gives the bowlers the chance to play on the oil pattern that will be used for the European Bowling Tour ranked Irish Open which starts on the 13th of January in Leisureplex Stillorgan. With the exception of Barry Foley who lit up the lanes firing a qualifying average of 249, the remaining qualifying scores were well below the field average for the season to date with only 6 players making a 200 average or more.

Both Scratch semi-finals were well contested with Barry Foley having to strike out in semi-final 1 to shut out Alan McDonnell by 226 to Alan’s 219. Semi-final 2 was a case of who could carry and unfortunately for Jason Byrnes (who finished strongly in qualifying to take 2nd place) he was unable to match Alan Bride’s strike rate that gave him the match by 245 to Jason’s 212.

Alan was able to maintain his form in the Final and had a comfortable win over Barry by 244 to 222 to give him his 3rd win of the season.

The 1st Handicap semi-final was a struggle for both players with splits a plenty in the first half, after which Dymphna Kestell found her form and took the match with a 194 against Kathleen Lyons who scored 173. P J Shine played very consistently in the 2nd semi-final to take the match 222 to 200 from Paddy Gibbons. In the Final both players upper their game and it was a much tighter match right up to the 9th frame when P J took control with a couple of strikes into the 10th frame and closed out the match by 242 to Dymphna’s 228 to take his first title of the season.

Congratulations to the winners Alan Bride (Scratch Division) & P J Shine (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 5 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Next Event 3rd February 2019