Good week for ladies' sides in league and cup

On rink 1 Jean Rainey, Kathleen Hoey, Pat Allen and Jennifer Dowds certainly enjoyed their day away against the Dunluce rink skipped by A Elliott.

The Ballymena ladies dropped a count of 4 shots on the second end to trail by 2 shots, but after this it was all one way traffic as the Braid ladies totally dominated the rest of the game. The home rink could only score 5 more singles whereas the Ballymena ladies racked up a total of 25 shots to claim an excellent 27-9 victory.

The Ballymena rink of Jennie McCready, Marie Houston, Iris Millar and Barbara Cameron made a slow start against P Calvin on rink 2 and after 4 ends the home rink had opened up a 7 shot lead.

The visitors did hit back and after 15 ends there was only 3 shots in the game, however any hopes of a Ballymena win were dashed on the next end when the Dunluce rink lifted a count of 5 shots with the home rink eventually going on to record victory by 20 shots to 13.

Grace Henry, Gladys Power, Dorothy McKee and Donna McCloy made a great start against J Sharpe on rink 3 when they won the first 3 ends to open up an 8 shot lead. The margin was still 8 shots after 11 ends and even though the Dunluce rink finished strongly the Braid ladies had done enough to claim victory by 20 shots to 17.

On rink 4 Linda McCullough, Peggy Pinkerton, Erin Smith and Sarah Jane Coleman were drawn against A McClellland. This was a close game with never more that 3 or 4 shots separating the rinks.

After 14 ends the Dunluce ladies held a 3 shot lead but scores of 1,3 and 2 over the next 3 ends appeared to have given the Ballymena rink victory, however disappointingly for the visitors they dropped a count of 5 shots on the final end to lose their game by 19 shots to 15.

STEVENSON CUP

Ballymena 58, Magherafelt 41: Ballymena ladies were also in action in the Stevenson Trophy when they were drawn against Magherafelt. All three of the Ballymena rinks were victorious as the ladies progressed in to the next round where they face Dunluce.

Jean Rainey, Kathleen Hoey, Pat Allen and Jennifer Dowds were drawn on rink 1 against M McCart and they found the green to their liking as they dominated the game to claim a 25-13 victory.

Linda McCullough, Gladys Power, Peggy Pinkerton and Sile Garvey had a very close match with V Wilson on rink 2. It was nip and tuck for the whole of the game however it was the Braid ladies who eventually claimed victory by the narrowest of margins 15-14

The game on rink 3 was also a close affair where Jennie McCready, Marie Houston, Iris Millar and Barbara Cameron took on M McCullough. The Ballymena ladies put in a battling performance and came out on the right side of a 18-14 score line.

LADIES 'B'

Ballymena Ladies ‘B’ 27.5, Ballycastle 26: The Ballymena ladies made the long trip to Ballycastle this week and due to player unavailability they travelled a player short, however they put in a good performance to claim a narrow victory.

On rink 3 Eileen Courtney, Elsie McAlonan and Gwen McAuley were drawn against M McGill. The home rink made the better start and at the half way stage of the game they held a 9 shot lead, however the Ballymena ladies won the next 4 ends to level the match at 12-12.

Unfortunately the Braid ladies could not maintain this good run of form eventually going down by 15 shots to 14 with the adjusted score reading 15-10.5.

Rachel Alexander, Dymphna McKavanagh, Sally Carson and Jean Lynn had a good day against K McGill. They made a good start to the game restricting the home rink to only 3 single shots over the first 9 ends to lead by 11 shots to 3.

The remainder of the game was more even, but the home rink could not recover from the slow start and it was the Ballymena ladies who claimed victory by 17 shots to 11.