League Cup holders Towers toppled

The reigning champions were toppled by Ballymena United Social Club at the end of a thrilling semi-final which saw the sides separated by just a single shot over two legs.

Starting the second leg all square after the first instalment in Ahoghill, Social Club were slight favourites on their own mats, at a venue where Towers have traditionally struggled in recent seasons.

But it looked as though that run might come to an end as Towers had opened up a commanding 11-shot lead at the interval.

A 2,1 finish from Sammy Hall enabled him to squeeze past Uel Fleming 7-5, while a 1,7,2,2 start from David McCullough blew away Nigel Robinson, the match eventually finishing 15-6 in Towers' favour.

The tables turned completely in the second half, though, as firstly Andy Duncan defeated Graham Maybin 14-8, with a '3' on the last end proving very fruitful as the bigger picture unfolded.

And it was the same scoreline on the other mat where counts of '4' on the first and seventh ends were pivotal in Bryan Magrath's win over David Shields as BUSC finished 39-38 winners on the night.

Social Club's opponents in the final will be Services 'A' who, as expected, were too strong for their 'B' team clubmates, following up their first leg win with another 13-shot success.

Any lingering hopes of the third division 'B' team springing an upset had evaporated by the break, by which stage the 'A' team were 27-11 to the good, thanks to convincing wins from Pauline Wilson and George Beattie, against Eric Smyth and Sheila Smith respectively.

The 'A' team's domination continued in the second half as Mark Shaw beat John Smith 12-6, while Billy Scullion edged home by a shot against Roy Dickson.

The date and venue for the final will be decided shortly.

BUSC 39, Towers 38: U Fleming 5, S Hall 7; N Robinson 6, D McCullough 15; A Duncan 14, G Maybin 8; B Magrath 14, D Shields 8. Aggregate score - BUSC 76, Towers 75.

Services 'B' (+10) 33, Services 'A' 46: E Smyth 5, Pauline Wilson 10; Sheila Smith 6, G Beattie 17; J Smith 6, M Shaw 12; R Dickson 6, B Scullion 7. Aggregate score - Services 'B' 70, Services 'A' 105.

LEAGUE PLATE

Holders Portglenone Community Centre will face Eaton Park in the final of the League Plate, after both sides saw off higher-ranked opposition by virtue of the shots handicap allowance they received.

Portglenone lost 30-37 on the night to first division Old Bleach but the 10 shots they received saw them progress by three shots.

Bleach held sway in the first half with wins from Neil Booth and Brian Trimble, against Kevin O'Kane and Jim Gaul but after the break, Declan McCann was able to keep Portglenone within reach by restricting David Burrowes' winning margin to three shots.

And the Joe McErlean's 9-7 win for the Ports over Mervyn McDonald, spelt the end of the road for the Randalstown side.

In the other semi-final, Eaton Park continued their 'giant-killing' run by beating West Church 'A', after finishing up on three of the four rinks.

John Carruthers, Gary Shaw and George Reid were the Eaton winners, against Jim Rainey, Graham Wilson and Michael Wilson respectively.

West's only win - a 14-4 success for Matt McPeake over Bonar Hill - at least ensured that the church side won by a shot overall on the night, but that was a long way short of the 10 shot margin they needed to overhaul Eaton's handicap allowance.

Portglenone CC (+10) 40, Old Bleach 37: K O'Kane 6, N Booth 7; J Gaul 7, B Trimble 12; D McCann 8, D Burrowes 11; J McErlean 9, M McDonald 7.

Eaton Park (+10) 41, West Church 'A' 32: J Carruthers 9, J Rainey 8; B Hill 4, M McPeake 14; G Shaw 8, G Wilson 6; G Reid 10, M Wilson 4.