It's the joy of six for champions

Dunbarton A 82 (6)

REIGNING champions Dunbarton maintained their position at the top of Private Greens Senior Division One with a hard fought 12 shot win away to improving NICS in Belfast.

With a number of players missing, the locals had to fight tooth and nail for this victory and came away delighted to lift six points.

The first few ends were an indication of what was to come as there was little to separate the sides early on. Myles Greenfield's four started brightly leading 5-2 while DJ Wilson was 4-3 ahead and Conor McCartan was 5-4 in front. Tony Bell was trailing 1-7 so NICS led by a shot.

By the midpoint it was still tight. Myles had opened up a seven shot advantage, while Conor was six clear. DJ however had a bad run of ends to be seven in arrears and Tony was still behind by six. The game was all square.

At the three quarters mark it was still anyone's game and it was vital that the Gilford men dug in to stay on top of the league. Myles had roared into a 13 shot lead and Conor was ably backing him up with a nine shot lead.

However Tony was behind 8-17 while DJ had suffered a horrible middle to his game and was struggling at 5-19. Again, the Belfast side had a one shot lead and Dunbarton needed a big finish.

As the locals have done so often over the past few years on their way to their four league titles in a row, they put their foot on the accelerator for a strong finish.

And it was the two rinks that were struggling so badly after 15 ends that played a huge part in their team's victory.

Tony Bell's foursome who were behind for the first three quarters of their game and could have been suffered of lack of confidence after their heavy defeat two days earlier, produced a magnificent finish. Scores of 6,1,4,1,2 turned this game on it's head and ensured a brilliant four shot win when defeat looked likely.

DJ's four also bounced back strongly and a run of 3,1,1,3,1 helped reduce their deficit to just six shots by the close.

Most consistent rink of the day was Michael Higgins, Paul Adamson, Chris Mulholland and skip Myles who started well and never looked back, cruising to a vital twelve shot success. On the final rink Conor's four survived a late scare to win their point and ensure a crucial six points overall.

The loss of nine shots from ends 16-19 saw the locals trailed by one shot with two ends remaining. The rot was stopped by a magnificent draw by skip Conor on end 20 and then on the final end both Conor and third Gary McElroy produced the telling bowls when it mattered most for two shots and a very important rink win.

With Belmont's thumping away win at Ballymena it looks pretty much like a two horse race between Dunbarton and Belmont but both have two very difficult matches over the next fortnight which will decide the whereabouts of the Senior Division One trophy for the season.

Next up for Dunbarton is a tough trip to Randalstown to face Old Bleach next Tuesday night (17th).

Rink 1: D McElroy, E Campbell, G McElroy, C McCartan up 19-17

Rink 2: D Copeland, F Doyle, S Adamson, DJ Wilson down 14-20

Rink 3: M Higgins, P Adamson, C Mulholland, M Greenfield up 26-14

Rink 4: D Pedan, I Perry, A Hughes, T Bell up 22-18