Braidmen falter over closing stages at Dunbarton

Not for the first time this year the Braid men started a game well only to falter over the closing ends - this time they were six shots ahead at halfway but Dunbarton went on to win by 11 shots.

J R Nicholl, George Graham, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman were in sparkling form against M Greenfield and 3 counts of 3 shots over the first 10 ends gave them a 6 shot advantage. Over the next 9 ends the Braid men extended their lead to 13 shots and with each rink claiming 4 shots over the final 2 ends Coleman’s men claimed a well deserved 26-13 victory

Michael Wilson, JJ Robinson, Mark Torrington and Jim Baker were competing well against the Dunbarton rink and even though the visitors won 6 of the opening 10 ends they trailed by 7 shots to 6. The complexion of the game changed on the 11th end when the home rink picked up a count of 5 shots and from then on they took control. The Braid men could only score 4 more singles while the Dunbarton rink accumulated a total of 15 shots to win 27-10.

Steven Shields, Neal Garrett, Andrew Morrison and Andi Duncan started well against M Trainor when they opened their account with three 2’s. The home rink fought back and with 12 ends played they had levelled the game at 8-8 and it was still level at 13-13 after 17 ends. Momentum was now with Dunbarton and 9 shots over the remaining ends gave them victory by a slightly flattering margin of 22-13.

Rod Coleman, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson were tied at 9-9 after nine ends against C McCartan but over the next 4 ends the home rink appeared to gain the upper hand when the outscored the Braid men 7-1. Six shots was still the margin with 5 ends left and it did not look good for Robinson’s men but the visitors dug in and they won all of the remaining ends to claim a hard fought 20-18 win.