sports round-up

Osmond A secured a 5 all draw against title rivals Ballyclare A in the latest round of matches in the Premier Division of the Co Antrim Table Tennis league.

James Steele was man of the match which included a stunning win against Ballyclare number 1, Andrew Davies.

Brian Orr started against Stuart Heron with a surprise straight sets defeat in a very lack lustre display from the Ballymoney man.

Francis Shirley followed up with a fighting performance against Andrew Davies but was outplayed 3 sets to 1. James Steele pulled one back for Osmond defeating veteran Ian Davies 3 – 1.

The next 3 matches all went the way of Ballyclare. Brian lost out to Andrew Davies by 3 sets to 1. James Steele, agonisingly for him, lost out by 12 – 10 in a fifth set cliff-hanger having held a 5 point lead.

Francis Shirley, having led 2 sets to 1, went down in the decider to Ian Davies.

These 3 defeats left Osmond

trailing by 5 matches to 1 and the match looking like a lost cause.

James Steele halted the rut with an impressive win against Andrew Davies to throw Ballymoney a life line. James played up to his best to record a first time win against Andrew.

Francis then ousted Stuart Heron by 2 sets to 1 and when Brian defeated Ian Davies it brought the score back to 5 matches to 4 with only the doubles left to play.

Brian joined up with Francis to play Andrew and Stuart in what was to be a very tense encounter.

The 1st set went to Ballymoney by 12 points to 10. The pivotal 2nd set swung one way then the other with Ballymoney again just edging home by 18 points to 16.

The match was closed out in the 3rd set again by the narrowest of margins and Ballymoney had fought back to secure an unlikely draw and keep themselves 2 points clear at the top of the league.

Division 3 Report

Osmond C hosted Division 3 leaders Knockagh C and came away the wrong side of a 9-1 score line.

Team Captain and much improved player, David Barnes won the only match beating Mike Maguire by 3 sets to 1.

David then lost out by the closest of margins to Keith Mooney 11/7, 8/11, 12/10, 4/11, 9/11.

The Ballybogy man followed up an excellent display at the recent Co Antrim Open when he produced his best table tennis to date, clinching some important wins and finishing in the top 20.

Brendan McLernon lost out to both Knockagh’s number 1 Mark Davies (3-0) and Keith Mooney (3-1). Laura McClelland and Jon-Lee Walker both fought hard but were outplayed by their more experienced opponents.

In fact this was Jon Lee’s 1st match of the season and he continues to progress in the right direction. Laura has also improved this year and will be hoping for continued success in the second part of the league.

Inter-zone bowls in Ballymoney

The play off stage of the Junior Inter-Zone competition took place at the Ballybrakes stadium on Saturday 1st February.

The four teams competing in the qualifying stages were Donegal, Mid-Antrim, North-West and Northern .

In the first game Northern were drawn against Donegal. David Stirling and Gareth McLean started to pull away and had comfortable wins of 14–7 and 11–5 respectively. Anthony Clyde had more of a struggle to beat Jonny Crawford. However his rink played some excellent bowls to secure all five points by winning 11–9.

In the other game the highly rated North-West team beat Mid-Antrim 4-1.Northern faced Mid-Antrim and were never really challenged and all three rinks won comfortably, 40-10 and once again bagging all five points.

The stage was set for an exciting final against North-West. At the beginning the Northern team struggled to find form. Gareth McLean’s rink edged ahead but David Stirling was seven down and Anthony Clyde 10 shots down. However, when team captain David Stirling lifted a seven the Northern lads were once more back in contention . Tension was high as the young players produced some outstanding to play to draw level and then overtake the favourites to lead 28 – 23. But North-West clawed their way back and with the last rink left on the mat Northern were one shot down. Unfortunately, they lost two shots and were beaten by the narrowest of margins 29-28!

The Northern Junior team produced some excellent play and are to be congratulated on their performance this season. Much credit is due to the hard work of Chris Jones who coaches the members.

The Zone Committee hope that this will encourage young players in the area to enjoy bowls and appeal to all clubs who have under-18s to put their names forward for next season’s team.

