Bowlers’ Irish Senior Cup dream ends at semi-final stage

The Braid men knew that it wasn’t going to be their day when Jim Baker’s rink lost 7 shots on the first end and with only 4 or 5 ends played across the green Ballymoney were over 20 shots to the good.

The Braid men did their best to get back in the game but they could never repair the early damage and in the end they came up short by 10 shots.

Jimmy Hodges, Sammy Allen, Andrew Morrison and Andrew Kyle started off steadily against A Steele and with 10 ends played the Braid men held a 4 shot lead. The Ballymoney rink then won the next 5 ends to edge in front by 5 shots but the Braid men fought back to regain the lead with 1 end remaining, however 2 shots on the final end gave the Ballymoney rink victory by 18-17.

Andrew Bonnar, J J Robinson, Mark Torrington and Jim Baker had a day to forget against W McCaw. The Braid rink made the worst possible start when they conceded a count of 7 shots and from then on the Ballymoney rink took control. Over the next 17 ends the Ballymena men could only score 4 singles as the Ballymoney rink extended their lead to 20 shots and although the Braid rink won the final ends they were well beaten by 25 shots to 8.

James Gaston, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson could only win 3 of the first 12 ends in their game against G Kelly to trail by 7 shots however 6 ends later the Braid men hit the front for the first time when they outscored their opponents by 9 shots to 1. The last 3 ends were close but the Ballymoney rink claimed 3 singles to win the match 16-14.

J R Nicholl, Alistair Coleman, Andrew Duncan and Steven Coleman found themselves 8-4 down against B McAlary on rink 4 but from then on the Braid men took total control. The Ballymena rink won the next 7 ends to change a 4 shot lead deficit to a 5 shot lead. Three ends later the advantage was down to 3 shots but Coleman’s rink finished strongly to claim a 21-11 win.

LEAGUE

Last week Ballymena Seniors had 3 matches. Two of these were in the NIPGL Senior League Division1.

Belmont had built up a massive 28 point advantage before these games had been played, however the Braid men had 3 games in hand so it was imperative that the Seniors claimed maximum points. The Ballymena men delivered in both games claiming a maximum 14 points to keep their very slim title hopes alive.

Ballymena (107) Ulster Transport (45): Ballymena Seniors had a busy week last week. On Monday night the Braid men entertained Ulster Transport. This was the continuation of a rained off game when only a third of the game had been completed a few Saturdays ago. At that stage of the game the Ballymena men had opened up a 30 shot advantage and by the end of the game the margin had doubled with the Braid men claiming an emphatic 62 shot victory.

Andrew Bonnar, Jimmy Hodges, Mark Torrington and Jim Baker took on B Faulkner. They started with a 3 shot advantage and a count of 6 shots on the 11th end got them well and truly up and running. The Braid men were in excellent form and they totally dominated the remainder of the game. They won the next 9 ends to lead by 28 shots to 7 and even though the visitors scored 3 shots on the final end it was Baker’s night with the final score 28-10.

J R Nicholl, J J Robinson, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman held an 8 shot advantage over B Johnston when they resumed their game. The Braid men extended their advantage to 13 shots over the next 3 ends and they were able to maintain a healthy lead right up until the conclusion of the game with the final score 24-14.

Steven Shields, Sammy Allen, Andrew Duncan and Andrew Morrison were 8 shots to the good after 9 ends when they recommenced battle against G Devlin. Both rinks won 2 of the next 4 ends however the Braid rink totally controlled the remainder of the game when they won all of the remaining 7 ends to claim a well deserved 27-9 victory.

Alan McAuley, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson recommenced their game against M Devlin with a 15 shot advantage after 9 ends. Three ends later the lead was up to 21 shots. There was only ever going to be one winner in this contest and even though the visitors had slightly the better of the remaining ends the Robinson rink ran out worthy 28-12 winners.

Ballymena (91) Mossley (52.5): James Gaston, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson found themselves 2 shots down after 2 ends in their game against E Crawford. Ten shots over the next 4 ends got the Ballymena men up and running and they were able to maintain a healthy advantage right up until the end with the final score 24-14. The Mossley rink had only 3 players and so they had to forfeit a quarter of their shots so the adjusted score was 24–10.5.

There was a high scoring game as Steven Shields, Sammy Allen, Andrew Morrison and Andy Duncan took on R Bell. Over the opening ends the Braid men managed to pick a count of 6 shots on the 2nd end and a further 5 shots on the 8th end to lead by 11 shots. The visitors replied with counts of 4 shots on the 9th end and 5 shots on the 11th end to cut the Ballymena lead to 4 shots. This was still the difference with 3 ends remaining but the Braid rink doubled their advantage on the 19th end. The game concluded with each scoring a single shot to leave Duncan’s men victorious by 27-19.

Andrew Bonnar, Jimmy Hodges, Mark Torrington and Jim Baker were always in control of their game against R McKeown. The Braid men made a good start and after 6 ends they had built up an 8 shot lead. The remainder of the game was more evenly contested and after the 21 ends had been played the Braid men were still 8 shots to the good, 20–12.

The Mossley rink skipped by S Strange settled down quickly against J R Nicholl, Stephen Coleman, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman and with 6 ends played the visitors lead by 7 shots to 2. Any thoughts of a Mossley victory were well and truly quashed as the Braid rink won the next 8 ends to turn a 5 shot deficit in to an 8 shot lead. There was no way back for the visitors and the Braid men claimed a 20-11 victory.

This is a really busy week for the Seniors with 4 league games to play – Monday (NICS at home), Tuesday (Willowfield at home) Thurdsay (Old Bleach away) and Saturday (Dunbarton away)