Lurgan Seniors finish with a full point flourish

By Melvyn Hamilton
Contributor
Published 2nd Sep 2024, 10:32 BST
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Lurgan A 91 (7) Lisnagarvey 55 (0) Last Saturday Lurgan took to the green to play Lisnagarvey in the final match of the season having already captured the NIBA Division Two title. The game was a one-sided affair with the home team winning on all rinks and the overall score by 91-55.

On Rink 1 Ivor Mitchell, Luke Donaldson, Peter Dew and Harry Cosgrove faced I Scott. There was only one shot in it for Lurgan at the 15-end mark but scores on 5 consecutive ends gave Harry a seven-shot 19-12 victory.

Over on Rink 2 Richard McClune, Iris Cunningham, Alan Briggs and Ronan Cregan played B Magennis. The home side were behind after 5 ends but with a shortened jack length Lurgan soon overcame the deficit and ran away with the match to finish 31-14 ahead.

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Shirley Dew, making her debut, Jeff McCullough, Eileen Robson and Sam McCombes on Rink 3 were up against Andrew Johnston. The home side were always in control of this one and had a winning margin of shots to secure a 21-13 victory.

NIBA Division 2 Winners Lurgan A Team members proudly display the Division 2 CupNIBA Division 2 Winners Lurgan A Team members proudly display the Division 2 Cup
NIBA Division 2 Winners Lurgan A Team members proudly display the Division 2 Cup

The tightest match of the day was on Rink 4 where Neil Sloan, Peter Ruffold, Nigel Hamilton and John Gilliland played S Irwin. At 18 ends their match was all square but 2 singles and a double over the last 3 ends gave John’s rink the win by 20-16.

Overall this was a great season for Lurgan A. They won 15 out of 18 matches and racked up 90 points to win the league. They averaged five points a game with an average of 85 shots for and 67 shots against per game.

At an individual rink level Sam McCombes four won 10 games (five home and five away) and had an overall shot difference of 68. Their biggest win was 27 shots home to North Down.

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John Gilliland’s four won eight out of their nine games at home and won four and drew one away. They had an overall shot difference of 75. Their biggest victory was 25 away to Banbridge scoring 38 shots the highest score of any rink over the season.

Alan Roberts (with Harry Cosgrove skipping a few games) four actually won more away games (seven) than at home (six) with the highest overall shot difference of 97. A 21-shot win at home to BETS gave them their biggest win of the season.

Ronan Cregan racked up six wins and a draw at home with five away wins. Interestingly of the six games they lost five of them were within a five-shot margin. The last match of the season against Lisnagarvey was their best performance with a 17-shot win.

Over the season the selectors used 22 players and such is the commitment of the team eight players didn’t miss a game and four only missed one.

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