Curran claim win over Rathfriland

The selectors had to make changes to three of the four rinks, handing senior league debuts Matthew Lindsay and new signing, Hubert Montgomery.

On rink one Lindsay, Jackie Wallace, Sam Poag and Michael Dickey get off to a good start and led 6-3 after five ends. Despite Rathfriland fighting back to make it 15-15 at one stage, the men from Larne kicked on to secure a point with a 19-17 success. Lindsay showed great concentration and played a great game at lead, as did Wallace and Poag in support of Dickey.

There wasn’t such a bright start on rink two with Curran losing a seven on the second end to go 12-3 down after six ends. Things went from bad to worse when they found themselved 17-4 down, but the quartet of Ross Wallace, Jimmy McAlister, Kenny Falconer and Billy Hunter hit back in style to edge ahead 18-17. They notched a further eight shots in the final three ends to win 26-20. An outstanding performance and never-say-die attitude from skip Hunter shows what can be achieved over 21 ends.

On rink three Montgomery, Robert Bradley, John Dodsworth and Jim McIlwrath lost by a single shot in a nip-and-tuck game with home side.

The visitors got off to a bad start, going behind 8-2 after five ends. They recovered and after 10 ends led 11-10. The game remained close and at 15 ends there was only one shot separating the two rinks. Despite a strong debut from Montgomery it was the home side who emerged with the win.

The team of Angus Armour, Stewart Smyth, Eddie McCartney and Raymond Robinson continued their good form taking an early lead of 8-2 after six ends. The opposition came back to level at 9-9, but Curran never looked back and came away with a 26-13 win. Smyth again played a tremendous game, as did McCartney which eased any pressure on their team-mates.

Result: Curran 93 (6pts) v Rathfriland 73 (1pt).

Curran hope to continue their in this weekend’s home game against Newtownabbey.

Curran Juniors entertained Lurgan on Saturday, but despite some good play one rink lost heavily which resulted in a home defeat.

Next up for the Juniors is a trip to Antrim to play on an artificial surface.