Ladies well-placed to mount title bid after holiday break

Ballymena Bowling Club members Jennifer Dowds (third left), Donna McCloy (fourth left) and Barbara Cameron (far right) who are stepping up their preparations for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Also included are Northern Ireland team-mates Mandy Cunningham, Catherine McMillen and team manager Sally McGarel.

The Braid ladies had to fight hard but in the end they came away with 6 valuable points.

Jennie McCready, Marie Houston, Iris Millar and Barbara Cameron took on B O’Neill on rink 1 and with 5 ends there was nothing to separate the two rinks with the score board reading 5-5. Two singles gave the Braid ladies the lead but the game changed over the next 3 ends when the home rink picked up two counts of 4 shots.

With 13 ends played the Ballymena ladies were still in touch as they only trailed by 2 shots but any thoughts of victory were wiped out over the next 4 ends when the Portstewart ladies scored 5 unanswered shots. The visitors picked up a single on the final end to leave the home rink victorious by 19 shots to 13.

On rink 2 Jean Rainey, Andrea McKeown, Pat Allen and Jennifer Dowds opened their account against P Curry on rink 1 when they picked up 4 shots on the first end. The home rink then scored 5 shots over the next 2 ends to get their noses in front.

The Braid ladies then won the next 3 ends to open up a 5 shot advantage but with 11 ends completed the lead had been cut to 2 shots. A count of 6 shots on the 12th end gave the visitors the momentum and with only 3 ends remaining the lead was in double figures with the score 21-11 in favour of the Ballymena rink. The Portstewart rink scored well over the remaining ends but it was too little too late as the visitors ran out winners by 21 shots to 18.

Linda McCullough, Kathleen Hoey, Sile Garvey and Donna McCloy lead right from the start against J Wilson on rink 4 however the visitors were never really able to put much distance between themselves and the Portstewart ladies for much of the game. With just over two thirds of the game played the Braid rink held a 2 shot advantage, however all their hard work finally paid off and over the remaining 5 ends they picked up 9 shots without reply to claim a well earned 22-11 victory.

Sally Carson, Gladys Power, Barbara Burnett and Sarah Jane Coleman did not make the best of starts against T O’Neill on rink 5 and with only 4 ends played the Braid ladies trailed by 9 shots to 0. A count of 4 shots on the 5th end got the visitors up and running and at the half way stage of the game the gap had been cut to 4 shots. Four ends later the margin had increased slightly to 5 shots however the Ballymena ladies picked up counts of 3 and 4 over the next 2 ends to take the lead for the first time.

Coleman’s rink then scored a single to lead by 3 shots with only 2 ends remaining but it looked as though they would be going home empty handed as they dropped a count of 4 shots on the penultimate end to give the lead back to the home rink but the Braid rink bounced back on the final end when they picked up 3 shots to claim a hard fought victory by 20 shots to 18.

This result leaves Ballymena Ladies in good shape to challenge for the PTWBA Senior League title. So far they have played 11 games with a record of Won 8 Lost 3 – total 50 points. There are only 2 games remaining in the league and the destination of the title could come down to the final game of the season when the Braid ladies entertain local rivals Ballymoney.

Ballymena ladies are next back in action on 6th August when they travel to Magherafelt.