Ok everyone ..... I'm back.

Due to holidays, bereavements and some other things there has been a delay in updates to this column. However, this writer is now over all that so ...... where to start?

It would be remiss of me not to start with the fact that Frank McCarthy passed away at the venerable age of 95 years. The patriarch of CYM bowls and father of Dave, Nuala, Maurice, Rosanna, Cathy, Frank & Derek left us peacefully on 4th August, 2010. May he rest in peace.

Working backwards .....

Last weekend a bit of history was made with all 4/5 gents teams winning their cup semi-finals in, respectively, the Open, Crumlin, O'D and Shott cup matches. It's going to be a big day on the 5th of September when all finals will be played simultaneously (but, happily, on different greens!) Well done to all concerned. It was a big ask to field 60 players on the one afternoon but we did it and now will have to do it all again. However, potential glory awaits!

Prior to that CY hosted the LBLI championships and what a magnificent week it was with Eileen Doyle and her team (far too many to name individually) put on a great show. Even the bowling was good! Great hospitality, great food and great organisation was the order of the day with just the odd glitch caused by the new parking regulations. Deirdre McCulloch's and Rose Mason's triples represented CY but, unfortunately, were both beaten in the semi-finals. For the detailed results click on the BLI/LBLI link.

Again, prior to that ......

The BLI championships were held in Crumlin BC and a feast of bowls was had. The "Gate" were widely represented and pick up a few trophies! CY had a fair innings too with Derek McCarthy's triples and pairs involved in the Seniors and Pat O'Flaherty triples and Darren Richards flying the flag in the Juniors. Derek & co were beaten in the semis of the trips and the final of the pairs but Pat was successful in the triples ... well done them! Darren was narrowly beaten in the final of the Nassau junior singles by a guy called Maurice McCarthy from Rosslare! Hard luck Darren but a great achievement to get there.

League standings ..... click on the BLI/LBLI link. I'll give a more detailed update next week when things should be clearer with about two matches to go for everyone.

Finally, don't forget to get your club matches played. The semi-finals weekend is looming less than a month away!!

Hi All,

First the bad news! Bold stuff has been seen on our green  Anyway, it prompted me to put together the document below. Just click on the link. Let me know what you think. Is it OTT? Have I missed something? It can be a work in progress. Remember your identity won't be revealed unless you want ....... maybe!

Bowling Etiquette 

In addition, Hugh Barry (a fully qualified coach) has offered his services to have a Sunday morning coaching session where he will run through some of the finer points of the game. Contact Hugh on  0860495138 for more information.

A safari was undertaken to DNS on a miserable Tuesday night to that place on the old airport road where CY were made to suffer the pains of playing in a cold, wet, and bleak bowling club. And, to add to the misery were beaten after a long and boring emcounter. Thoughts of hot ports, whiskeys and coffees abounded but even these 'cold' comforts could not bolster us through to victory

Anyway, enough about the the trials and travails of the Ladies Div 4 (evening league) A team!  They were playing in Sportslink that night. Oh yeah, the Gents Div 1 team were also playing in Aer Lingus at the same time. Gotcha?

The Gents A team had a great victory up in Belfast against Ewarts in the last round of the IBA Senior Cup and have been drawn away to Larne in the next round (last 16). We might have to get a ferry from Dublin to Larne as a drivers strike could be on the cards due to a glitch in the wage structure. IMPACT and SIPTU are urging management to rectify this urgently and clear a flight path through the volcanic ash of "petty" cash otherwise industrial action by the drivers with the full support of their co-workers looms!

Rumour has it that Frank & Derek McCarthy have never been bowling better ... oops strike that; I meant LOOKING better on the green this season. It seems that they have been receiving special attention from unknown specialists in the "How to Look Good" industry after captain Brian Gray told them to clean up their act!

Meanwhile, on the Gents Leagues side all our teams are somewhat languishing in mid-points or lower in the tables except for the 'C' team in 3rd spot. C'mon everyone your teams need you and need you to put in just that bit of extra effort. We're good enough to do better than this and YOU know it.

Ladies Leagues: The 1st team are battling away in 3rd spot in. Keep it going girls! Unfortunately, the 2nds are propping up their division at the moment and in Div 4 the "A" team are in 2nd position with the "B" team in 6th.

NOTE: If someone from the Ladies e-mails me with more detailed information for inclusion in this column I will duly oblige.

BLI Championships: The men are putting up a good show so far this season with quite a lot still in the various competitions. Check out the details on the BLI website link in the sidebar here.

Finally, for those that know them, Ann Gillen and Trevor Murphy (Blackrock BC) have decided to 'tie the knot'. Ann was flashing what seemed to be the Hope Diamond last Friday and they both looked deliriously happy. Congratulations and best wishes to the both of them

Hi All,

I've been a bit remiss with news of late. But now that the season is upon us expect more juicy stuff .... sometimes peppered with facts just to keep ye interested!

