Bann bowlers extend league lead with another two wins
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The first match of the week for the senior team was a home fixture against Curran of Larne on Tuesday night. This match was kindly sponsored by Harry’s Bar & Grill, Banbridge and we would like to thank Kevin McGivern for his support as a club which is most appreciated by all.
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Hide AdRink 1: For the home side Alex Cromie, Adam Cromie, Brendan Davis and Philip Cromie up against the Curran rink skipped by Matthew Lindsay. The Bann four raced into a 7-2 lead but the visitors clawed it back to only trail by two shots after 11 ends at 9-7 down.
The Curran rink continued to turn the screw and led 12-11 after 16 ends but this proved to be the last time they would have the lead. The Banbridge rink outscored their opponents 10 shots to two shots down the stretch with the home rink running out 21-14 winners.
On rink two for Bann Seamus Skelton, Tony Bell, Clifford Dennison and James Kelly were up against J McIlwrath’s four. The Bann four didn’t hang about here racing into a 13-3 lead after seven ends, with the Curran four then winning the next three ends to close the deficit to 13-7 after 10 ends. This would prove to be as close as the visitors got as Kelly’s rink won eight of the last 11 ends, picking up two counts of 5 shots, en route to a resounding 33-11 victory.
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Hide AdOn rink 3 for Banbridge Mervyn Jess, John McCloughlin, Pete Haughey and Kyle Blakely went up against the Curran rink skipped by Raymond Robinson. Once again here the home rink made a strong start taking the initiative and going into a 12-1 lead after just six ends. The home side extended their lead to 21-7 after 12 ends, thanks mainly by picking up a count of seven shots on the 12th end. The visitors didn’t lie down though and did put up some resistance but the deficit was just too big to overcome and the Bann four held out for a 27-18 victory.
On the final rink for Banbridge had Ken Stevenson, Martin Nelson, Gareth McCloughlin and Gavan Blakely up against Ross Wallace and his Curran rink. This was a tight affair the whole way through with both sides tied at 5-5 after seven ends and 12-12 after 14 ends. The home rink won four of the last seven ends to edge the game 21-18 thanks mainly to a big count of five shots lifted on the 16th end which helped them keep their noses in front until the finish line.
On Saturday away to Dungannon on rink one for the visitors we had Mervyn Jess, Ross Crawford, John McCloughlin and Kyle Blakely up against Colin Scott and his Dungannon rink.
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Hide AdThe Bann four sprinted into a 7-0 lead but the home side fought back to trail by just two shots after eight ends at 7-5 down. Over the next eight ends though Banbridge extended their lead to 18-8 leaving themselves a nice cushion to work with over the last 5 ends, seeing the game out to win 20-11 and take the first rink point back to Banbridge.
On rink 2 for Banbridge had Alex Cromie, Matty Cromie, Adam Cromie and Philip Cromie lining up against the Dungannon rink skipped by A Hardy.
The visitors also made a strong start here leading 6-1 after five ends but in a sharp turn of events over the next five ends, the home side led 10-9 after 10 ends.
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Hide AdThe all-Cromie rink dug in, as they often do, with dad Philip rallying the troops to win the next 4 ends to regain the lead at 14-10 after 14 ends. Although the home side won the next two ends to cut their arrears to two shots the Bann rink finished the game strong winning the last five ends of the game to run out 23-12 winners.
Rink 3
On rink 3 for the Bann we had Ken Stevenson, Martin Nelson, Gareth McCloughlin and Gavan Blakely lining up against Aidan Rafferty’s rink. Again the visitors raced into a 6-0 lead here only to be pegged back to 6-5 after 6 ends of play. It was nip and tuck over the next 5 ends with never more than a handful of shots in the game with the Banbridge four still in the lead at 10-7 after 11 ends. This would be as close as Dungannon would get from this point in the match up as the Bann four won 8 of the last 10 ends, easing to a 23-11 victory.
Rink 4
On the final rink for the visitors we had Seamus Skelton, Tony Bell, Clifford Dennison and James Kelly up against John Carson’s Dungannon rink. Like the other Banbridge rinks this rink also started well getting out into a 10-2 lead after 5 ends. The home side fought back though and only trailed by 3 shots after 12 ends, 16-13. The Bann rink again finished strong here winning 7 of the last 9 ends easing to a big 35-16 win ensuring all 7 points came back down the road to Banbridge.
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Hide AdA great week for the senior team collecting a full 14 points from the 14 available, enabling them to extend their lead at the top of proceedings. This week will go a long way to seeing how the Bann senior team will fair out in the cup competitions, playing Bangor away in the semi final of the NIBA senior cup on Wednesday and away again on Saturday to Salisbury in the Irish Senior cup. These will be 2 tough games but a challenge the lads will no doubt relish with their recent good form.
Junior Team
This week our Junior team were also in league action twice, winning both games. The first game was on Tuesday away to North Down winning 84-44, collecting 6 points and unlucky not to get all 7 points on offer. Then on Saturday they played at home to Ormeau, again winning 92-69 and picking up another 5.5 points. The 2 results have propelled them up the table to sixth place and only 2.5 points off fourth spot in a very tight league. Below are the rink scores:-
North Down 44 v Banbridge 84
J McMeekin 8 v R Crawford 27
M Robinson 12 v J Major 13
S Bewerly 18 v W Steenson 17
P McMeenin 6 v B McArdle 27
Banbridge 92 v Ormeau 69
F Larkin 29 v B McMillen 17
B McArdle 19 v R Paney 19
W Steenson 26 v G Porter 12
J Major 18 v J Hill 21
Night at the Races
Just a reminder that Saturday 15th June the club will be hosting a Night at the Races in The Castle Bar, Gilford starting at 7:45pm. There are opportunities to “buy a horse” or sponsor a race for the night, just contact any club member in interested. We look forward to seeing you there on what should be a great nights craic.