All to play for in Division One

THE opening week of the Ballymena and District Indoor League Division One campaign offered precious little insight into who will succeed Towers as champions.

With the Ahoghill-based side having pulled out of the competition on the eve of the season, it would take a brave person at this stage to predict who will become the first team outside of Towers to win the championship in the past four years.

It certainly led to some closely-contested matches in the opening week, where four of the would-be successors to Towers' crown were in direct competition.

BUSC, as clear-cut runners-up to Towers last season, will be considered many observers' favourites to go on and win their first title since 2002 but they were pushed all the way by Broughshane Playing Fields Association 'A', before eventually prevailing by four shots.

In a match switched to the Slemish Drive venue, Social Club's credentials were given a thorough examination with four shots the biggest winning margin on any of the four rinks.

That came from Richard Fleming's 12-8 win over David Morrison but Broughshane had levelled the points tally by the interval thanks to former Towers player Ivan Craig's slender win over Uel Fleming.

The nip -and-tuck nature of the tussle continued after the break with Alan Cahoon squeezing past Bryan Magrath by a shot to give Broughshane a second point but Andy Bonnar's two-shot win over Doran Turtle ensured that Social grabbed a vital third point for the overall shots total.

Two more potential pretenders to the throne squared at MIchelin Athletic Club where the hosts took on Old Bleach and it was the visitors who went home happier, taking three points back to Randalstown, despite Michelin triumphing overall by three shots.

Michelin only won on one rink but they can thank Grant Robinson's 15-5 win over David Burrows for securing them a second point.

The other games were all tight but it was Old Bleach's superior staying power towards the end of the games which tipped the balance in their favour.

Neil Booth's rink won the final three ends of their game against Wesley Caldwell, while Mervyn McDonald's foursome scored a '2' on the final end to pip Matthew Boyd 9-8. In the other game, the decisive blow for Bleach was struck in the eighth end where a count of '4' gave Sammy Hall's rink some breathing space against Graham Wilson.

In the remaining Division One game, Broughshane PFA 'B' - something of a yo-yo club between the top two divisions in recent seasons - made a miserable start to their latest top-flight campaign when they were whitewashed on their own mats by Golf Club.

Broughshane were dealt a blow by the late withdrawal of regular skip Terry McClintock through illness and his stand-in Wylie Alexander was unable to prevent a 10-4 defeat by John Jamieson, while Kevin McGarry's 14-5 win over Alan McCombe ensured the golfers were in control at the break.

It's didn't get any better for the hosts after that as Leslie Barr and Sean McGarry completed a clean sweep of the points with wins over Jimmy Wasson and Noel Graham.

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