Dunbarton lose their grip on Private Greens Cup

Ballymena A 85

Dunbarton A 63

DUNBARTON relinquished their hold on the Senior Private Greens Cup last Thursday night when they lost by 22 shots in the semi final to old rivals Ballymena.

Playing at Hilden, the locals simply never got going and with one rink struggling throughout, succumbed meekly by the close.

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The game started off quite strangely as the expected close game on all four rinks was anything but. Myles Greenfield was ahead 13-1 and Conor McCartan 6-0 while DJ Wilson was behind 0-9 and Tony Bell in arrears 0-12.

Over the second quarter of the game, there was still not a big lot in the game as all four rinks that trailed early on had fought back. Myles' lead had been cut to six shots while Conor had moved behind by one. DJ's four scored 10 unanswered shots to lead by one while Tony had reduced his deficit to five shots.

It was over the third quarter that Ballymena really moved into the ascendancy and the Gilford side simply had no answer. Despite Myles leading by four and DJ being all square, Conor was now six behind and Tony had endured a miserable run to slip behind by 12.

Over the last few ends, any time Dunbarton lifted a few shots on one rink, Ballymena quickly snuffed out the danger by scoring on one of the other rinks.

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Myles and his front three finished as the only Dunbarton winning rink as they won by three. DJ's foursome who had played well throughout suffered a bad last end and saw their two shot lead change into a two shot reverse. Conor finished five shots adrift while Tony's men came up against an inspired young Ballymena rink and lost by 18 shots.

This was not a good performance by the Gilford side and a disappointing way to lose their grip on the Private Greens Cup which they won last year against the same opposition to complete the glorious treble.

However, the big prize is a fifth successive league title and there is no reason for the locals to be downhearted as this is still in their own hands.

Rink 1: D Pedan, I Perry, A Hughes, T Bell down 11-29

Rink 2: D McElroy, E Campbell, G McElroy, C McCartan down 15-20

Rink 3: D Copeland, A Leckey, S Adamson, DJ Wilson down 18-20

Rink 4: M Higgins, C Mulholland, T Mulholland M Greenfield up 19-16

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