General round-up of sport in north Antrim: bikes, darts, table tennis, snooker

The race dates for the 2014 Vauxhall International North West 200 have been released.

Practice begins on Tuesday May 13th with a second session on Thursday 15th. There will be three races on Thursday evening with the main race programme of five races being run on Saturday, May 17.

“We are really looking forward to the 85th anniversary of our great race and I am delighted to announce that Vauxhall Motors will once again be on board as title sponsors for 2014,” Event Director, Mervyn Whyte, MBE, said.

2014 will be the car giant’s second year as the leading backer of the North coast race.

“We are proud to be back for another year and we are looking forward to working with Mervyn and his team to ensure a great day’s racing on May 17,” Vauxhall’s Operations Manager Gordon Hannen said.

Vauxhall’s support will begin by hosting a stand for the race at Motorcycle Live at the NEC in Birmingham from November 23 until December 1. Two tickets can be won in a free prize draw on www.vauxhallnorthwest200.co.uk which will be drawn on November 8.

* DARTS - Ballymoney Darts League - Friday 25/10/13 - the F.O.D. Cup it played in Joey’s Bar,

This Cup is a 7 person team event and with nine teams in the league they were quickly down to the semi finals, the first of which was between the Royal British Legion and the Bush House and this match was won by the Bush House

The second semi final was between The Diamond Bar and Kelly’s Own and this match was won by Kelly’s Own.

The final between Bush House and Kelly’s Own was a very good match and with some great darts thrown and some great finishing it was the Bush House that came out on top - very worthy winners.

Fixtures for Friday 1st Nov. 2013 League Week 5 - Bush House v Ma Kelly’s, Joey’s Bar 3 v Blackwater House, Joey’s Flights v Joey’s Bar, Royal British Legion v Diamond Bar, Kelly’s Own bye.

Team Captains are reminded that there will be a league meeting on Wed 6th Nov 2013 in Kelly’s Bar at 8.30pm. Tenders for the Jack McVickers Cup (ind) are required for this meeting.

* TABLE TENNIS - The new table tennis season has started and Ballymoney TT club is very much on the up. With 3 teams this year competing in all 3 divisions of the County Antrim League numbers are on the increase. The club meets on Monday nights with the beginners coaching session between 6 and 7 and club players from 7 onwards. Home matches are on Tuesday nights from 7.30 and it all takes place at Ballymoney Methodist Church Hall.

This is a great opportunity to get involved in an Olympic sport. Table tennis is one of the biggest participation sports in Ireland and Ballymoney provides a well established and successful club for training and development.

In fact back in the 70’s and 80’s Ballymoney had a club called Osmond owned by R J Carson with expertise coaching from the legendary Davy McBride. That legacy is still retained today with the name of the teams being called Osmond A, B and C.

Osmond B was the 1st team in action in Div 2 against newly promoted AS Rockets from Ballymena. Paul McGuigan has put together a strong team this year which showed there desire by winning a close encounter 6-4. Star man was Thomas McCann who contributed 2 singles wins including coming from 2 sets down to come back and defeat Ballymena captain Johnny Wilson 3-2. Exciting new prospect Adam Wallace was too strong for Peter McCrum winning 3-0. In the match of the night Adam let slip a 2-1 lead to loose 11-9 in a fifth set decider against Wilson. Adam will undoubtedly improve as the season progresses and is a name to look out for!

Paul McGuigan was too strong for his two opponents Andrew Herbison and John Moore winning in straight sets. New player this season for Osmond B is Ballymoney’s Richard Webb. Richard lost out in his 2 singles but should improve with continued match practice. The match all boiled down to the final doubles with Osmond leading 5-4 and Paul and Thomas duly obliged with a 3-1 win to seal the 3 points.

Osmond A and C both commence next week. The A team has Gary McClelland hoping to improve on last season’s runner up spot whilst Ballybogey’s Davy Barnes with captain the C team with the help of experienced Brendan McLernon and Philip Mongomery, Laura McClelland, Matthew Knight and Jon-lee Walker.

* SNOOKER - Scenic Inn-sponsored Ballymoney & Coleraine District Snooker League.

League table - Potters Seagulls 22 pts, O Elite 21, P Aces, 19, Dunloy United 18, Drones 18, AllStars 17, Dunloy Galaxy 17, Legion Hawks 12.

It was a good draw for Legion Hawks when they entertained AllStars who were a little bit lucky to come away with three points.

It was Danny Dixie Tweed who got the ball rolling when accounting for Carl Wilson, taking both frames while Keith Hunter levelled the score with a good win over Sammy Walker.

The final two frames were shared when Robin McIntyre took the first against Don Leighton who responded well to get the draw taking the last frame by a wide margin.

There was a good result for Dunloy United who travelled to The Drones, coming away with three points with Martin Crawley beating Paul Simpson in straight frames.

Then Gregory Cooke got back to some of his best form.