ORIEL ZONE TAKE HOME TWO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLES

Oriel had a sensational weekend at the World Championships not alone taking home one World Title but two. Jim Fox also only narrowly missed out on a 3rd place position.
Day 1 (Morning Report):
The Cooley triple of John Murnaghan Paddy Hanlon and Gerry McCabe began the day against Rene Maes from Belgium. Belgium can often be a tricky tie but Gerry’s triple began sensationally well and clocked up a magnificent 24-1 victory. Kevin Conroy’s rink of Michael Hand, Fra Dillon and Billy Taaffe were involved in a much tougher contest against Dennis Eddie from Scotland and only for a count of 3 in the second last end may have lost it, eventually winning 8-3. Jim Fox on the other hand was extremely unlucky not come out on top over the Italian Antonio Rinaldi only drawing 8-8. Jim’s next match against Jon Pitcher from England went against him also, losing 12-8. Gerry McCabe’s next match against Tommy Dahlgren from Sweden was the complete opposite from the first, with the only constant being John Murnaghan’s sensational lead bowling. Playing the last end Gerry was 7-6 up and managed to hold on to claim victory 8-6. Kevin Conroy was again involved in a tight match this time against R Van Bouchaute from Belgium. However the four clicked into gear in the later ends to win 13-7.
Day 1 (Afternoon Report):
Gerry McCabe’s triple and Kevin Conroy’s rink now faced the Seamus Whelan and Sylvia Maddrel of the Isle of Man respectively. Generally the Isle of Man are seen as a chance to get a large shot difference increase and this year was no exception with Gerry’s triple winning 21-1 and Kevin’s rink winning 28-3. Jim Fox, who now needed wins now badly, had Jonathan Payne from Belgium in his next match. This match could have gone either way with Jim drawing some lovely bowls but in the end Jim narrowly lost 6-10. He now needed results to go …