Twist in second division title race

THE race for the Division Two title took another twist last week with a change of leadership.

BPFA 'B' are the new frontrunners, after an excellent win at previous leaders Portglenone CC, which they then followed up by taking four points from a rearranged match with Golf Seniors.

It means Broughshane now leap-frog Portglenone into first place, although the Bannsiders have a game in hand.

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BPFA's victory against Portglenone on Monday night was noteworthy as the Ports are usually difficult opponents on their own mats, but manner in which the victory was achieved was even more eye-catching.

The visitors simply blew Portglenone away in the first half, with Terry McClintock and Noel Graham's rinks helping Broughshane establish a thumping 30-12 advantage at the break.

With two points already lost and a third as good as gone, Portglenone rallied and managed to claw back two points, but Tom McCart and Joe McErlean's wins against Jim Wasson and Joe Campbell weren't enough to claw back that huge half-time deficit.

Buoyed by that result, Broughshane took four more points off struggling Maine in a rearranged match 48 hours later.

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The golfers actually led by two shots at the break after Campbell Wade's 10-6 win over Terry McClintock was countered with a 9-7 win for Noel Graham over Ivan McMaster.

Jimmy Wasson's 11-2 win over Donald Smyth shifted the game in BPFA's favour and they grabbed a fourth point when Joe Campbell sneaked past John Nichols by a single shot.

A miserable week for the golfers was completed when they lost at home to Enkalon.

George McCrea had given the Raceview side a good start by beating Chris Murray but Campbell Wade was only able to score a single shot in a 12-1 defeat by Basil Johnston.

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Robin Kennedy's 11-5 win over John Nichols took the Antrim side out of sight but Donald Smyth at least assured Seniors of a second point by beating Brian Mackle 11-9.

Services 'A' remain on the fringes of the title race after beating another of the chasing pack, Clough Rangers, by seven shots.

Clough held sway by three shots in the first half thanks to narrow wins for Andy Armstrong and Denis McClurkin against Pauline Wilson and George Beattie.

But Billy Scullion wiped out that deficit by beating Roy Aicken 9-6 and in a family tussle, Services' Mark Shaw got the better of his father David, whose three shots all came on the fourth end in a 9-3 defeat.

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In the remaining game, West Church 'A' delivered another blow to Harryville Community Centre's faltering promotion hopes with a 43-26 win in the Craig Hall.

A '4' on the last end for Jimmy Patterson gave Harryville what turned out to be their only point of the night in an 8-6 win over Matt McPeake, but a burst of 4,4,2 from Maurice Livingstone between the seventh and ninth ends helped his rink to an 18-8 win over Harold Smyth.

In the second half, a single on the last end gave West's Graham Wilson victory over Wilson Burgess, while Jim Rainey got the better of Stewart Wilson.

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