Armagh into final of inter-zone competition

ARMAGH had to battle all the way before claiming their place in the final of the Inter-Zone competition.

They had a slender nine shot win over near neighbours West Down on Saturday in the semi-final at Dromore Cathedral Hall.

The large crowd were treated to a high standard of bowling in a tensely fought local derby.

In an evenly contested first half two Armagh rinks under skips Alan Roberts and Andrew Leckey were winners while the other rink, skipped by Danny McDonald, drew 7-7.

This left the half-time score 26-20 in Armagh’s favour.

In the second half the three rinks under skips Andrew Hughes, Martin Trainor and Joe Beattie helped extend their team’s lead to 12 shots.

They then had to hold off a late rally from West Down to achieve an overall 52-43 victory.

Armagh will now play Mid-Ulster - who defeated Oriel - in the final on Saturday, February 27, at a venue yet to be decided.

On mat one for Armagh skip Danny McDonald, Sean Conroy Snr, Nigel Uprichard and George Crothers were level pegging at 4-4 at the halfway stage and looked like winning when they led 7-4 with two ends remaining.

However the West Down skip, Dessie Hamilton, secured two single shots to level the scores at 7-7.

Andrew Leckey, Paul Moore, Cyril Leckey and Colin Deering on two for Armagh were 7-4 ahead after seven ends but they dropped four shots in the next end to leave West Down 8-7 ahead with two ends left.

The Armagh foursome made a great rally to clinch four shots in a critical stage of the game to secure an 11-8 win, much to the delight of their supporters.

On mat three for Armagh skip Alan Roberts, Gary Culbert, Kieran Trainor and Jal Richardson combined well to build up a splendid 8-2 lead going into the final two ends.

But they had to hold off a fine comeback by skip Liam Murray to concede only three shots for an 8-5 win.

Andrew Hughes, Ian Perry, Ray Hunter and Jack Moffett on four were in excellent form as they went 8-2 in front after six ends and then went on to complete a vital 11-6 victory.

On mat five Martin Trainor, Derek Wright, Paul Whittle and Ian Irwin found themselves trailing 7-3 after six ends before they surprised the West Down skip Richard Martin by clinching a four shot and single in the last three ends to reduce the West Down winning margin to 11-8.

Joe Beattie, Sean Conroy Jnr, Laurence McCartan and David Beattie on six for Armagh went into a 5-3 lead against skip Johnny Wilson.

After a nip and tuck battle they went into the last end tied at 6-7 and Armagh skip Joe Beattie managed get the winning shot for a 7-6 victory.