Juniors through to Irish Cup semis after extra end drama

The Braid men trailed for most of the match and with only a couple of ends remaining on each rink they were 13 shots adrift but in an amazing finish the Braid men levelled the game at 66-66 and even better was to follow when they won the tie end to progress in to the semi final of the Cup.

Allen Stewart, Norman Armstrong, Nigel McFadden and John Coulter took on D Kells and won the first 3 ends to open up a 6 shot advantage. The home rink replied with 3 singles however the Ballymena men made a decisive move when they picked up counts of 4 and 6 to open up a 13 shot lead. The Braid men were able to maintain a healthy advantage until the end for a 25-13 victory. (Ballymena lost 1 shot in the tie end)

John McFall, Neal Garrett, Alan McAuley and Roy Torrington started slowly against B Stirling losing the first 4 ends to trail by 5 shots. By 15 ends the visitors were back on level terms with the score board reading 9-9. The home rink then won the next 3 ends to open up a lead of 6 shots but with only 1 end remaining the gap had been cut to 4 shots. In the overall context of the game the Ballymena men were facing defeat but Torrington’s men constructed an excellent final to pick up a count of 6 shots and steal a 17-15 win and set up a tie end. (Ballymena scored 2 shots on tie end)

Geoff Padgett, Jimmy Larkin, Danny McCullough and Jackie Robinson had a tough day against A Kells. The opening 8 ends saw 12 shots shared. Four ends later however the home rink had opened up a 7 shot lead and although the Braid men scored a single on the 13th end they could not stop the momentum of the Railway Union rink who went on to pick up another 9 shots to open up a 22-7 lead. In the context of a cup game it is vital to fight for every end and the Ballymena rink won 3 of the remaining 4 ends to limit the damage to 12 shots with the final score 23-11.(Ballymena lost 1 shot on the tie end)

Leslie Barr, Tommy Hill, Chris Wilson and George Graham took a while to settle down against M Tyrell and with 5 ends completed they found themselves 5-1 down. The Braid men came more in to the game over the next few ends and by the time the contest had reached the 11th end the game was level at 8-8. The home rink then won 5 of the next 6 ends to open up a 7 shot advantage but the Braid men new that it was important to keep fighting right up to the last end and they added another 4 singles to their score to cut the deficit to 3 shots with the final score 16-13 (Ballymena scored 2 shots on the tie end).

* Earlier in the week, Ballymena Juniors collected 6 points at Downpatrick to maintain their top two position in the NIPGL Junior League Division 1 and keep up the pressure on league leaders Pickie.