Dromore Juniors taken to wire against Castle

The fifth division team took the juniors to the wire before going down.

Rink 1: T Ogle, T Hewitt, I Houston, A Sudlow.

Rink 2: J Topping, N Lindsay, J Noddings, S Malcomson.

Rink 3: G Harvey, S McCrum, T Hawthorne, H Maxwell.

Rink 4: J McCullough, R McCandless, T Ledlie, T Gribben.

Only for a good start by Sudlow who was ahead by 11 at the five end mark it would have been a disaster for the home team as Malcomson was down four, Maxwell trailed by six and Gribben was down by five as the locals were left behind by four.

The juniors were not showing any improvements and at the halfway stage were still in arrears of six. Sudlow was now ahead by 13 while Malcomson was a single down. Maxwell, losing four ends out of five, was down by 15 and Gribben was three in the red.

At the three quarter stage the locals had put in a big sprint to be ahead by five. Sudlow had eased off a bit and was leading by eight, Malcomson was all square, a big improvement by Maxwell saw his deficit cut to eight and a big six by Gribben on end 12 saw him in the black by five.

On the final six ends it was nip and tuck as both teams went for the kill. Sudlow and Gribben were both off the green with victories of 10 apiece.

Malcomson and Maxwell were still playing the last end in darkness with Dromore ahead by three. Malcomson lost a single to go down by nine and with Maxwell scoring a five, leaving him in arrears of four so the home team won by seven to go into the second round.

The Dromore Senior team have fallen at the first hurdle of this year Irish Senior Cup going down to Markethill away last Saturday by six shots.

Rink 1: K Aiken, B Paylor, D Burns, F Cranney.

Rink 2: D Graham, S Jess, D Shanks, SG Malcomson.

Rink 3: R Wills, G Dawson, R Greer, G Clinghan.

Rink 4: H Hylands, T Wilson, J McKenny, A Johnston.

On a tricky green the locals had done well to be only a single down. After the first five ends were played Clinghan was three ahead, Johnston was two up, Cranney was all square with SG down by six.

At the halfway stage Markethill had got a six shot advantage. Clinghan and Cranney were both three ahead, Johnston was one up while SG was feeling the pinch at 13 down.

When three quarters was reached the scoreboard was showing the teams all level. Clinghan was seven up, Johnston was four ahead with Cranney up six. SG was showing no improvement to be down by 17.

Markethill finished strongly to record a victory of six shots. Cranney had a good win of 10 while Johnston and Clinghan held on to win by a single each. SG had a disappointing day to finish 18 down.

Tonight (Tuesday) the seniors are at home to Curran (Larne) and on Saturday they are at home to Dungannon with the juniors making their second visit to Musgrave Park to play 13th Old Boys. Both are league games.

The Dromore Junior team made their first of two visits to Musgrave Park on Saturday last to take on Windsor in a league game and again lost by two shots, taking only one and half points.

Rink 1: G McDowell, G Harvey, J Noddings, H Maxwell.

Rink 2: J Topping, A Matthews, T Hawthorne, S Malcomson.

Rink 3: J McCullough, R McCandless, T Ledlie, T Gribben.

Rink 4: T Ogle, T Hewitt, I Houston, A Sudlow.

The juniors made a steady start in the first quarter to take lead of five. Sudlow had made a good start to lead by eight, Maxwell was ahead by two with Gribben down four. Malcomson was a single in the red.

At the halfway mark the home side were up by two, Sudlow rink’s with Houston enjoying himself at third were still pressing on to lead by 11, Malcomson was two down, Gribben was four down while Maxwell had conceded nine and scored nil to be seven down.

There was a big change when the three quarters of the game was reached with Dromore doubling their score to lead by 19. Sudlow’s rink were still scoring well to lead by 23, Malcomson was having a ding dong battle to be all square. Gribben and Maxwell were still holding in but both were at two down.

In the final six ends the locals lost their way and when the final tally was reached they found they were defeated by two shots. Sudlow lost his edge but was still 18 ahead.

Malcomson finished all square, Maxwell was down four, Gribben lost a couple of counts and was 16 down.

This was another disappointment for the juniors but there are maybe better days ahead when the newcomers settle in, namely Harvey, Topping and McDowell.