Park Seniors give illustrious opponents a scare in PGL Cup

On paper this was a definite mis-match however the Ballymena men gave the visitors a real fright and with 12 ends played they led by 16 shots. Unfortunately the Braid team were unable to maintain the momentum and over the remainder of the game the Larne men gradually pulled back the deficit and eventually went on to win by 19 shots.

John Houston, Andy Hill, Stephen Roberts and John Elliott made the best possible start in their game against M Murphy on rink 1 when they won the first 8 ends to open up an 11 shot lead. Over the next 6 ends the visitors did pick up a couple of singles but with 14 ends played the Braid men had increased their lead to 18 shots. The Larne men finally got their act together over the remaining ends and with the help of a count of 7 shots on the 17th end they were able to repair some of the damage and reduce the margin of defeat to 5 shots with the final score 23-18 in favour of the Ballymena rink.

On rink 2 Bertie Thompson, Roy Kernohan, William Crawford and Robert McCready hit the ground running against S Bell and with 8 ends the Ballymena men had established an 8 shot lead. Six ends later however the visitors were back on level terms and they took the lead for the first time on the 15th end when they picked up 3 shots and this gave them the impetuous to go on and claim victory by 24 shots to 17.

Keith Burnett, Alan Smyth, Leslie Jackson and Gary Shaw were always in charge of their game against G Johnston on rink 3. Both rinks won 5 of the first 10 ends but 2 counts of 3 shots and a further count of 4 shots on the 6th end saw the Ballymena men open up a 13-6 lead. The remainder of the game was also closely contested and when the 21 regulation ends had been completed the margin was still 7 shots with the final score 21-14.

The Ballymena rink of Willie McNabb, Alan O’Loan, Derek Greer and Alex Wilson never really got started in their game against A McClean on rink 4 and with 5 ends completed the Larne men lead by 10 shots to 0. The Braid men won 5 of the next 7 ends but even this was not enough to stop the visitors from extending their lead to 12 shots. The Larne rink continued to pile on the pressure and rack up the shots as they won the next 7 ends to open up a 28 shot advantage. Wilson’s men claimed 4 shots over the final 2 ends but on the night they had been well beaten by 35 shots to 9.

LEAGUE

Ballymena Senior Park (70.5) North Belfast (65)

Ballymena Senior Park recorded their first win of the 2014 season with a 6 point haul against North Belfast last Saturday

On rink 1 Jimmy Shields, Andy Hill, Stephen Roberts and John Elliott conceded 2 shots to the visiting rink skipped by P Kirk on the first end but that would be the only time that the North Belfast men would lead the game. Four shots on the 2nd end put the Ballymena men on the score board and by the time the game had reached the 14th end the advantage had increased to 8 shots. Unfortunately one of the Ballymena men was unable to complete the game and so the rink had to finish the game with 3 players and loose a quarter of any additional shots scored but the Braid men had done enough and they went on to claim victory by 20.5 shots to 17.

A total of 11 singles were scored over the opening ends on rink 2 where Roy Kernohan, John Montgomery, William Crawford and Robert McCready were drawn against G Maginnes. At this stage of the game the visitors lead by 7 shots to 4 and the sequence was broken on the 12th end when the North Belfast rink picked up 4 shots. This however seemed to galvanise the Ballymena men and they won the next 5 ends to get their noses in front and they were able to stay in front right up until the end with the Braid rink claiming victory by 17 shots to 14.

On rink 3 Keith Burnett, Alan Smyth, Leslie Jackson and Gary Shaw took on J Bell and with 4 ends played the scores were tied at 3-3. The Ballymena men then picked up 3 counts of 4 shots over the next 4 ends to open up a 10 shot lead. Unfortunately the Braid rink found further shots hard to come by and with 16 ends played the visitors had got to within 2 shots of the Ballymena score. A brace of 3’s over the next 2 ends saw the visitors out in front and they were able to stay there right up until the end to claim an unlikely victory by 21 shots to 18.

Willie McNabb, Alan O’Loan, Derek Greer and Alex Wilson were involved in a close low scoring game against E Totten on rink 4 with a total of 28 shots scored over the regulation 21 ends. With 6 ends played the scores were tied at 4-4 and four ends later the rinks could still not be separated with the scoreboard reading 6-6. Wilson’s men then won the next 5 ends to open up a 6 shot lead and although the visitors had slightly the better of the remaining ends the Braid rink held out to win by 15 shots to 13.