Lady bowlers make flying start to new campaign

Ballymena Ladies were the first Braid team in competitive action this season and they have certainly set the bar high.
Ballymena's Grace Henry gets ready to start a new end against Dunluce. INBT 18-804HBallymena's Grace Henry gets ready to start a new end against Dunluce. INBT 18-804H
Ballymena's Grace Henry gets ready to start a new end against Dunluce. INBT 18-804H

Last Wednesday afternoon Dunluce were the visitors to the Old Ballymoney Green and in a very close game the Ballymena Ladies claimed 5.5 points against last year’s league champions.

On rink 1 Grace Henry, Dorothy McKee, Bronagh McKee and Sile Garvey took on the Dunluce rink skipped by J Sharpe. The Ballymena ladies made a very slow start and after 4 ends they trailed by 7 shots to 0.

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With 9 ends completed it wasn’t looking good for the home rink as the visitors had increased their advantage to 9 shots however the next 7 ends Garvey’s rink saw the game swing in favour of the Braid rink and with 2 ends remaining the scoreboard read 13-13.

On the penultimate end the Dunluce ladies scored 2 shots to claim the initiative going in to the final end but the Ballymena ladies were not to be beaten and 3 shots on the final end gave them an unlikely victory by 16 shots to 15.

Jean Rainey, Kathleen Hoey, Pat Allen and Jennifer Dowds were also slow out of the blocks on rink 2 against A McClelland and with 6 ends played the Dunluce ladies were in the lead by 7 shots to 2.

The Braid rink finally settled down to a good line and length and they won the next 6 ends to open up a 2 shot lead. Three ends later the scores were level at 11-11 and consecutive singles to Ballymena ladies put them in charge going in to the final end but victory eluded the home rink when the visitors scored 2 shots to leave the final score 13-13.

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There was little to choose between the Ballymena rink of Sally Carson, Gladys Power, Barbara Burnett and Sarah Jane Coleman and the visiting rink skipped by A Elliott on rink 3.

With 6 ends played the scored were tied at 5-5. Six ends later the scores were still level at 10-10 and with 16 ends played the rinks could still not be separated with the scoreboard reading 12-12.

The Ballymena ladies however stunned the visitors on the penultimate end when they lifted a count of 5 shots and this meant that there was no way back for the Dunluce rink. Coleman’s rink finished off a good days work when they scored a single on the final end to claim a hard fought victory by 18 shots to 12.

Jennie McCready, Marie Houston, Iris Millar and Barbara Cameron were involved in a see-saw game against P Calvin on rink 4. The home rink scored 3 shots on the first end however the visitors won the next 4 ends to claim a 3 shot advantage.

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A single and a count of 4 shots saw the Ballymena ladies regain the lead but at the half way stage of the game the scores were tied at 8-8. A further 4 shots over the next 2 ends put the Braid rink back in front but the visitors had their best period of the game when they won the next 5 ends to lead by 2 shots with only 2 ends remaining.

The Ballymena ladies scored 2 shots on the 17th end to draw level, however a single on the last end gave the Dunluce rink the narrowest of victories by 15 shots to 14.

This Wednesday the Ballymena ladies will hope to build on their great start to the season when they travel to Limavady who were whitewashed in their first game by Londonderry.

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