Senior bowlers still in hunt for two cups

During the week they travelled to Cliftonville in the quarter final of the NIPGL Senior Cup where they recorded a comfortable 91-51 victory to progress in to the semi final where they will play either Old Bleach or NICS on July 25, at a neutral venue.

Then on Saturday, Cookstown wee the visitors in the Irish Senior Cup, with the Old Ballymoney Road men reaching the quarter-finals of the competition with a 75-67 victory.

Against Cliftonville, Andrew Bonnar, David Duncan, Jimmy Hodges and Mark Torrington made steady progress against B Gillespie and with 11 ends played they held a 9 shot advantage. The home rink narrowed the gap during the second period of the game but the Ballymena men claimed victory by 18 shots to 14.

Steven Shields, Sammy Allen, Andrew Morrison and Andrew Kyle started off like a house on fire against J McGinn and at the half way stage, had already opened up a 14 shot advantage.

The remainder was more evenly contested but Kyle’s men were just too good for the Belfast men and went on to record a well deserved 26-12 win.

JR Nicholl, JJ Robinson, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman were also on fine form against P Neeson and with the help of two counts of 5 shots during the first 9 ends, the Ballymena men were quickly on top.

The home rink came more in to the game during the second half of the game but in the end the Braid men were well worth their 23-13 victory

The closest game saw James Gaston, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson take on R Gray.

For the first 13 ends there was little to choose between the 2 rinks but the Ballymena rink dominated the latter part of the contest, scoring 15 shots without reply to claim victory by 24 shots to 12.

IRISH SENIOR CUP

Against Cookstown, Andrew Bonnar, David Duncan, Mark Torrington and Jim Baker settled quickly against L McHugh and after 9 ends they opened up a 5 shot lead.

The Ballymena men then scored 10 shots over the next 5 ends to change the direction of the game and they eventually won by 21 shots to 15.

JR Nicholl, JJ Robinson, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman had one of those days against C Hogg where nothing went their way and they trailed by 30 shots to 8 with one end remaining.

With the overall score close it was important that the Braid men kept going and they scored 3 shots on the final end to finish on the wrong side of a 30-11 score line.

Steven Shields, Sammy Allen, Andrew Morrison and Andrew Kyle were always in charge against M Wilson even though after 10 ends they only held a 2 shot lead.

The Braid rink won the next 9 ends to lead by 24 shots and even though they conceded 2 singles over the final ends, they claimed a well deserved 24-10 victory.

James Gaston, Graham Wilson, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson found D McElroy’s rink difficult to shake off.

After 13 ends they held an 8 shot advantage. Four ends later the lead had been cut to 3 shots but the Braid rink won 3 of the remaining 4 ends to win by 19 shots to 12.

This week Ballymena Seniors have no matches due to the International Series / British Isles Championships taking place in Dublin.