• The Ladies Div 1 side lost at home to Leinster in a topsy turvy game that eventually saw CY gaining 2 valuable points from the Rathmines, Rathgar, Herbert Park (where do they play anyway?) side.
• Gents Div 1 started with 2 x 2 pointers against arch rivals Blackrock and the Gate. Watch out Westmanstown in the next fixture
• Gents Div 2 started badly with only 1 point against the Rock in CY but the Gate suffered the backlash and CY got 5 points in the Grounds. However this momentum wasn't sustained and they fell away against the mighty Kilrea in the 1st round of the IBA Junior Cup
• Gents Div 3 have stormed off to an 11.5 points start from 2 matches. Keep it going guys!
• Gents Div 4/5 have (according to the official BLI web site) 4 points between them. They seem to be keeping match results secret. Is there a plot afoot? Watch this space!

In other news ........

• Tony Murray was unable to play on Saturday last after travelling all the way to Kilrea. He is ok though having been spotted regaling folk with tales of past victories over a few pints in the CY bar late into the night!
• Phelim Hamill missed out on the double by firstly seeing off Val Kerrigan in the Club 2 Bowl on Sunday in a very tight game 21-18 and then later attempting to do the same in the H/Cap with smilin' Frank Burton. But Phelim wasn't smiling at the end after a close match going down by the same 21-18.
• The MOTD was between Gene Morrin and Myles O'Brien in a brought forward Marper singles game. The standard of bowling was very high even though rumour has it swipe cards had been replenished the previous evening on countless occasions (let's see now €20+€50+€20-€4.30-€4-€3.50=nil balance... Yep that's right!). In any event, this game went right down to the wire with both players laying game in a changeable last end. That's right folks, it all came down to the last bowl (doesn't it always?) with Myles just failing to turn the shot bowl of Gene's for the match. So, 21-19 to Gene. Great game!
• Earlier in the week, Bren Morrissey's rink had an exciting win in the Sixsmith Senior rinks against the Smyth's of Leinster (former holders) whilst Ian Wilson & Co saw off a plucky but inexperienced Dun Laoghaire 4. Paddy Graham's rink went down to a good Kenilworth side. We hoped Paddy was going to stick it to them on the rink but rumour has it it was stuck instead to one of their cars in the carpark!
• Pat (I don't have a marker) O'Flaherty and Dennis Twoomey came through in the Nassau Junior singles with Dennis seeing off his hapless opposition 21-0
• Dennis was brought back to earth with a bump though the following evening when his Div E rink was 'skelped' in their league match. What a difference a day makes ....
• Brian Doyle took pity on Anto Whelan in another club singles allowing his 17-3 lead to be whittled away and Anto eventually winning through. Brian, who has won more than most in his illustrious career wasn't unduly worried and easily saw off Anto in the 2nd half in the Bar later!
• **** STOP PRESS **** In an unforgiveable oversight by this writer a little birdie (or was it a fish?) told me that the main match of that evening was omitted for this report! Seemingly, the most dangerous predator in the world claimed another top class victim in the CY 2 Bowl event by 'seeing off' Gerry Byrne in a thriller. The match started off brilliantly with both players getting the bias right with all bowls and arriving near the jack to such an extent that the marker was able to give an opinion every time he was asked who was laying shot. It was an up and down game with the 2 compeitiors both deciding to play up and down from the hedge to the road! All I can say is that Gerry Byrne was lucky that the shark was in a reasonable mood and didn't show him the shoes too soon (ref. FMcC v. JM - 2007). Anyway, final score was .... 21 - ?. Well done to the two of them!

Hi All the BLI draws are out!

Click on the link below for details

DRAW S/SHEETS

Hi All,

The League season is upon us! The Ladies Evening Leaguers kicked off last night with the B Team winning 16 - 11  in CY against Westmanstown B whilst the A Team lost in Westmanstown by 16 -8. . So mixed fortunes but its early yet.

The Ladies A Team start the defense of their title against Shankhill in CY today. 7 Points please!!

The Liam Kidd Cup was held last Saturday and was a great success.

In a nailbiting finish the A team narrowly pipped the C/D/E team for the honours by just 2 shots in the cumulative scoring. The B's finished 3rd.

Afterwards, a fine meal was had and Liam presented the winning team with the Cup and a nice bottle of wine for each team member. Our thanks to Liam for that. However, as he played for the A team he managed to hustle a bottle for himself!

Eileen Doyle's LBLI Presidency got off to a flying start with the unfurling ceremony in CY today (8th April). With 80+ plus attendees the Ladies were pushed to the pin of their collar but no problem to them.

There were attendees and officials from all corners of the Country and one member was heard to remark "it was lucky there wasn't a lightning strike with all that chain-metal on the green"!

The Green and surrounding area looked magnificent as did the reception areas where our guests were entertained by President Eileen and her many helpers.  No amount of thanks can properly describe the effort put in by all who assisted (both Ladies & Gents). ..... however THANKS TO ALL!

