Loughanreagh pair win Burnside Tournament

Section play was held over four nights with eight pairs qualifying for finals night. The first round and semi finals saw some excellent bowling with E Irwin and N Gamble of Loughanreagh and T Craig and J Craig of Broughshane the winners of the semi finals.

The final was a close game until the last two ends when the Loughanreagh pair scored two and three shots to subsequently run out as winners by nine shots to five.

Afterwards G Connolly thanked the session for the use of the hall and the competitors who made the tournament a success. He also thanked the sponsors Armstrong Gordon, V&H Wright, MBS Motorhomes, Kelly’s Fuels, H Wade & Son and Coleraine Van Hire. Organisers, helpers and members of the club were also thanked for the help and assistance during the week. The prizes were then presented to the winners, runners up and section winners.

Meanwhile, the Men’s Inter–Club championship opening match was played on Saturday 26th between the Ballybrakes side and Co Antrim IBC. The visitors took a narrow lead of five shots, 20 - 25 after five ends, but was narrowed to just one shot at 10 ends 40 - 41. Ian McClure’s rink picked up a four and a three, and Gary McCloy’s rink picked up a five in one end for the home side to lead 66-59 at 15 ends and with the bell ready to ring it was still anyones game. Barry Kane’s rink lifted a count of five shots on the last end to ensure the Ballybrakes side recorded a victory.

On Sunday morning the losing side from Saturday’s game played Belfast IBC but it was all very one sided with Belfast winning on all five rinks and claiming the maximum nine points.

The game in the afternoon was the decider for the Championship between Ballybrakes and Belfast. The scores were tight throughout the match with no more than five or six shots in it throughout the game and remained like that right up until the last end, with the home side five down and Simon Colvin’s rink the last to finish. He was lying five shots with two bowls to come but the Belfast skip Stuart Bennett drew in for second shot to leave Simon a difficult shot to remove the Belfast bowl, but a fighter right up until the last, Simon made a great effort to try to remove the bowl to win the championship but it wasn’t to be. Leaving Belfast to win the match by four shots overall and taking the Championship 15.5 points to 9.5.

The International Friendship rinks are being held in Ballybrakes CIBC from 2nd – 3rd November. The games are still a relatively new championship and were started in the Ballymoney club six years ago. The team consists of past International Members and past Administration staff. The proceedings will commence on the Friday evening with a reception and dinner for the players, officials and dignitaries from both Ballymoney and Coleraine Council.

The Ireland players are Tommy Smith, Brian Hughes, Willie McCaw, Morris Smyth, Alan McAuley, Ivan Lynn, Basil Kennedy, Harry Elliott and Matt Reid.

The games commence on Saturday 2nd November at 9am continuing on Sunday 3rd November with free entry on each day.