Mary's are mauled

When Dunclug PTA entertained St Mary's in the Doury Road clubrooms last week, the destination of the Division Three title was still very much up for grabs.

But a crushing 54-24 success for the school team - from which they claimed four points - has tipped the balance overwhelmingly in Dunclug's favour in the closing weeks of the season.

The three rinks on which Dunclug won were by double figure winning margins, thereby making the point for overall shots total a formality for the home side.

It was virtually all over at the interval by which stage Dunclug had amassed 32 shots to Mary's nine, thanks to big wins from Noel Clarke and David Calderwood, at the expense of James McCann and Patsy Boyd.

The misery deepened for the Portglenone side after the break with another crushing Dunclug win from Alan Heron, over Charlie Graham, leaving Kieran Adams to salvage a modicum of respectability for the Bannsiders with a 10-5 win over Robert Neeson.

It leaves Dunclug almost certain to be crowned champions, especially as they have two matches still to play, compared with Mary's, who only have one game left and are three-and-a-half points adrift.

Services 'B' missed the chance to close the gap on St Mary's when they were beaten at home by Eaton Park.

Sheila Smith had given Services a confident opening in the Trostan Avenue clubrooms with a 12-5 win over John Carruthers, but that was as good as it got for the home side.

George Reid's 14-4 win over Greta Coulter had already more than wiped out Sheila's success at the break and Eaton Park followed that up in the second half with a win for Gary Shaw, over Eric Smyth, while John Smith and Bonar Hill shared a point from a 7-7 tie.

All Saints produced one of their best performances of the season in a 54-30 win over West Church 'B'.

A '6' on the opening end set Eugene Walsh on the way to a 21-6 win over Peggy Pinkerton, although Joe Harris claimed a first half point for 'West' by beating Marie Burke.

But Saints were too strong after the tea break, with wins from Paddy Martin and Eugene McReynolds over David Aicken and Victor Mahon.

In the remaining game, Round Tower rose into the top four for the first time this season, thanks to a 41-28 success over First Ballymena.

Having recovered from the setback of losing the first point, after Lyle McQuitty's 13-11 win over Kevin McLarnon, the Antrim side rallied and wins from Gilmore Campbell, John O'Neill and Michael Teer - against Jean Mullan, David McQuitty and Roland Woods - took Tower into the upper reaches of the table.