Junior bowlers into ‘business end’ of cup competitions

Ballymena junior player Joe McKeown in action during his teams Irish Cup Game. INBT26-286AC

They reached the semi-final of the NIPGL Junior Cup with a 15-shot win over Falls before beating Castleton by a four-shot margin in Saturday’s Irish Cup tie.

Against Falls, John McFall, Neal Garrett, Michael Wilson and Roy Torrington were simply too hot to handle for the Falls rink skipped by K Brennan, with the final score 31-14.

There was a close game on rink 2 where Alan McAuley, Arnold Kenny, Ivan Lynn and John Coulter beat R McCall by 21 shots to 19.

Allen Stewart, Tommy Hill, Danny McCullough and George Graham had the better of the opening exchanges against C Forsythe but with 11 ends played it was the visitors who were out in front by a margin of 5 shots and they were able to maintain that advantage and win 21-14.

Geoff Padget, Andy Hill, Jimmy Larkin and David Torrington had an interesting game against L Aldridge in which the Ballymena men held out for an 18-15 victory.

IRISH JUNIOR CUP

The Ballymena men had been handed a home draw, however because the Senior Team also had a home draw in the Irish Senior Cup, the Juniors had to play their game on the top green.

The Braid men made tough work of the tie and in the end were happy to be in the next round.

Joe McKeown, John McFall, Michael Wilson and Roy Torrington made the early running against D McCullough and won the majority of the closing ends to secure a 20-14 victory.

Allen Stewart, Tommy Hill, Danny McCullough and George Graham found it tough going against B Hamill but despite getting themselves back in the game, the latter stages belonged to Belmont, who outscored the home rink by 10 shots to 1 to claim a 23-13 victory.

Alan McAuley, Arnold Kenny, Ivan Lynn and John Coulter found themselves level with the visiting rink skipped by W Jackson after 9 ends but Ballymena got in front and were able to maintain their advantage until the end of the game with the final score 21-14.

Geoff Padget, Andy Hill, Jimmy Larkin and David Torrington did not have the best of starts against P Cavanagh when they conceded a count of 5 shots on the first end. Ballymena eventually got in front and despite a late fightback, held on to win 18-17.