A shock for B team

LURGAN B 46(0.5)

LURGAN B travelled to lowly placed Donaghadee on Saturday looking for a win to keep in touchwith the league leaders.

But they were disappointed to bring back just a meagre half point after losing by an incredible 41 shots.

Unfortunately the Lurgan side were never in the lead at any stage. Adrift by six shots after five ends, they allowed the home side to extend their lead to 19 shots at the halfway point.

However Lurgan came back in the next phase to limit Donaghadee’s lead to 20 shots. The home side produced a very strong finish which resulted in them winning the match by a considerable margin.

On rink one for Lurgan B were Ronnie McCullough, Jeffrey McCullough, Dan Dempsey and Bobby Jones (skip). They faced strong a Donaghadee rink skipped by Colin Williamson.

The home rink took any early lead and were 6-0 up after two ends but Jones’s men took single shots off the next four ends to keep in touch with the opposition and reduce the home rink’s lead to two shots.

By the halfway point Williamson’s rink was still only two shots ahead at 9-7, but they dictated the remainder of the game with Jones’s rink winning only three of the ends and collecting four shots compared with the 18 gained by the Donaghadee rink who won 27-8.

Melvyn Hamilton, Rodney McCarthy, Derek Henderson and Sam Neill (skip) on rink two fought hard against a determined Donaghadee rink, skipped by T Coffey, to tie the rink score at 13-13 and gain a solitary half point for Lurgan B.

Neill’s rink took a three shot lead after three ends but were losers over the next six ends with double and single shots going against them in very tight ends to gave the home rink a 9-4 lead.

However Neill’s rink responded well and gained seven valuable shots by the sixteenth end against the opposition’s two-shot win on the eleventh end for the Lurgan rink to lead 10-9. The next the three ends favoured the home rink and they were leading 12-10 after the nineteenth end but an excellent three-shot for the visitors followed by tight final end which was restricted to one shot by Neill’s last bowl kept the rink score tied at 13-13.

Gordon Bell (skip) on rink three along with his colleagues Vincent Devlin, Charlie Maguire, Wilfie McCullough were unfortunate to trail 5-0 after five closely fought ends. While they gained two shots on the next end Bell’s rink they dropped double shots on the seventh and eight ends to be seven shots adrift after the ninth end for the score to be 9-3 in the home rink’s favour.

By the thirteenth end Jim Neill’s home rink was ahead 16-3 having collected a five-shot on the twelfth end. Bell’s rink made a good come back with the remaining ends being equally divided with both sides getting five shots each. However the Donaghadee B rink emerged rink winners by 21-13.

Albert Houston, playing his first match for the A team at lead, eventually settled in and had a good game. He was on rink four with Declan McCabrey, Dick McClune and David Millar (skip). They faced a strong home rink skipped by the experienced Billy Stitt.

Millar’s rink took a 3-0 lead after three ends but Stitt’s rink drew level at 3-3 after the next two ends who went on to take triple shots off the seventh and eighth ends to lead 9-4. Millar inspired his men to make a comeback so that the home rink’s lead was reduced to 11-8. However Stitt’s rink hit back hard and hampered the visitor’s progress by claiming a double shot and a four-shot off the next two ends for the home rink’s lead to be extended to 17-8. Millar’s rink took three shots off the next end but with the exception of a single shot win on the seventh end his rink could not prevent Stitt’s rink winning the rest and finishing winners by 26-12.

Unexpectedly and overall Lurgan B played well below their potential and will have to regain their confidence for their home match on Tuesday evening against Londonderry Park B who did the Lurgan side a good turn by taking six points from league leaders Warrenpoint who are still just six points ahead of Lurgan B. Even with the Donaghadee setback the Lurgan B team can still emerge Division 6 winners by the end of the season if they view Saturday’s defeat as a temporary blip.