Dunbarton bowlers going strongly in Private Greens Championships

In the open singles there is guaranteed to be a Dunbarton finalist as David Copeland and Jack A Moffett face each other in one of the two semi-finals.

At one stage it looked as though it could be an all Dunbarton last four, but both Alan Paul and Brian Prunty lost out at the quarter finals stage. Jack will be hoping he can maintain his form that saw him crowned British Isles U25 champion last month while David has been in sparkling form all season. This should be a cracking contest. DJ Wilson was the last singles winner in 2017 so this title is long overdue a return to Gilford!

In the pairs it is the combination of Richard McMullan and Myles Greenfield who are flying the flag. In their semi final they will oppose the surprise Belmont pairing of D Scott and S Agnew who have taken some notable scalps on their way to the last four. If Myles was to be successful, remarkably this would be his first Private Greens Pairs title despite such a highly decorated career to date.

The triples are currently down to the last eight and one Gilford triple remains, namely Richard McMullan, Jack Kidd and Marty Trainor. They have a tough fixture this week away to the Salisbury triple skipped by T Crawford for a place in the semis.

In the Fours, similarly to the singles, Dunbarton are guaranteed a finalist as two Gilford rinks face each other in the semi finals. Jack Kidd, Ben Hogg, Brian Prunty and David Copeland will oppose clubmates Myles Greenfield, DJ Wilson, Conor McCartan and Alan Paul.

This should be a great game but difficult at the same time as many of the players playing against each other and used to playing with each other! The last quartet to bring the Fours trophy back to Gilford was skipped by Myles Greenfield in 2014 so this is another trophy that is long overdue a place at Dunbarton.

In the Under 25 singles it is no surprise to see Jack A Moffett through to the last four and he will be a strong favourite to retain his title from last year. Standing in his way from another final is Dale Bodles of Larne and should JA be victorious he will play one of the two Gingles brothers, also from Larne in the final.

The Youth (U18) singles begins this week and of the 12 entrants, 5 of these are from Dunbarton so there is a strong chance that we will see at least 2/3 Gilford semi finalists and hopefully a winner. Jack Kidd was the last home winner in 2019.

And last but not least, the Senior (Over 55s) Fours latter rounds will take place this week and next and the rink of Gordon Magennis, Gary McElroy, John Magennis and Chris Mulholland will be hoping to win their next two games to take their place in the last four.

The semi finals will take place on Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th July with the Finals Day on Saturday 3rd August. Venue of the semi finals and finals has not yet been decided. One thing is for sure though, there will be plenty of Dunbarton representation at the finals and hopefully a trophy or two will makes it's way back to Gilford.

This Saturday will be a big day for Dunbarton Bowling Club as both the A team and B team have home quarter finals in the Irish Cup. The seniors face old rivals Belmont at 1pm in what should be a cracking contest and having beaten their East Belfast rivals by 31 shots just three weeks ago, the locals will be confident of securing a home semi final against Banbridge or Portrush.

Meanwhile the Dunbarton Juniors will be at home to North Down in the Irish Intermediate Cup starting at 5.30pm. Whilst their opponents will be a bit of an unknown quantity, the locals will be confident of another home victory and this should set up a home semi final against Balmoral A or Hilden A.