Ballymena '˜C' team too hot for opponents Ards to handle

The Braid men won on 3 rinks and drew on the next to claim a near maximum haul of 6.5 points at the Old Ballymoney Road venue.

There was a very low scoring game on rink 4 where Jimmy Shields, Robert McCready, Dessie Shaw and Liam Lyness took on the Ards rink skipped by G Hollinger. The Lyness rink won 10 of the opening 13 ends however even though they dominated this period of the game they only lead by 13 shots to 7. The Braid men continued to dominate and they won 5 of the remaining 8 ends to record a well deserved 22-10 victory.

John Montgomery, Connor McQuillan, William Crawford and John Elliott got off to a slow start against B Martin and with 6 ends played the visitors lead by 7 shots to 2. The Ballymena men appeared to have got themselves back in to the game when they picked up 7 shots over the next 2 ends but the visitors replied with a single on the 9th end and 2 shots on the 10th end to lead by 1 shot at the half way stage of the contest. The Braid rink had their best period of the game when they outscored the visitors by 16 shots to 2 over the next 8 ends and even though the Ards rink had the better of the closing ends the Ballymena claimed the victory by 26 shots to 19.

Willie McNabb, Gary Shaw, Artie McAuley and Alex Wilson shared 8 shots with the Ards rink skipped by R Fulton over the opening 5 ends. Five ends later however the visitors lead by 5 shots but Wilsons men dug in and over the next 7 ends they were able to turn the 5 shot deficit in to a 5 shot advantage to put the Braid rink in the driving seat as the game reached its conclusion. The Ards men were hard to shake off and between the 18th and 20th ends they scored 5 shots to level the game at 17-17. The final end was a tense affair and when all the bowls had been delivered there was nothing to choose between the rinks, with the game tied at 18-18.

Keith Burnett, Leslie Jackson, Andy Hill and Derek Greer won the first 4 ends against D Savage to lead by 7 shots after only 4 ends. The Ards rink picked up 2 singles over the next 2 ends and a count of 6 shots on the 7th end and 2 shots on the 8th end saw them take the lead by 10 shots to 7. The Braid men were in determined mood and a brace of 4’s put them back in front. Greer’s men continued their good form over the remaining ends and when the game had reached its conclusion the Ballymena rink had extended their lead to win 26-15.