Team members were: David Stirling, Adam Stratton, Matthew Clyde, Gary Kelly, Gareth McLean, Gavin McLean, Cahir Loftus, Ronan Harris, Anthony Clyde, Shea Martin, Mark Guerney and David McConnell.

Clay pigeon club formed in Dervock

In the Mill Tea Rooms, Dervock, there was a presentation by the Neighbourhood PSNI in conjunction with Ballymoney’s Police and Community Safety Partnership to the newly formed Blackwater Clay Pigeon Club.

Ballymoney Neighbourhood PSNI Officers Inspector David Anderson, Constable Ian Gourley and Constable Jonny Madden were present and commended the Club members for their contribution to a 23% reduction in antisocial behaviour in the village in the past year. To mark the on going partnership with the Club, the local PSNI Officers had sourced funding for a trophy for the club.

Named the PSNI Perpetual Shield it will be presented annually to the winner of the Boxing Day Shoot. This years winner was Tony King who was best shot on the day at the Boxing Day event.

The evening also gave local people the opportunity to ask questions directly to the PCSP Members and the PSNI Neighbourhood Team about Policing issues and public safety concerns in the local area.

A special word of thanks to Ballymoney PCSP for funding the evening at the Mill Tea Room, thanks to the Neighbourhood team and thanks to Mrs Jennifer Laverty who opened the Tea Room out of hours to cater for the attendees.

John Hagan, Club Secretary, said: “We as a club are only new on the scene but there is tremendous interest locally and in the surrounding area. We are indebted to the Route Clay Pigeon Club and Carnview Farm for helping to get us up and running.

“We now need to source some land locally to enable us to have a place of our own, so if there’s any farmers out there with a piece of land we could use please contact our Membership Secretary on 028 2074 1078.“

Derek Small, a club member, went on to explain that if suitable land becomes available he would like to introduce the sport to people with disibilities who may have an interest in taking up the sport.

The club recently formed is full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm and there’s a bright future ahead for them.

If you want to check out the club they are on Facebook and if you want to have a go you can contact them and find out more.

Scenic Inn Ballymoney & Coleraine District Snooker League

With the second half of the season just started, the Seagull Potters are still there to be shot down.

In second place the Elite team are two points adrift.

There were two good results for Dunloy Utd but they were held to a draw against Dunloy Galaxy but they pulled out all the shots when beating Potters Elite by four frames to two - which no doubt puts them back in contention for League honours.

The Drones team are also still there with two fine wins over Legion Hawks by four frames to two.

They took two precious points against Potters Aces and into third place.

The Legion Hawks have been beaten in their last two matches which leaves them at the bottom of the table.

The All Stars team who have two matches in hand entertain Dunloy Utd at the Potters Club this Thursday night.

They badly need a win to have any chance of getting into the mix but with seven games to play, it is not impossible after having won their last two matches in the Ballymena League.

The Potters Aces have one match in hand as have Dunloy Galaxy and it will be very interesting just to see how these matches will pan out.

League Table

Potters Seagull 32; Potters Elite 31 (one match in hand); Drones 29; Dunloy Utd 28; Potters cCes 24 (one match in hand); Dunloy Galaxy 23 (one match in hand); Legion Hawks 19; All Stars 18 (two matches in hand).

* The Ballymoney and Coleraine District League, sponsored by the Scenic Inn, Armoy, started their second half of the season with the Baker Family Doubles competition and the final was play Pottered at the family home.

The Boreland dynasty from the Potters Club were the main stay in the competition with Geoffrey and Curtis Boreland up against Willie Boreland and James Nesbitt.

It was a tight affair all the way through seven frames, however Willie and James should have done better as they were favourites from the start but in the last frame Geoffrey and Curtis ran out clear winners to win 4-3.

Well done to all players.

The league table is as follows:

Seagull Potters 32pts

Potters Elite 31

The Drones 29

Dunloy Utd 28

Potters Aces 24

Dunloy Galaxy 23

Legion Hawks 19

Potters AllStars 18.