Cup dream turns into a nightmare for Dunbarton

Dunbarton’s dream of a seventh Irish Senior Cup is over after a very disappointing defeat to first time winners Old Bleach in the final at Ulster Transport BC on Saturday.

This was the first time that Dunbarton had lost an Irish Cup final having won their previous six and it was obvious from the off that the locals were still hurting from their league defeat 48 hours earlier at the hands of their Randalstown rivals.

Despite a marvellous first end by Conor McCartan’s rink when they lifted a count of six, their team mates conceded eight shots across the other three rinks and already the tone was set. After five ends the Gilford men were five shots adrift and by the midpoint this reverse had extended to eight shots.

It was over the third quarter that the game was lost as some massive bowls by all four Old Bleach skips resulted in a deficit of over 20 shots for the Co Armagh bowlers. To their credit, the Gilford men did not cave in and tried everything in their power but were eventually only able to reduce the deficit to nine shots with one end remaining when the men in yellow shook hands.

Rink 1 C Trainor, G Moore, G McElroy, C McCartan down 19-21

Conor’s four were up against the Randalstown rink skipped by Commonwealth Games silver medallist Neil Booth but they produced a magnificent first end to count six shots. Going into the last end, the scores were level and disappointingly Conor’s four conceded a double to lose a game that they very much deserved to win.

Rink 2 M Higgins, J Magennis, M Trainor, M Greenfield down 19-21

Myles’ four faced an in form Old Bleach skip in Jonny Millar. On end 14, Millar stole the limelight when he drew on top of the jack. This was a massive bowl and a dagger through the heart of Myles’ four.

Rink 3 J Moffett, M Merritt, P Convery, DJ Wilson up 22-19

This rink has a fantastic record playing together having won eight and drawn one. Three ahead, the two rinks shook hands with an end remaining. A good win but they scored their shots too late to have a huge influence on the match.

Rink 4 R McElroy, T Bell, S Adamson, A Hughes down 14-22