Senior bowlers stay on winning trail with two more victories

Ballymena A continued their PGL league campaign this week when they played two matches, picking out 13 points out of a possible 14.
Looking for that next good Ballymena delivery during the Ballymena A v NICS match.Looking for that next good Ballymena delivery during the Ballymena A v NICS match.
Looking for that next good Ballymena delivery during the Ballymena A v NICS match.

On Tuesday night they claimed maximum points away at Ewarts and on Saturday they picked up another 6 points from their home game against NICS.

Ballymena A (88) Ewarts A (57)

On rink 1 Alan McAuley, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson made a decent start against C Mullen when they won 4 of the opening 6 ends to lead by 3 shots.

A close call during the Ballymena v NICS game.A close call during the Ballymena v NICS game.
A close call during the Ballymena v NICS game.

The home rink dominated 8 ends and during this time they turned a 3 shot deficit in to a 6 shot advantage however the visitors dug deep and they won all but one of the remaining ends to claim a hard fought 20-18 victory.

James Gaston, Michael Wilson, Mark Torrington and Jim Baker were in great form against V Atkinson on rink 2.

The home rink could only win 1 of the opening 10 ends and at this stage of the game they trailed by 16 shots to 2.

The remainder of the game was more evenly contested but Baker’s men were always in control and they eventually won this contest by 27 shots to 11.

A close call during the Ballymena v NICS game.A close call during the Ballymena v NICS game.
A close call during the Ballymena v NICS game.

Steven Shields, Neal Garrett, Andrew Morrison and Andi Duncan continued their recent run of good form when they took on J Templeton on rink 3.

The Braid men won the first 6 ends to open up a 12 shot advantage and it looked as though they were going to run away with the match however the Ewarts rink upped their game over the remaining ends but Duncan’s rink were always able to maintain a healthy advantage and they went on to win the game by 23 shots to 12.

J R Nicholl, George Graham, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman had a close game against D Cunningham on rink 4 and at the half way stage of the contest the visitors led by a single shot.

The Braid men were made to fight all the way to the end however they were always able to keep their noses in front winning the game by 18 shots to 16.

Ballymena A (113) NICS (58)

On rink 1 Alan McAuley, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson took charge of their game against F Murdoch right from the start as they won 8 of the first 9 ends to open up a 19-3 lead. They continued their good form right up until the end winning the game by 34 shots to 13.

Steven Shields, Neal Garrett, Andrew Morrison and Andi Duncan started well against S Hegan and with 4 ends played they led by 9 shots to 0.

Ten ends later the visitors had reduced the margin to 6 shots however counts of 5 on the 15th end and 6 shots on the 16th end saw the Braid men ease home by 31 shots to 12.

J R Nicholl, George Graham, Chris Wilson and Steven Coleman were also in good form against A Montgomery on rink 3 and with 6 ends completed they led by 11 shots to 0.

With 16 ends on the scoreboard the margin had increased to 13 shots and another 10 shots over the next 2 ends meant that there would only be one winner in this contest with the Ballymena men winning by 30 shots to 10.

On rink 4 James Gaston, Michael Wilson, Mark Torrington and Jim Baker came up against a NICS rink skipped by JJ Leonard.

The Braid men could only win 3 of the opening 10 ends and at this stage of the contest they trailed by 17 shots to 4. Baker’s men never gave up and with only 2 ends remaining they had cut the deficit to only 3 shots.

The penultimate end built up well for the Ballymena men however the visitors trailed the jack to claim 3 shots and even though the home rink picked up a single on the final end it made little difference to the final outcome with the NICS rink winning by 23 shots to 18

This Saturday, Ballymena A make the short trip to neighbours Old Bleach in the third round of the Irish Senior Cup

INTER-ASSOCIATION TRIAL

Congratulations to Steven Shields and Michael Wilson who have been selected for the NIPGL Junior Inter Association trial which will take place on Wednesday 15th June at Ulster Transport Bowling Club

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