Seniors stay in second place

BALLYMENA Seniors travelled to Comber last week and it was a good night for the Braid men who returned home with six of the seven points on offer.

Ballymena remain in second position in the NIPGL Senior League 1 however they face a couple of tough games in the next few weeks when they entertain third placed Belmont and then travel of table topping Dunbarton.

On rink 1 JR Nicholl, Steven Falls, Andrew Duncan and Steven Coleman did not make the best of starts against P Reynolds and after seven ends they trailed by two shots.

There was worst to come and 5 ends later the visitors found themselves further behind with the score reading 14-5 in favour of the home rink.

To their credit the Ballymena rink really dug in and after 18 ends they had levelled the game at 16-16 but unfortunately they could not maintain the momentum and it was the Comber rink who won two of the last three ends to claim victory by 21 shots to 17.

David Torrington, Andrew Bonnar, Jonathan Millar and Jim Baker lost the first two ends against J McDowell on rink 2 to trail by 3 shots, but they soon found their line and length and at the halfway stage of the game they held a 7 shot advantage.

The Ballymena men continued to play the better bowls and gradually increased their lead as the game went on to end up victorious by 25 shots to 10.

James Gaston, David Duncan, Andrew Morrison and Nigel Robinson took no time to settle down against A Ferguson on rink 3 and after 9 ends they held a commanding 21 shots to 5 lead.

The Comber rink managed to stop the Ballymena charge by winning 7 of the next 8 ends to reduce Robinson’s lead to 9 shots, but in a strong finish it was the Braid men who claimed victory by 34 shots to 15.

The Ballymena rink of Steven Shields, Mark Torrington, Sammy Allen and Andrew Kyle conceded 3 singles over the opening ends against the Comber rink skipped by P McBride, however scores of 2,5 and 4 over the next 3 ends saw the Ballymena men open up a 8 shot lead.

The visitors continued to outscore their opponents and over the next 7 ends they had extended their lead by 14 shots. Eight single shots were shared over the closing ends to leave the score reading 24-10 in favour of the Ballymena men.