Annalong 58 (1.5) Lurgan B 60 (5.5)Castleton 53 (1) Lurgan B 89 (6)

Lurgan B travelled to Annalong to play them in a rearranged Division 3 game and came home with 5.5 points in the bag from a match that ended sensationally with a 2-shot win for the visitors and with the home team’s pursuit of a Division 3 win taking a severe dint.

What a dramatic finish! With Mike Parr’s rink spearheading the road to victory with an 18-9 win, a feature of the season so far, the result was still going to be in the balance with the other three rinks still to finish.

Gareth Bunting’s rink held their nerve to take the shot on the last end for an essential 12-16 win. With Billy Strain’s finishing all square at 17-17 it was down Michael Bunting’s to secure a slender overall victory. Michael left the head being 5 shots down but he delivered two fantastic bowls to restrict the opposition to just 1 shot – a fantastic overall win on the night!

Last Saturday Lurgan B were on the road again to play Castleton at The Grove, Belfast and bowled brilliantly to win by 43 shots. With three rink wins on the day they collected 6 points from the match to propel them up into 5th place in Division 3.

Billy Strain, skip with his three fellow bowlers on Rink 1 held David Evans’ rink to just 8 rink wins, while leading 7-12 after 10 ends. Evans got his rink going, Strain’s held them off to post a great 15-21 win.

It was tough going on Rink 2 for Michael Bunting and his trio against Davy Bryans with the lead changing hands almost every end. The home rink was leading 8-7 after 10 ends but with Bunting’s rink taking single shots off the next 4 ends the Lurgan rink went ahead 8-11.

Bunting’s rink was still in the hunt with 10-11 lead after the 16th end but a deadly 4-shot win for the home rink on the next end was influential in their 14-16 loss.

Mike Parr’s and his bowlers on Rink 2 did the business yet again on Rink 3 facing Graham Miles’ home team. Making a great start, Parr’s rink shot into a 0-9 win after 3 ends. Then with a tremendous run from the 6th to the 10th end they consolidated their lead to an unassailable 3-22. By the 16th they were 7-26 ahead and by the finish they had increased their lead to 10-29 – a superb win.

On Rink 2, Eamonn Quinn and his men had an equally good performance. The home rink was matching Lurgan B to be 6-6 after 9 ends but from then on the Lurgan Four were in total control to go into a 22-8 lead after 16 ends, aided by a 4-shot win on 10th and a brilliant 5-shot win on the 16th. Finishing well up, Quinn’s rink ended their game 12-25 ahead – a great win on the day.

Next Friday night sees them facing Rathfriland at home in a rearranged match at 6pm but there’s no match on Saturday due to the NIBA Finals being on at Ward Park, Bangor.