The Galway Bay Championships proved to be Mid Ulster’s continued dominance of the competition with Steelweld, formerly Cookstown Parochial, claiming the title for the sixth time and retaining it having won it 2018. This time it was far from being an easy passage their semi final and final being decided by single shots on the last bowl. While short of the highly experienced Colum McHugh, they began with a convincing win over previous winners St Mark’s by 32 – 13, In round 2, they had an equally convincing win over Gortnessey from the Foyle Zone, winning 28-12. The semi final saw them play Derramore from the North West zone winning on the last bowl 25-24. They played Wellington from Western zone who had 38-15 wins over Aclint, 38-13 over Ballylennon and 34 – 14 over Corduff from Oriel. The final saw Wellington having the upper hand with Damian McElroy’s rink keeping Steelweld in the game.With one end to go on the last mat, Wellington held a single shot lead. Steelweld’s Aaron Ward’s last bowl left his side lying two shots and Wellington’s Gary Burke just failed to change the situation with his last bowl leaving the Mid Ulster side with a narrow victory.
In the plate competition for 1st round losers it was Cooley from Oriel zone who came out on top. They had wins over Maghery from Donegal and St Mark’s from Armagh zone while their opponents Marian from Northern zone had wins over Dunluce and Rock. The final was a tight affair for the first 7 ends before Cooley pulled away to win 29-21.
STEELWELD CLAIM GALWAY BAY HOTEL SHORT MAT BOWLS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
