Locals qualify for national finals

THE Mid Antrim qualifiers for the Stonebridge sponsored national championships were played at Ballymena North at the end of last week, with plces in the finals at Ballymoney up for grabs.

Play got under way on the Thursday evening with the national triples and the ladies singles.

The top half of the draw saw Ivan Craig (BPFA) qualify for the semi finals with wins over T Rock (Cullybackey Meth) D Jones (Loanends) and A Matchett (Old Bleach).

In the semi final they faced Richard Fleming's triple from BUSC who had qualified for this stage with wins over J McWhirter (K Glarryford) C Adams (Buckna) and G Wilson (Michelin).

After a very close game in the semi final Richard Fleming produced probably the shot of the weekend to allow his triple qualify for the final.

The bottom half of the draw saw J Smyth (2nd Donegore) reach the semi final with wins over R McCullough (ALBC) and D Turtle (BPFA).

In the semi final they faced the First Ahoghill triple of D Morrison who reached that stage with wins over D Calderwood (1st Broughshane) and J Reid (Buckna) and good play by the Ahoghill triple saw them qualify for the final.

With both triples having previously won the national title, a good final followed and when the dust had settled, Fleming's Social Club triple had qualified for the finals in Ballymoney.

The ladies' singles got under way with no clear favourite. J Lithco (Michelin) reached the first semi final with wins over L McCombe (BPFA) and Y Hall (2nd Donegore).

In the semi final she faced J Green (2nd Donegore) who reached this stage after a bye followed by a win over M Neeson (ALBC). Green maintained her form from the previous game to make her way into the final.

The bottom half of the draw saw R Morrison (1st Ahoghill) reach the semi final with wins over H Lynn (Cuningham Mem) and A Agnew (St Pats Ballymena).

In the semi final she faced S Lynn who reached that stage with wins over B Watson (1st Ahoghill) and M Wilson (Michelin).

Lynn recorded a good win in the semi final to produce a final where the zone would have a new winner. J Green maintained her good form to record a comfortable win to qualify.

Friday was a busy evening with multiple events scheduled, starting with open rinks.

W Caldwell (Michelin) reached the semi final with wins over A McCombe(BPFA) and R Black (BPFA). They then faced W Fullerton (Old Bleach) who reached this stage with wins over G Wilson (Michelin) and J Reid (Buckna). The Old Bleach rink recorded a win in a close contest.

The other half saw A Duncan (2nd Donegore ) reach the semi with wins over R McCullough (ALBC) and J Gaston (1st Broughshane ).

The other quarter saw D Morrison reach the semi final with wins over I Craig (BPFA) and S Dunlop (K Glarryford). Dominant play by the 1st Ahoghill triple record a comfortable win.

A quick start in the final for the Morrison rink saw them open a big lead only for the Old Bleach rink launch a fightback that left them close the gap going into the last end only for the Ahoghill rink to control the end to qualify.

The junior pairs final was also played and A McMaster and M Wilson (Buckna/Michelin) faced A Millar and D Murray (2nd Broughshane). After a very close game a tie end was required to split the pairs and the McMaster/Wilson combination were able to get over the winning line

The junior singles was also played on the same evening with A Millar and M Wilson again facing each other in the final, where the Second Broughshane player gained his revenge in a very good contest.

The ladies' pairs was also completed on the Friday evening. A Agnew (St Pats Ballymena) reached the final with wins over M Neeson (ALBC) and J Green (2nd Donegore). She faced H Lynn (Cuningham) who had reached the final with wins over M Wilson (Michelin) and R Morrison (1st Ahoghill). Positive play saw the St Pats Ballymena win their place in Ballymoney with a win in a really close contest.

Saturday saw the completion of the competitions with the open pairs taking place in the morning. W Morrison (1st Ahoghill) reached the final in the top half of the draw having recorded wins over G Lithco (BUSC) A McComb (BPFA) A Matchett (Old Bleach) W Caldwell (Michelin) and G Wilson (Michelin).

In the bottom half of the draw D Morrison (1st Ahoghill) qualified for the final with wins over B Lynn (Cuningham), J McWhirter (K Glarryford) D Jones (Loanends) and M Boyd (Michelin).

This meant the very rare occasion of three brothers and a father competing against each other for a place in the finals – fresh from winning the rinks the previous evening – and after a very close contest D Morrison was able to book a second ticket for the national championships.

Two sections of the open singles were completed on the Saturday afternoon.

Section A saw G Wilson (Michelin) reach the final with wins over W Russell (Cullybackey Meth) G Davison (1st Broughshane) D Turtle (BPFA) and W Morrison.

In the final he face G Lithco (BUSC) who reached the stage with wins over WJ McAlonan (BPFA) M McCullough (K Glarryford) W Fullerton (Old Bleach) and J Reid (Buckna). Wilson managed to record a win in a close contest.

Section B saw W Caldwell (Michelin) reach the final with wins over R McCullough(ALBC), J McWhirter (K Glarryford), R Hosseini (K Glarryford) and B Trimble (Old Bleach).

In the final he face D McCullough (ALBC) who reached the final with wins over N Graham (2nd Broughshane) M Martin (Duneane) A Morrison (1st Ahoghill) and D Morrison (1st Ahoghill). With the scores see sawing all through the contest, eventually McCullough recorded a single in the last end to qualify in the singles for the second year in a row.

The final competition completed was the over 55 pairs. M Martin (Duneane) reached the final with wins over W Adair (2nd Donegore) D Livingstone (ALBC) and R Kennedy (ALBC).

In the final he faced D Turtle (BPFA) who reached the final with wins over T Lithco (Michelin), J Kirk (Cullybackey Meth) and T Morrison (1st Ahoghill). Again the final was a close contest with the BPFA pair recording a ‘2’ on the last end to win the last qualifying spot.

This was the completion of the qualifiers for this season and has given the zone selectors some new faces to consider for the incoming season.

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