BIBC claim Division Two title as District League concludes

The Old Ballymoney Road side had already completed their programme but had to wait helplessly while Clough Rangers cleared up three outstanding games, needing 14 points out of 15 to pip ‘BI’ to the crown.

They didn’t manage it, dropping a point in the first of those three games at bottom side Maine, before letting two more points slide in last week’s game at Moneyglass.

That means that even if Clough secured full points in their final outstanding fixture against Harryville this week, they still won’t be able to catch BIBC.

Clough would have been confident of taking all five points from their trip to Randalstown, but Patsy O’Neill’s Maine rink threw a spanner in the works by beating Raymond Aitcheson.

Elsewhere it had all been plain sailing for Clough, with wins from Jimmy Gilchrist, Andy Armstrong and George Kirk.

That meant Clough went to Moneyglass on Tuesday night knowing that they couldn’t afford any slip-up.

It seemed a tall order at a venue where visiting teams traditionally struggle and so it proved as, although Clough won by three shots on the night, the Clough rinks led by Steven Gregg and David Shaw fell to defeats against Brendan McCusker and Tommy Magee.

Jim Gilchrist and Raymond Aitcheson’s won for Clough but it wasn’t enough in the grand scheme of things.

Portglenone Community Centre finished their season on a high but it looks as though the Bannsiders will have to settle for third position, if Clough manage to score even half a point from their final game against Harryville.

Portglenone claimed full points from their final fixture against an All Saints side whose form dipped badly in the second half of the season.

The rinks skipped by Gerry McLarnon and Joe McErlean had particularly impressive wins over Eugene Walsh and Eugene McReynolds, while Jim Gaul and Eamon Cassley ensured a ‘full house’ for the Ports against Jock McKay and Paddy Martin.

Spare a thought for Maine, who completed their 14-game programme without a win to their name after they were whitewashed on their won mats by Harryville in their final game.

None of the Maine rinks even came close to defeating their Harryville counterparts - who had rink wins from Wilson Burgess, Harold Smyth, Joe Patterson and Stewart Wilson - to complete a miserable campaign for the Randalstown outfit, who will be looking to be more competitive in Division Three next term.

DIVISION ONE

Having spent much of the season occupying bottom spot in Division One, BPFA ‘B’ finished their season on a real high note, to avoid the ‘wooden spoon’ position.

The ‘B’ team produced their best performance of the year to defeat their ‘A’ team club-mates – the newly-crowned league champions – by two shots.

Having given the ‘A’ team one of their toughest matches en route to the title earlier in the season, the ‘B’s went one better on this occasion.

There was a hint that an upset could be n the offing at the interval where, although each team had a point apiece in the bag - courtesy of rink wins for Doran Turtle for the ‘A’ team and Adam Chesney for the ‘B’s – the ‘B’ team were four shots to the good.

They stretched that advantage further thanks to Noel Graham’s five shot win over David Morrison.

On the other mat, William Morrison’s rink tried to pull it out of the fire for the ‘A’ team but despite a seven shot win over Joe Campbell, the ‘A’ team ended up two shots adrift for only their second defeat of the campaign.

Despite leap-frogging Services ‘A’ to finish second bottom, barring any change to the current format for promotion and relegation at the league’s AGM, the ‘B’ team will still be playing in the second division next season.

The ‘A’ team will undoubtedly be aiming to improve ahead of their appearance in Wednesday night’s season finale, the League Cup final.

Their opponents Michelin finished their league campaign by taking four points from a home game against Services ‘A’, whose lone point was secured by a last-end victory for George Beattie over Jonathan Reid.

Elsewhere, Grant Robinson, Wesley Caldwell and Graham Wilson secured rink wins for Michelin, whose defence of the league title faltered in the first couple of months of the season.

BUSC finished in runners-up spot despite losing their last game to unpredictable Golf Club.

Johnny Lynn’s 17-4 win over James Gaston was the stand-out performance, while Johnny Jamieson’s golf rink edged out Bryan Magrath by a shot.

Stephen Shields and David Elliott ‘pointed’ for Social Club.

In the other game, Old Bleach took full points against JTI to finish in fourth position. Nigel McNally, Alan Scott, Mervyn McDonald and Willie Fullerton skipped the winning Bleach rinks.

DIVISION THREE

Antrim Lawn Bowling Club completed their Division Three campaign with a 100 per cent record after Eaton Park became their 14th successive victims last week.

A comfortable 25-shot win ensured that the Allen Park side finished their schedule unbeaten and they will surely encounter tougher competition in the second division next year.

With almost 90 shots scored in total, there were some high-scoring individual matches, with Darren McCullough and Robin Kennedy helping Antrim establish an unassailable 41-5 advantage at the break, after wins over John Carruthers and Bonar Hill.

Eaton Park’s response was equally as clear-cut, with Gary Shaw guiding his rink to a 19-2 win over Robert McCullough, but on the other mat, John Logan helped Antrim claim a fourth point, at the expense of George Reid.

First Ballymena gave themselves a fighting chance of claiming runners-up spot when they took four points from their visit to West Church.

Father and son skips Lyle and David McQuitty had steered ‘West’ to first half wins against Jim Rainey and Tommy Wilson, while Matt McPeake added to ‘First’s points haul by beating Sammy Graham.

Maurice Livingstone secured West Church’s only point with a nine-shot win over Roland Woods.

It seems unlikely that First Ballymena will hold onto second spot, however - Services ‘B’ require just a point from this week’s rearranged game against West Church to leap-frog ‘First’ back into silver medal position.

Glenravel finished an improved season with more wins than defeats after beating bottom side Round Tower.

John McKeegan and Martin O’Neill - helped by a count of ‘5’ on the opening end - were Glenravel’s rink winners in a seven-shot overall win.

Martin McKeegan earned another half-point for the Martinstown side after a 9-9 tie with Gilmore Campbell, while John O’Neill pinched a point for Round Tower after scoring two shots on the final end to pip Mary McAuley.