Ladies suffer setback in opening hurdle of title defence

BALLYMENA ladies started off the defence of their PTWBA Senior League title with a tough game against local rivals Ballymoney.

It was not the start they would have wished for as they could only claim a single point as the visitors claimed victory by a margin of 17 shots.

There was nothing to separate the two teams on rink 1 where Jean Rainey, Barbara Burnett, Pat Allen and Jennifer Dowds took on the Ballymoney rink skipped by M Robinson.

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After 5 ends the score board read 4-4 but the visitors took control of the game over the next 8 ends when they outscored their opponents by 10 shots to 2 to open up an 8 shot lead.

The Ballymena ladies replied with 6 shots over the next 2 ends to cut the deficit to only 2 shots, but it was the visitors who claimed victory when they won the remaining 3 ends to leave the final score 18-12 in their favour.

At the half way stage of the game on rink 2 the home team of Jean Lynn, Peggy Pinkerton, Linda McCullough and Sarah Jane Coleman trailed the Ballymoney rink skipped by B Logue by 3 shots.

A total of 17 shots were then scored over the next 4 ends. First the Ballymoney rink lifted 4 shots on the tenth end to increase their lead to 7 shots only for Coleman’s rink to reply with a count of 5 shots on the next end to reduce the deficit to only 2 shots.

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The visitors then claimed 4 shots on the twelfth end and this was then matched by the home rink to leave the Braid rink trailing by 2 shots.

Each team scored a single over the next 2 ends but it was the Ballymoney rink who finished the stronger when they scored 5 unanswered shots to claim victory by 24 shots to 17.

Megan Wilson, Kathleen Hoey, Liz McAuley and Donna McCloy made a steady start against M Shaw on rink 3.

They had the better of the early exchanges and after 6 ends they had opened up a 2 shot lead. The Ballymena ladies then scored a near maximum count of 7 shots on the seventh end and when they followed this up with 2 shots on the next end it looked as though they were well on their way to a comfortable victory.

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The visiting rink however had other ideas. They scored 4 shots on the ninth end and this was followed by two singles as the arrears was reduced to 5 shots. Three ends later the difference had increased to 6 shots but a count of 5 shots on the fifteenth end followed by a single saw the Ballymoney rink draw level.

The impetus was now very much with the visitors and they made the comeback complete when they scored 5 shots over the final 2 ends to record an unlikely victory by 21 shots to 16.

Ballymena’s solitary point came on rink 4 where Jennie McCready, Maree Houston, Iris Millar and Barbara Cameron took on the experienced M Johnston.

The visitors made the better start when they won the first 3 ends to open up a 4 shot lead but the Braid ladies bossed the next seven ends scoring 10 shots without reply. The Ballymoney rink replied by winning 4 of the next 5 ends to reduce the deficit to 3 shots but Cameron’s ladies appeared to strike a decisive blow when they lifted a count of 5 shots to extended their lead to 8 shots with only 2 ends remaining.

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The Ballymoney ladies however were determined not to go down without a fight and when they scored 5 shots on the penultimate end it set up a very exciting finish. The final end did not build up particularly well for the Ballymena ladies however they were able to restrict the visitors to 2 shots to give them a hard earned point by 17 shots to 16.

This week Ballymena ladies will hope to claim their first league win when they travel to Coleraine.

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