Old Bleach bowlers breath sigh of relief in League Cup

It took the Randalstown side until the final bowl of the final end of their match before they saw off the stubborn challenge of second division Golf Seniors.

It also illustrated graphically how cup bowls is an entirely different animal to a league match.

Had it been a league game, Old Bleach’s Willie Fullerton’s rink would have been well beaten going into the final end of their match-up with Donald Smyth.

Instead, it was with the final delivery of the evening that Fullerton struck the blow which, although his rink ended up losing 14-4, ended up going through by that single shot margin.

That same determination of not giving up the game had proved crucial to Bleach right throughout their trip to the Raceview clubrooms.

The rinks skipped by Nigel McNally and Jim McCullough each scored shots on the final ends of their meetings which proved crucial in the overall outcome - McNally notching a ‘3’ to secure a 9-9 tie with Ivan McMaster, while McCullough’s foursome scored 1,1,2 in the last three ends to shade their contest with John Nichols. Neil Booth skipped the other winning rink for the hugely relieved Randalstown outfit.

None of the other games had quite such dramatic outcomes, although BIBC produced a ‘giant-killing’ of sorts by eliminating first division Services ‘A’.

With a 10-shot handicap in each leg ‘BI’ will prove formidable opponents for any top-flight side and they actually won on the night at the Trostan Avenue clubrooms without the need for those additional 10 shots.

Roy Torrington and Danny McCullough led both BIBC first half rinks to victory over Pauline Wilson and Bill Kitson, while after the break, David Torrington continued the visitors’ dominance with a four-shot win over George Beattie.

Mark Shaw provided the only crumb of comfort for Services with a five-shot win over Tommy Hill but the home side still finished 23 shots adrift over the two legs.

BI’s victory sets up an intriguing second round tie against BPFA ‘A’, who advanced in the competition without throwing a bowl.

Due to a bereavement involving one of their members, their opponents Glenravel, already a large number of shots behind from the first leg, rather than seeking a postponement, opted to withdraw from the competition.

Broughshane’s ‘B’ team clubmates joined the ‘A’ team in the next round after an impressive victory over Portglenone, winning by eight shots overall despite having to give their opponents 20 shots over the two legs.

The two clubs’ fortunes in recent seasons have tended to mirror each other - both have yo-yoed between the first and second divisions, often at the same time - but Broughshane currently hold the higher status and underlined it with a 16-shot win on their home mats.

All four Broughshane rinks were victorious although three of them - skipped by Terry McClintock, Adam Chesney and Joe Campbell - won by three shots or less, against Jim Gaul, Gerry McLarnon and Joe McErlean respectively.

The most impressive BPFA performance came from Noel Graham, who led his rink to a 16-7 success over Tom McCart - a result which played a big part in the overall outcome.

Clough Rangers proved much too strong for Eaton Park over two legs, following up a first leg win with another comprehensive scoreline in the home leg.

Only Gary Shaw’s rink - beaten by one shot by Andrew Armstrong - got within touching distance of their opponents, with rinks skipped by Dennis McClurkin, Steven Gregg and David Shaw cantering to victory in their games.

West Church knew they would require a big performance if they were to follow up their first leg victory over Moneyglass, but instead they were blown away by a power-packed ‘MG’ performance in the opening half.

Impressive wins from Kieran Teague and Sean McNeilly had Moneyglass 34-9 ahead at the tea-break and very much back in control of the tie.

The second half didn’t reach such dizzy heights in terms of scoring, with Tommy Magee and Brian Bigmore winning low-scoring contests against Jim Rainey and Maurice Livingstone.

The all-third division tussle between Round Tower and Services ‘B’ produced a surprisingly one-sided encounter, with Services triumphing by 37 shots over the two legs.

Already in the driving seat after the first leg, Services didn’t take the foot off the accelerator as they effectively wrapped up the outcome of the tie before the kettle had boiled at the interval with two dominant first half displays.

Both Eric Smyth and Roy Dickson led the Services rinks to 13-shots wins over Helen Totten and Gilmore Campbell.

Sheila Smith’s rink also won for Services after the break, with Michael Teer’s two-shot success against Greta Coulter the only reply Round Tower could muster.

SCOREBOARD

Clough Rangers 56, Eaton Park (+10) 36: D McClurkin 11, B Hill 4; S Gregg 17, D McCreight 4; D Shaw 15, G Reid 6; A Armstrong 13, G Shaw 12. Aggregate score - Clough 115, Eaton Park 63.

Golf Seniors (+10) 47, Old Bleach 33: I McMaster 9, N McNally 9; G McCrea 6, N Booth 9; J Nichols 8, J McCullough 11; D Smyth 14, W Fullerton 4. Aggregate - Golf Seniors 87, Old Bleach 88.

Round Tower 20, Services ‘B’ 49: H Totten 3, E Smyth 16; G Campbell 4, R Dickson 17; M Teer 7, G Coulter 5; J O’Neill 6, S Smith 11. Aggregate - Round Tower 51, Services ‘B’ 88.

BPFA ‘B’ 45, Portglenone Community Centre (10) 39: T McClintock 10, J Gaul 7; A Chesney 9, G McLarnon 7; N Graham 16, T McCart 7; J Campbell 10, J McErlean 8. Aggregate: BPFA ‘B’ 88, Portglenone 76.

Services ‘A’ 31, BIBC (+10) 49: P Wilson 7, R Torrington 10; B Kitson 5, D McCullough 11; G Beattie 6, D Torrington 10; M Shaw 13, T Hill 8. Aggregate - Services 68, BIBC 91.

Moneyglass 50, West Church (+10) 27: K Teague 13, D Aicken 5; S McNeilly 21, T Wilson 4; T Magee 7, J Rainey 5; B Bigmore 9, M Livingstone 3. Aggregate - Moneyglass 77, West Church 65.

REVISED DRAW

The second round draw for the League Cup now reads: Michelin v Clough Rangers; Moneyglass v JTI; Harryville CC v Golf Club; All Saints v BUSC; BPFA ‘B’ v First Ballymena; BPFA ‘A’ v BIBC; Services ‘B’ v Maine; Old Bleach v Antrim LBC.