It’s Trevor v John in Winter League shootout

John Hanna’a team 4 have a difficult final game against Trevor Mulholland’s team 6. Trevor Woods and his team 1 would appear to have a simple task against a rudderless team 8.

But, as we all know, golf is a funny game and anything can happen. It’s going to be an exciting climax, that’s for sure.

THE LEAGUE TABLE (6 rounds played, 1 to go.)

Team 1 (Trevor Woods) 15 points (5 wins, 1 defeat).

Team 4 (John Hanna) 15 points (5 wins, 1 defeat).

Team 3 (Dougie Stevenson) 12 points (4 wins, 2 defeats).

Team 6 (Trevor Mulholland) 12 points (4 wins, 2 defeats).

Team 2 (Philip Strong) 9 points (3 wins, 3 defeats).

Team 5 (John McDowell) 3 points (1 win, 5 defeats).

Team 7 (Merton McDowell) 3 points (1 win, 5 defeat).

Team 8 (Sam Wilkinson) 3 points (1 win, 5 defeats).

It’s going to an exciting shoot-out in the final round of the Banbridge Hire Shop Winter League. Two teams are level on points at the top of the league table. Team 1, captained by Trevor Woods, would appear to have the easiest final fixture. They play team 8, the bottom team in the league.

Team 4, captained by John Hanna, have a much more difficult task as they come up against Trevor Mulholland’s team 6 who are currently in joint third place.

If both team 1 and team 4 win their final game and they finish level on 18 points, then the result between the two teams when they met in round 3 may have some bearing on the final placement. As it happened, John Hanna’s team 4 won that match.

It’s a nail-biting finale, that’s for sure.

NEVILLE, PHILIP, SEAN AND DARREN PICK UP THE TOP PRIZES - The individual prizewinners in round 6 of the Banbridge Hire Shop Winter League were Neville Kerr, Philip Mallon, Sean McGreevey and Darren Barker.

Neville won the low section with the best score of the week, 31 points.

Philip was second in the low section with 29 points.

Sean won the high section with 30 points, beating Darren on countback.

To score 30 points over 12 holes is a tremendous achievement. Neville, Sean and Darren were the only players to do so in round 6. Well done, indeed!

GERRY AND SAM TOP THE LIST OF SHARPSHOOTERS - After six rounds of the winter league, the top players from each team are as follows. Team 1: Gerry Blevins 198. Trevor Woods 173.

Team 2: Philip Strong 188. Philip Mallon 181.

Team 3: John Convery 176. Bertie Shaw 175.

Team 4: Albert Morrison 183. Colin McKinney 181.

Team 5: Brian Boyd 188. Sherwin Curran 186.

Team 6: Seamus McGrath 185. Kenny Jones 180.

Team 7: Eamon McAnarney 176. Mervyn Waddell 174.

Team 8: Sam Wilkinson 190. Mel Hylands 168.

Well done, one and all!

TEAM 1 VERSUS TEAM 7 - Team 1, captained by Trevor Woods, stay in joint top place in the Banbridge Hire Shop Winter League after their sixth round win over Merton McDowell’s team 7.

The course was reduced to 12 holes, which makes the 31 points scored by Neville Kerr even more remarkable.

Gerry Blevins added 29 points and then came Norman Doak 28, Dermot Dawson 28, Cathal McNiff 27, Trevor Woods 26, Robin Jardine 26, Ashton Clydesdale 25, Kyle Buchanan 23 and Alan Caughey 23.

That all adds up to 266 points, the best team score of the week and it was 27 points higher than team 7.

Trevor captained the winning team in 2011 and he could very well do so again this year.

What can you say about poor Merton McDowell’s team 7? They won their first round match and have lost every one since. Having the bare minimum of 10 counting scores is certainly not the way to go about winning.

John Crothers scored 29 points and Malcolm Russell scored 28 so nobody can point a finger of blame towards those two players.

TEAM 2 VERSUS TEAM 8 - - Team 2, captained by Philip Strong, won their third match in a row when they defeated team 8 by 260 points to 238.

Philip Mallon and Paul McCullough were the two top scorers for team 2 with 29 points each.

Philip Strong played a true captain’s role by shooting 27. Then came William Malcolmson 26, Alex Clarke 26, Graham Shannon 25, Malcolm Hanna 25, Danny O’Boyle 25, Sean M. Quinn 25 and Eamon Galloway 23.

That’s a very strong team. It’s a shame that they got their winter league campaign off to such a poor start.

Team 8 have never got going in this winter league. Out of 6 starts, they have only won once.

In this particular match, their best scores came from Sean McGreevey 30 points, Colin McDonald 28 and Mel Hylands 28. The rest were only average and that is a generous assessment.

TEAM 3 VERSUS TEAM 6 - Team 3, captained by Dougie Stevenson, saw their hopes of a Winter League title crumble before their eyes as they lost, 234 – 256, against Trevor Mulholland’s team 6.

This was always going to be a difficult test for Dougie’s team and they failed, big time.

John Convery 28, Kerry McCluskey 27, Aidan Lavery 25 and John G. Lennon 25 were the only players from team 3 to score 25 points or better. That just wasn’t good enough.

Trevor Mulholland’s team 6 bounced back to form after two disappointing defeats.

Darren Barker was superb with 30 points. Jeffrey Brown and Kenny Jones were top class with 27 points each. Seamus McGrath had a tidy 26 points and William McCandless was well pleased with his 25 points.

That put team 6 well and truly on the road to victory.

Trevor’s team have a key role to play as to who may win the league. They play the joint leaders, team 4, in the final round. Now that could be a match worth watching.

TEAM 4 VERSUS TEAM 5 - Team 4, captained by John Hanna, remain in joint top position in the winter league after a tight match against John McDowell’s team 5. John Hanna’s team 4 won by a mere 5 points, 248 against 243.

Albert Morrison is the star player for team 4 and he was top scorer in round 6 with 28 points.

P.J.Johnston and Kenny Arlow followed up with steady rounds of 27 points each. Then came Colin McKinney 25, Derek Mathers 25, Peter Cruikshanks 24, Matthew Mallon 24, Patrick McAleenan 23 and Mark McCullough 23.

The 10th counting card, 22 points, could be either Neil Cherry or the team captain, John Hanna. It doesn’t matter as long as the team won.

As for John McDowell’s team 5, what can you say? It’s has been a sad experience, this winter league. Only one win out of six attempts is rather depressing. But, then remember, it is still only a game.

Brian Boyd and Sherwin Curran are the two top players for team 5 and they both score 27 points in round 6.

Ian Young had 26 points, Michael Allison had 25 and so too did John McDowell himself. It was downhill after that for poor team 5.