Rocks News

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

Haulie Storan playing in his first Rocks Jewellers event of the season set a scorching pace opening up with a 279, shooting 770 over the first 3 and posting an 1183 total (236 Avg) which was just enough to maintain the lead in the Scratch section over Barry Foley (1183 total as well) on the high last game. Paolo DiTofano continued his good form from Round 3 with a 1210 incl.handicap (218 Avg) to top the standings in the handicap section.

Haulie continued his good form in the 1st Scratch semi-final starting with a 4 bagger and was never in any real trouble after Tom Byrne failed to convert a split in the 7th frame, he moved into the final with a 224 to 199 win. Fran Puzzuoli took command from the start of the 2nd semi-final and ran out a comfortable winner 246 to Barry Foley’s 197. In the Final, Haulie just couldn’t find his strike shot, the match was one sided with Fran in total command finishing off with 10 strikes in a row for a 280 to 177 victory and his first win of the season.

Paolo took care of business closing out strongly in the 1st Handicap semi-final against Gavin Fox who was also playing his first event of the season taking the match by 231 to 208. New to the Rocks Jewellers singles this season Ed Kupsys played a very tight game to overcome John Wilson in the 2nd Semi Final by 210 to John’s 176 and then went on to the Final where he upped his performance to take his first win of the season by 230 to Paolo’s 191.

Congratulations to the winners Fran Puzzuoli (Scratch Division) & Ed Kupsys (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 4 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Wishing you and your families a  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Victor Rock, Barry Brown and Tom Byrne

Next Event 6th January 2019

Jason Byrnes finished qualifying strongly in the last 2 games (278, 269) to post a 1175 total (235 avg) to lead the 31 players into the Scratch section final in what was a very low scoring event with only 12 players breaking the 200 average mark. Theresa Watts played very consistently over the 5 games to lead the Handicap section on 1156 incl. handicap.

In the 1st Scratch semi-final it was a case of who made the least amount of mistakes in the match and with John Wilson failing to convert a easy spare in the final frame, he opened up the door Jason to take the match by 171 to 165. Chris Sloan qualified in 2nd spot courtesy of a 297 final game came up against a brick wall when Alan McDonnell opened up 7 strikes in a row and went on to post a 279 to Chris’s 192 in the 2nd semi-final. Alan continued the good form in the Final winning his first event of the season by 225 to Jason’s 193.

Both semi-finals in the Handicap section saw strong finishes with Theresa Watts taking the match by 229 to Elaine Lalor’s 197, and Paolo DiTofano striking out for a 250 against Arunis Bulnis’s 219. Theresa took control of the final from the start and closed out the match with 5 strikes in a row for a 286 to win he second event of the season over Paolo’s 214.

Congratulations to the winners Alan McDonnell (Scratch Division) and Theresa Watts (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 3 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results.

Next Event 2nd December 2018

The 44 ft Kegel High Street pattern provided a much higher scoring condition in this event with 16 bowlers breaking a 200 average on the day. Top of the standings in the Scratch section was Joe Clancy with 1221 (244 avg) and Grant Dugan with 1179 incl. handicap led the Handicap section.

In a high scoring 1st Scratch semi-final with both players putting  strings of strikes together  Alan Bride closed out his match winning by 258 to Joe Clancy’s 238. The 2nd semi-final went to Chris Sloan’s by 268 to Fran Puzzuoli’s 210. In the final Chris ran into trouble with a couple of splits late in the game and wasn’t able to hold off an in form Alan Bride who struck out to post his second win in 2 events by 245 to Chris’s 185.

Two very close semi-finals in the Handicap section saw Grant Dugan go through to the Final by 210 to Mark Hinchliffe’s 200 and Arunis Bulnis finishing strongly to top Sarah Kebble by 249 to 227.  A great start from Arunis in the finals wasn’t matched by Grant, who opened a couple of frames early on and despite his strong finish he went down by 212 to Arunis’s 252 which gave him his first win of the season.

Congratulations to the winners Alan Bride (Scratch Division) and Arunis Bulnis (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 2 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results

Next Event 11th November 2018

After one of the best summers we’ve had over the last 40+ years, 36 bowlers took to the lanes Leisureplex Stillorgan for the first event of the 9th season of the Rocks Jewellers Singles. Lane conditions proved to be much tougher than bowlers expected with only 5 bowlers managing over a 200 average on the day compared to 16 bowlers this time last year.

Karl Dryer topped the standings in the Scratch section with 1110 (222 Avg) and Andrew Smale paced the Handicap section with 1202 incl. handicap.

The difficult conditions continued into the finals making every spare count as strikes were hard to come-by. Alan Bride finished well in the first Scratch semi-final to close out his match against Karl Dryer 210 to 193. Amanda Larkin took care of business against Paddy Dunne taking the match by 211 to 177 in the other semi-final.  In a low scoring Scratch final Amanda failed to double on the last frame to force a playoff against Alan who went on to win by 190 to 180.

The Handicap section semi-finals were cut and dried with Andrew Smale winning by 232 to Mary Heffernan’s 199 and Theresa Watts taking the match by 231 to Ann Cullen’s 176. Theresa’s good form continued into the final  where she shot 228 whereas Andrew opened a couple of frames early in the match and never recovered posting 198 to finish in the runner up spot.

