Bann beaten by Bangor to blow title race wide open
Banbridge Senior team travelled to Bangor for their toughest assignment of the season to date knowing that picking up any points would mean they would still hold their advantage at the top of the league table.
It was yet another day to forget in a week that may well define their 2024 season by bringing home only 1 point and falling to an 87-64 defeat.
Rink 1
On rink 1 for Banbridge we had Alex Cromie, John McCloughlin, Adam Cromie and Philip Cromie up against Keith Taylor’s rink. Bangor gained the upper hand here early on leading 5-3 after 5 ends but the Bann four turned the tables by leading 10-7 after 10 ends.
The Banbridge lads extended their advantage to 21-8 after 16 ends and while there were a few nervy moments down the run in they held onto record a 22-18 victory and the Bann’s only point of the day.
Rink 2
On rink 2 for the visitors we had Mervyn Jess, Ian Wright, Peter Haughey and Kyle Blakely facing Matthew Crawford’s Bangor rink.
There was nothing in this after 5 ends as the sides were tied at 5-5 and again at 10 ends at 13-13. The sides drew level yet again at 14 ends at 16-16 but the Bangor rink outpointed the Bann four over the last third of the game to secure a 24-19 victory try in what was a tight tussle throughout.
Rink 3
On rink 3 for the Bann we had Ken Stevenson, Martin Nelson, Gareth McCloughlin and Gavan Blakely lining out against Robert Hastings Bangor rink.
The Bangor rink were out of sight here early on as the led 14-0 after 5 ends with the 14 shot deficit still the difference after 11 ends at 20-6. The Bangor rink maintained the upper hand leading 24-9 after 16 ends with the visitors making no significant inroads down the run in eventually losing out 29-11 in a one sided game.
Rink 4
On rink 4 for Banbridge we had Ben McArdle, Tony Bell, Clifford Dennison and James Kelly against the Bangor rink skipped by Gary Scott. The home rink started well here to lead the Bann four 7-1 after 5 ends and managing to keep their noses in front at the half way stage leading 9-3.
The Banbridge lads dug in and cut their arrears to 2 shots after 15 ends to trail 11-9 giving them a great chance of recusing the point down the run in with Kelly’s rink finding parity at 12-12 after 18 ends. This set up a grandstand finish but the Bangor rink won the last 3 ends to close out the game as 16-12 victors and close the gap at the top of the table to just half a point with 3 games to go.
Junior Team
On Saturday past our junior team hosted the highflying Lurgan in what was always going to be a tough assignment and came away with 1 point losing out 109-63.
This leaves the team with some work to do with 3 games to go in order to protect their Division 2 status as they are in the relegation zone now but on the same points as North Down who are above by virtue of shot difference. Below are rink scores :-
Banbridge 62 v Lurgan 109
P OKeefe 23 v A Roberts 17
A Mark 14 v R Creggan 26
J Major 12 v N Hamilton 28
W Steenson 13 v J Gilliland 38
Championships
This week sees a large number of our members involved in the NIBA championships finals this week in Bangor with the club represented in all open events as well as under 25 singles and senior fours.
We would like to wish all those involved all the best and hopefully we will have some more silverware to celebrate come Saturday evening.