Dunbarton A dominant as they stay unbeaten after two wins

Willowfield A 61 (1.5pts)
Dunbarton A Bowls team that played Larne ADunbarton A Bowls team that played Larne A
Dunbarton A Bowls team that played Larne A

Dunbarton A 87 (5.5pts)

The Dunbarton senior team made it two wins out of two in Private Greens Senior Division one with a 26 shot victory away to Willowfield last Tuesday night.

Irish Internationals DJ Wilson and Conor McCartan led the way, both winning by 15 shots, however the other two rinks did not have it their own way.

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Myles Greenfield and his front three were denied a hard fought point by the last bowl of the match and had to settle for a share of the spoils whilst Marty Trainor’s four finished down 5 shots.

Rink 1 J Moffett, C Mulholland, P Convery, DJ Wilson up 24-9

This Dunbarton quartet started with a bang and never looked back. Scores of 2,1,2,1,1 saw an early 7-0 lead opened up and from then on it was plain sailing. At the midpoint, the away side led by 8 shots, 13-5 and another five consecutive winning ends saw this lead increased to fifteen shots after fifteen ends.

Rink 2 C Trainor, G Moore, G McElroy, C McCartan up 26-11

Conor’s four started very slowly and after the first quarter trailed 1-6. From ends 7-11 the men in yellow hit top form and scores of 3,2,4,1,3 were posted and suddenly they were in front 14-7. The visitors eased home by a very commanding 15 shots.

Rink 3 D Copeland, J Kelly, A Hughes, M Greenfield 18-18

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Over the opening five ends both rinks had scored 6 shots and by the midpoint the home side held a narrow 8-10 lead. The next nine ends were nip and tuck and with two remaining, the scores were all square again. On the final end it was the Willowfield skip who had the last laugh. With Dunbarton lying two shots, he firstly removed the second shot with his first bowl and then followed this up by chopping out the closest bowl to count a single and the game finished even.

Rink 4 R McElroy, J Magennis, M Merritt, M Trainor down 18-23

Skip Marty and his rink got off to a flyer scoring seven shots over the first three ends but this was as good as it got for the Gilford foursome. By the halfway mark, their lead had been narrowed to just one shot at 11-10 and over the next four ends things went pear shaped.

Scores of 4,1,2,1, were conceded and now the locals faced an uphill task to turn around an 11-18 deficit at the two thirds mark. Marty’s men had to settle for a five shot defeat at the close.

Dunbarton A 77 (4.5pts)

Larne A 72 (2.5pts)

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Last Saturday the Dunbarton A team kept their unbeaten record intact but not without a big scare.

Facing a Larne side that strengthened during the winter, the locals had to fight to get the overall victory, but will be bitterly disappointed to only gain 4.5 points for the efforts.

Both Conor McCartan and Myles Greenfield led by two shots going into the final end but neither were able to emerge with a point.

Conor’s four ruined all their hard work by losing a four, while for the second time in four days Myles’ four dropped half a point on the last bowl by losing a double.

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However on a much brighter note, the four of Michael Higgins, James Kelly, Michael Merritt and Marty Trainor produced an outstanding performance and led their team to victory with a superb 24-8 win.

Rink 1 M Higgins, J Kelly, M Merritt, M Trainor up 24-8

This was Dunbarton’s star rink that simply blew away their Co Antrim rivals with a tremendous performance. After five ends the Gilford men opened up a 6-1 advantage and this was extended to 11-2 at the midpoint.

By the seventeen ends mark, all of the other three rinks had finished and the overall scoreline read 72-72. Marty’s four scored 1,2,1,1 to wrap up a terrific sixteen shot success.

Rink 2 J Moffatt, C Mulholland, P Convery, DJ Wilson down 12-21

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Despite leading 4-3 after five ends this was as good as it got. The loss of a count of five on end six moved the Larne rink ahead and by the midpoint, DJ’s men trailed 6-11. Try as they could, the locals were unable to make inroads into their deficit and fell to a miserable nine shot defeat.

Rink 3 C Trainor, G Moore, G McElroy, C McCartan down 21-23

Early on there was only one rink in it as the hosts led 8-2 after five ends. From ends 6-13 however things went pear shaped for Conor’s men. Scores of 2,1,1,1,2,1,1,1 were conceded and the home side looked in trouble at 8-12.

Three ends later and the game had turned on it’s head as Conor’s four bounced back with a bang scoring 4,4,3 and at 19-12 with five ends remaining, their point looked assured. The visitors had other ideas and with one end remaining had narrowed the home lead to just two shots.

The final end proved disastrous for the hosts as some poor bowls resulted in the loss of four shots and a point that looked in the bag was lost.

Rink 4 D Copeland, T Bell, A Hughes, M Greenfield 20-20

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Skip Myles and his front three started well and opened up an early 7-3 lead. On end nine however, all the early hard work was ruined by the loss of a count of six and it was the away rink that had their tails up, leading 9-12.

At the three quarter mark the Larne rink still led, 15-17 but over the next five ends Myles’ men moved into pole position outscoring their rivals 5-1 to lead by two shots going into the final end.

Myles’ four once again faced the agony of losing half a point on the last bowl of the game as the visiting skip, when lying one shot, drew beside the jack with the final bowl to count a double and the spoils were shared.

FIXTURES

This week the Gilford men have a tricky away trip to current league leaders and pacesetters Old Bleach on Wednesday night (20th) in the league.

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On the following night, the locals host second division Ballywalter in the second round of the PG Cup.

Next Saturday the Dunbarton A team face a mouthwatering Irish Senior Cup tie at home to 2011 cup winners Dunluce as the locals hope to go one better than last year.

pg team

The Senior Private Greens Team was picked last weekend and no fewer than seven Dunbarton bowlers have been picked out of a 20 man team.

Lead Chris Trainor and seconds Marty Trainor and Pete Convery will all be making their debuts while Andy Hughes and DJ Wilson will play third.

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Team mates Conor McCartan and Myles Greenfield have both been chosen at skip.

This is a tremendous achievement for the Gilford club who have been rewarded for their efforts of last season when they lifted Senior Division One aswell as finishing runners up in the Irish Senior Cup.

The Inter Association Championships will take place on Friday 29 and Saturday May 30 at Coleraine and Portstewart Bowling Clubs. The club would like to wish their players well.