Seniors cut up about 'poor' pitch

THE Curran Senior team who travelled to Dromore to fulfil a rearranged league match were full of confidence after their convincing win over Newcastle the previous week.

A couple of enforced changes gave an opportunity to players from the Junior team to make their debuts for the Seniors. James Burns had Robert Bradley at lead, Roger Crawford at second and Billy Hunter at third.

James and the boys got off to a reasonable start, but a disastrous six on end five seen them trail 11-5 to the Dromore four. The six-shot deficit remained after 10 ends with Dromore leading 14-8.

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With the Curran boys’ struggling to cope with the playing surface, the Dromore four pushed home their advantage and ran out easy winners 28-11.

No such problems for Michael Dickey’s four of Brian McCowan - making his Senior team debut at lead - Simon Beggs at second and Jim McIlwrath at third. This rink were definitely on form and performed well on the difficult surface, building a 10-3 lead after 10 ends.

With a head of steam, the Curran boys powered their way to a 29-8 victory, with all four players putting in great performances.

In Raymond Robinson’s absence, Pat McRandall stepped up to skip with Eddie McCartney at lead, Jimmy McAllister at second and Darren Witherspoon promoted to third.

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Neither team gained the upper hand throughout the match, with only two shots separating the teams through15 ends in Dromore’s favour.

Pat and the boys fought to the end, but finished up one shot adrift to lose 15-14 after 21 ends.

Geoff Falconer had his usual front end of Nigel Todd and Kenny Falconer, and Andy Thom making his Senior debut at third. Again the scoring was pretty even, with only a one shot separating the teams at 10 ends – Dromore leading 10-9.

By 15 ends the Dromore four had increased their lead to two shots and led 14-12.

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As this match was two ends behind the others, due to a couple of burnt ends, it was evident that the result would hinge on the outcome of this game, with a possibility of the Curran picking up four or five points. With the game finely poised at 20 ends and the scores tied across the board and all the other matches complete, it was down to Geoff and the boys to score one shot to ensure an overall win for the Curran.

With one bowl to come, Geoff and the boys had done all they could and lay a match-winning score of two shots. The Dromore skip, who in truth had spent most of the evening playing weighted shots, pulled off a lovely draw to score one for the home team and take six of the seven points.

A disappointing end to the match, with the Curran only picking up one point and no doubt some of players blaming the result on the state of the green, which was not perfect, but it has to be said most of the Curran players coped with it well.

Dromore 70 (6 points) – Curran 69 (1 point)

High-five finish

On Saturday, Curran Seniors took on Londonderry Park and after the disappointing result at Dromore they were determined to make home advantage count.

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Geoffery Falconer had Nigel Todd at lead, Kenny Falconer at second and Chris McCullough at third. Geoff’s four scored consistently through the first 10 ends to lead 10 -4 and looked to be in control, but the visiting team persevered and got their reward, winning six ends in a row to level the scores at 10-10.

The visitors now had their tails up and put more pressure on the Curran four to lead 16-12 with two ends to play. The Curran four responded, but were unlucky to finish up losing by two shots after lying good counts, only to see the opposition skip nip in with his final bowl to cut the score to two singles and ensure the visitors ran out winners 16-14.

Michael Dickey’s four of Jimmy Mcallister, Simon Beggs and Jim McIlwrath – fresh from two big wins – were involved in another high-scoring match, but not the way they hoped,and found themselves on the receiving end this time.

Michael’s four never really got going over the first 10 ends and trailed 16-5. They fell further behind and trailed 21-6, but true to form they never gave up and came back to 14-21.

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But the gap was too much to close and the visitors ran out winners 26-14 after 21 ends. Not a good day for the Curran four, but rest assured they will bounce back for the next match.

James Burns had Robert Bradley at lead, Darren Witherspoon at second and Billy Hunter at third. Having recovered from their visit to Dromore and happy to be playing on a nicely drawing green, the Curran boys took great pleasure in practising the drawing art and promptly took a 13-4 lead after 10 ends. James’s and the boys extended their lead further and by 15 ends led 19-5.

With the Curran in full control of this match they ran out easy winners 25-7. A great win for James’s boys, with Robert and Billy putting in terrific performances.

Raymond Robinson had Eddie McCartney at lead, Andy Thom at second and Pat McRandall at third. Raymond’s four had a steady start but trailed 4-5 after five ends. The Curran four upped their game winning four of the next five ends to take the lead 10-6.

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The visitors pulled back to close the gap to 13-12 after 15 ends. A six on end 16 eased the pressure on the Curran four and a two on the next end seemingly put Ray and the boys’ on a winning track, but the visitors bounced back with a five on end 18 to narrow the score to 21-17.

A two to the visitors on the next end brought the score to 21-19 with two ends to play. Raymonds’ four steadied the ship and finished 2, 2 and secured the win 25-19.

The final score was Curran 78 (5 points) – Londonderry Park 68 (2 points)

Curran Seniors travel to Finaghy next week in the IBA Cup.