Congratulations to the winners Alan Bride (Scratch Division) and Theresa Watts (Handicap Division) and all the finalists.

Full details from Event 1 are available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results

At the end of every season we look for feedback from the Rocks Jewellers bowlers so we can  make changes that will improve the monthly and end of season final events for the members.

Please take the time to give us not only the feedback on the 2017/18 season but also any thoughts or ideas you feel will improve or change the format for the benefit of all members whether they be scratch or handicap.

We will close the survey at the end of June so you have plenty of time to be creative. Click here to complete the survey.

It’s hard to believe we’ve just completed the eighth year of the Rocks Jewellers Singles.  The Finals in Leisureplex Stillorgan on Sunday May 13th provided an action packed event for players and spectators alike through a combination of high scores and plenty of excitement as many matches went down to the last ball.

You can see how all 32 finalists fared throughout the day as all the results (Scratch & Handicap – Winners & Losers sections) and Prize-winners details  are now available on the web with the individual match scores. click here  Photos from the day will be posted in the Photo Gallery.

Congratulations to Barry Foley (Winner – Handicap) and Paul Stott Jnr (Winner Scratch) who went on to take the titles for the 2017/18 season in the Double Elimination finals.

Barry Foley, who remained unbeaten in the ‘Winners’ section of the Handicap section still needed to produce a 278 game in the Final to hold off a late charge from Thomas Galvin.

In the Scratch section Final Alan McDonnell could not hold off a determined Paul Stott Jnr who started the final with a 299, going on win that match 513 to 420 to force a decider in the double elimination final format which he won 438 to Alan’s 388.

Our thanks go to the management and staff in Leisureplex Stillorgan for their support throughout the long Finals day. We would also like to thank Victor Rock & all at Rocks Jewellers for their continued sponsorship and support of the event which will continue again for the 2018/19 season  with the first event on Sunday September 2nd in Stillorgan – see the web calendar for all the 2018/19 dates.  We would also like to thank John Dunne and Tim Dawson for their web support in posting our results and updated throughout the season.

Over the past eight years we’ve taken input from the club members at the end of each season on ways to improve the monthly events and end of season finals. A new format was used this year for the Monthly events where players could opt to play in the Handicap ONLY section and this change went down very well. We used a new Group Format for the End of Season Finals yesterday with mixed feedback on the day, so while it’s still fresh in your mind – in the next couple of weeks we will once again be asking for your input on the Rocks Jewellers Singles – monthly format, monthly finals, qualification for the Overall Finals, etc etc. so get your thoughts together and let’s make sure the 2018/19 Rocks Jewellers Singles continues to be successful and enjoyable for all.

The final Rocks Jewellers Singles event of the season saw 32 bowlers take on the 44-foot Kegel High Street pattern, and right from the off scoring proved to be more favourable than the previous event.

Chris Sloan made the early running with a spectacular 847 for his opening three games, including a perfect 300 game two. In fact, Chris would go on to lead qualifying with a massive five-game set of 1302 (260 Avg). Chasing him down to take the other qualifying spots in the Scratch Division were Barry Foley with 1262 (252 Avg), Joe Clancy with 1214 (243 Avg) and Paul Stott Jnr with 1203 (241 Avg).

In the Handicap Division, the leading qualifying spot for the finals was taken by Arturas Baltonis, who would be joined in the finals by Thomas Galvin, Paddy Gibbons, and junior bowler Sean O’Connor.

Scratch Semi Finals & Final

Both semi-finals produced some top-class bowling, but in the end neither match brought any real drama or nail-biting finishes. Chris Sloan continued his imperious form on the day with a 259 to 222 victory over Paul Stott Jnr, while in the other semi-final Joe Clancy put together a fine victory over Barry Foley, taking it by 266 to 236.

Chris Sloan undoubtedly went into the Final as the favourite after his classy performance all day, but Joe Clancy had no intentions of rolling over for the number 1 seed and in the end managed a classy performance of his own to take the victory, 238 to 217.

Handicap Semi Finals & Final 

Sean O’Connor comfortably saw off Arturas Baltonis in their semi-final match, claiming a 234 to 183 victory. But it was a much more tense affair in the other semi-final, where Thomas Galvin looked to be heading to victory over Paddy Gibbons before an open tenth frame allowed Paddy in for a one-pin victory, 213 to 212.

However, Paddy Gibbons could not take full advantage of his slice of luck in the Final, as the junior bowler Sean O’Connor held his nerve and bowled a solid game to take the victory by 201 to 187.

Congratulations to Joe Clancy & Sean O’Connor on their second wins of the season and to Paul Chandler who won the Rocks Jewellers sponsored set of earrings.

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

End of Season Finals

Attention now turns to the Grand Finals, which take place on Sunday May 13^th, with the top 16 ranked bowlers in both the Scratch and Handicap Divisions facing off to determine the 2017/18 Rocks Jewellers Grand Final Champions.

List of Qualifiers for the end of season finals are highlighted on the Standings sheets (Scratch & Handicap) now available on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Results

Full details for the Final including format and check-in times are available on the web on the Rocks Jewellers Tab/Forms & Documents  and will be communicated to all finalists.

The Pattern for the Finals is the 41ft – Kegel Main Street

If you have qualified for the Finals you need to immediately confirm your availability to participate to Barry Brown.