Dunbarton just one game away from clinching title

THE Dunbarton A team are on the brink of a fifth successive league title after an astonishing week of bowls.

A narrow four shot defeat last Tuesday night away to Old Bleach left the locals in trouble going into their top of the table clash with Ballymena four days later.

Whilst many people doubted that the Gilford side had the confidence to defeat second placed Ballymena, the locals showed the reason why they have won four titles in the previous four years with an incredible display against their shell shocked opponents.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With a truly outstanding performance, the locals hammered their Co Antrim rivals by a massive 55 shots, lifting all seven points in the process. With third placed Belmont only managing 5.5 points at Falls and fourth placed Old Bleach garnering five points at NICS, Dunbarton are now four points clear with one fixture remaining.

Standing in the road of a fifth successive title is lowly Belmont Park who are fourth from bottom of the league. As it is 27 months since Dunbarton last lost at home, the locals will be strong favourites to win the game and record a remarkable five in a row.

This game is scheduled for 11am on Saturday so that the A team can then travel to Belmont to cheer on their Junior team in the Irish Junior Cup final against Old Bleach. Saturday 29th August could be a glorious day for Dunbarton Bowling Club!

Dunbarton A 97 (7)

Ballymena A 42 (0)

It was evident that Dunbarton were up for this game right from the off, and none more so than Andrew Hughes who was promoted to skip for the biggest game of the season.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On the very first end with two shots against Hughesy ditched the jack for three and set the scene for a glorious afternoon. After the first quarter, the Hughes rink had romped into a 10-3 advantage to give their team mates a lift across the green.

On the next rink DJ Wilson teamed up with Tony Bell once again and their formidable partnership clicked right from the off. At five ends they led 5-2, while Myles Greenfield on the other middle rink had edged his four in front 4-2. The only rink behind was skipped by Conor McCartan who were just one shot in arrears at 4-5. Already the hosts had built up an 11 shot lead.

By the midpoint, Dunbarton were rapidly moving up the gears and their rivals had simply no answer to the Dunbarton onslaught. Andy was now 18-3 ahead, while DJ's four had increased their advantage to 12-3. Myles and Conor were still involved in close games and Myles led by two while Conor still trailed by a single. The home lead was 25 shots and rising!

At the three quarters mark, the Dunbarton team were in fine voice as the whole team continually cheered on their team mates' good bowls, while their opponents looked visibly shaken. The Gilford juggernaut continued to roll over their rivals and a full house of points looked to be a real possibility now.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Andy was out of sight at 24-5 while DJ was safe at 17-5. Conor had stormed in front 16-10 and Myles still held a two shot lead at 13-11. The overall score was now 39 shots in favour of the hosts.

The final few ends on each rink finished off as enjoyable a performance as the Gilford Senior team have had for many years.

First off was the rink skipped by the outstanding Andy Hughes. He led his rink to a whopping 26 shot win over the Ballymena four who had lost just one league match all year.

Next off and not too far behind was DJ's quartet who produced an equally terrific performance to storm to an 18 shot success. Conor's four had got better and better as the game went on and on and they cruised to an impressive nine shot victory.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The only question that remained was whether or not Myles could wrap up the seventh and final point. At 16-13 with two ends remaining, the locals were in pole position but the loss of a poor count of five left this point in jeopardy. However, not to be denied, the Gilford foursome played a superb final end and lifted four shots to win by two and put the icing on the cake.

This was as good a performance as has been seen in Gilford for many years and the locals will go into their final game full of confidence and fully expectant of a league winning victory this weekend.

Rink 1: D McElroy, E Campbell, G McElroy, C McCartan up 22-13

Rink 2: M Higgins, J Magennis, T Mulholland, M Greenfield up 20-18

Rink 3: D Copeland, P Adamson, T Bell, DJ Wilson up 24-6

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rink 4: D Pedan, I Perry, S Adamson, A Hughes, T Bell up 31-6

Old Bleach A 79 (5.5)

Dunbarton A 75 (1.5)

The game started badly when all four rinks conceded in the first end although a count of five for DJ Wilson and a double for Myles Greenfield on the second end soon redressed the balance.

After the first quarter the visitors had opened up an early nine shot advantage with Myles and DJ leading the charge ahead 10-3 and 9-4 respectively. With Conor McCartan behind by one and Tony Bell by two, it was a bright start for the locals.

By the midpoint, the home side had bounced back and now led by six shots. DJ had conceded nine shots without reply while Tony had fallen six shots adrift. Myles had seen his lead cut to four shots while Conor was level at 8-8.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Over the third quarter of the game, Dunbarton tried in vain to turn the scores around and now trailed by 14 shots. With no rinks ahead, the final six ends on each rink were absolutely critical. At this stage Myles was level at 14-14, DJ was two in arrears, Conor five behind and Tony seven behind.

During the final few ends Dunbarton bounced back as expected but simply ran out of ends. First rink off was skipped by DJ Wilson and their topsy turvy game ended up level when the home skip trailed the jack for a single with his last bowl to share the spoils.

Next off was Conor's four who had to settle for a six shot reverse and they were quickly followed by Tony's foursome who were five behind. However with Myles six shots ahead, there were only five shots in the game and with just the skips to play Dunbarton lay four shots.

Unfortunately a fine first bowl by the opposing skip cut the shots down and when Myles tried to remove the bowl he was unsuccessful and turned in an Old Bleach bowl for second shot.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A very disappointing performance by the Gilford side who had been struggling to recapture their form from before the July break. Continual player unavailability has been a big drawback for the team this season and this lack of stability once again did not help the reigning champions.

Rink 1: D McElroy, E Campbell, C Dennison, C McCartan down 14-20

Rink 2: D Pedan, I Perry, A Hughes, T Bell down 15-20

Rink 3: D Copeland, A Leckey, S Adamson, DJ Wilson 23-23

Rink 4: N Wilson, J Magennis, T Mulholland, M Greenfield up 23-16

Related topics: