Bushmills and District League competition finals

Years of experience showed with the high standard of bowling giving good drawing matches which were a pleasure to watch and there were no “senior moments” as they all remembered where the jack was, chalking up plenty of touchers.

Umpire David Culbertson kept games running smoothly which started off with a preliminary round where Dunluce Parish beat Benvarden only to be knocked out in the first round by eventual finalists; Bushmills’s pair John Gault and Sharon Campbell.

In the other first round matches Armoy, Carncullagh and Mosside won their matches against Dunluce Pres., Ballywatt and Trinity respectively. Mosside won a hard semi-final against Armoy 11 shots to 10 putting them in the final with Bushmills who kept ahead of Carncullagh winning 8 shots to 5. The final a repeat of last year between Mosside and Bushmills saw the hosts go into a commanding five nil lead in the second end only to see Mosside even it in the fourth; five-all and it was no surprise that the tenth was a tied end; eight-all leaving a tie-breaker which Mosside pair Junior Hanna and Bertie White won 9 shots to 8.

The Charity Shield Final was held on St Patrick’s Night in Carncullagh Presbyterian Hall between Benvarden and Mosside. President Vincent McLaughlin welcomed everyone and congratulated the two teams in getting to the final and looked forward to a competitive match; which it was, as umpire James Elliott was kept busy by the two sides wanting all shots.

Benvarden seemed to settle in more quickly with Chris Taggart’s rink 5 shots to 1 up against Maurice McAlleese’s rink in the fifth end and they held onto this lead winning 9 shots to 5.

The other mat saw Allister McIntyre’s rink get four in the first end with Uel McKeeman levelling in the fifth end; five all, Benvarden got three in the next which Mosside levelled again eight all in the eighth end although Allister’s rink eventually won 11 shots to 8, giving Benvarden a seven shot lead at half-time. In the second half Benvarden again seemed to settle in more quickly with Barry Kane’s rink getting four in the first end, a lead which they held onto winning 10 shots to 6 against David Walker’s rink.

The other mat saw Rodney Kane’s rink go into a 4 shot to 2 lead in the third end but Kenny Carson’s rink with nothing to lose and all to play for burnt two crucial ends and won their game but not by a big enough margin meaning Benvarden won the Charity Shield 37 shots to 28.

The Triple’s Final on Thursday night saw the three mats in full swing at Balllywatt Presbyterian Hall with Umpire Jean Sharpe overseeing the matches. Armoy were beat in the preliminary round by eventual finalist Dunluce Pres. triples Roger Kane, Vincent McLaughlin and James Fleming.

The first round saw Ballywatt, Carncullagh, Dunluce Pres. and Mosside beat Benvarden, Bushmills, Dunluce Parish and Trinity respectively. The semi-finals which were supposed to be 9 ends, ended up 10 with a tied end; seven all in the ninth between Dunluce Pres. and Carncullagh with Dunluce Pres. slipping through to the final 9 shots to 7, while on mat one Mosside burnt a critical end by skill and voice control but the hosts Ballywatt held on to win 10 shots to 8 putting them in the final. Ballywatt Triples Geoff McLean, Harry Campbell and Laura Sharpe started of strongly against Dunluce Pres. with a 6 shots to nil lead at the third end, a lead which they held onto the end winning 10 shots to 4.

Next week the Pairs are in Trinity on Monday, Singles in Dunluce Parish on Wednesday and finishing with the Rinks at Dunluce Presbyterian on Thursday and everyone is welcome.