So, after a very cordial lunch with, I've heard, very entertaining speeches from all concerned the LBLI opening moves on to Phase II, that being a fun tournament later to-day (9th April). This involves a 2 session competition starting at 12:PM and concluding at approx 4:PM. With 100+ taking to the green it promises to be a lively affair!

So, yet again, congratulations to all involved in the event and by these standards it promises to be a memorable year for President Eileen and her team.

Well........ The war was fought and won by the Gents. In a well contested 6 rink event the honours went to the gents team. The games was played in the usual competitive but good spirited manner with the Gents being pushed closely on 3 of the 6 rinks.

Mags Kelly's rink came the closest to causing a major upset. With 2 ends to play there was only 2 shots in it and the usual jocular comments of Skip, Ian Wilson and Third, Nocy O'Connor on the opposing rink were strangely absent! However, the lads came through in the end much to the relief of Nocy who was looking forward to a summer of socialising in a nearby hostelry for the rest of the season!!

In another near upset, Ladies evening League rink of Bernadette Brennan, Patsy (sic) Burton, Cathy Morrin and Maureen Gray came back from a 12 shot deficit to within 3 shots of Derek McCarthy's rink before going down by the narrowest of margins. Indeed, in the last end Bernadette had the chance of drawing the winning shot (of that end) after Derek had sprung the jack into no mans land but got caught in the high veldt and landed short. Maureen Gray was heard to say "@#*k it " but that's only hearsay!

Frank McCarthy's rink got off to a flyer against Rose Mason's rink due in no small part to an assist from his good friend Nocy who clobbered Rose's number two Vera with a stray football from the adjacent soccer match. However it was reported afterwards that Vera scored a fine goal for CY with the header and Rory Linnie wants to sign her!

The other ladies rinks went close but sadly no cigar.

Afterwards, a lovely meal was had by all catered for by Ger and Ev McGivern. Our thanks to the CY Soccer lads (bar one?) for making room for the teams to settle in for the meal.

So, the season kicks off in earnest. Watch this space for more news and updates!!!

Hi All,

The table quiz was held last night and was a great success with all attending having a fun night. There was 10 teams in total and was generally made up of the usual suspects. For those of you absentees with no real excuse please remember that your Section needs your support!

Anyway, in a tight contest the Gray clan were pipped at the post by the team of Cora Hamill, Georgina Morrissey, Nuala Whitney and Claire & Stan Johns. Well done to them!

A special thanks to Ev and Gerry McGivern for organising the high-tech event.

Hi Folks ..... just a quick update.

The medals presentation and race night brought out the winners and losers in droves. It was a great success with a very large attendance of members . The usual convivial chat of people meeting after a  long winter was the norm and little snippets of juicy stuff was the order of the night!

Two things we know for sure .....

• The competition set for Easter Sunday 4th April has been postponed until a later date. I'll keep you posted
• Richie D'Arcy has to have surgery on a troublesome knee and is likely to miss the season. He will be sorely missed  . We all wish him well and a speedy recovery

Hi All and welcome to vol 1 of this column. In it you will find items of interest, relevant news and most importantly .... scurrilious gossip! The very thing all clubs like ours relish.

News and commentary on all things relevant and irreverent. If anyone has juicy gossip etc. contact me for posting on the web site (Who me and how? ... keep an eye on this site for contact details later)

So far the run in to the season has been relatively quiet with the usual rumours of shock resignations, assignations and new members joining (More of this in a later edition).  Anyway here goes ....

• Get your gear dusted off and ready. Like a tsunami the season is nearly upon us and the rumour mills are cranking up
• The LBLI have reverted the league format back to 4 rink teams making CY the only team in their history to win a 3 rink league in 2009!! It remains to be seen how this will affect team selections for the 2010 season. Busy times ahead for Betty K (Lady Captain for those of you who don't know) and her selectors
• Speaking of selectors rumour has it that Brian G (Club Captain for those of you who don't know that either!) has gone off and picked his captains and selectors for the coming season. Who are they? Who knows! Brian, always known for his reluctance to show his hand too early will let us know in due course. Keep an eye here for more info
• The Heritage Indoor Bowling arena is open for the next 3 Saturdays from 10 to 1 @ €5 per person. All are welcome so if you wish to get that arm moving early, work on the dicky delivery (FMcC take note!) here is your chance
• A little bird told me that there may be sweeping changes this year on the Gents side. This might be to do with selection or else we're all taking up Curling! I'll keep you posted

Anyway enough for now, on a more serious note the Club has members who are currently experiencing serious illnesses. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. We hope to see them all out on the green soon and wish them all a speedy recovery

In a unanimous show of support for the Committee the EGM attendance voted for the increase in the Bowling Section annual subscription to €150!

This will allow the Section to fully meet the demands from the central Executive for an annual rental on the Bowling facilities of some €18,000.

It was generally agreed that the Society subscription having been reduced by €100 for full membership that Bowling members would be able to take up the slack as such by that amount in order for the Section to meet its financial obligations