Three-mendous success for Lurig as Festival concludes

With a total of 18 teams competing for the title, the first round draw threw up a few local derby ties with both the Glencloy teams and the Lurig teams drawing their clubmates in the opening round.

These games, however, went by the formbook and both Glencloy 1 team, made up of James Atcheson, Stevie Morgan and Willie Magill, and Lurig A's team - Decan, Michael and Bengi Birt - made their way to the quarter finals.

Other matches included Social Chronics match with Halfway B a game which went to the wire, Jonny Donnell edged out Chronics' Kirk Little in the final frame to set up a meeting with Glencloy 5 who made light work of Halfway 2 in the preliminary round.

Other teams to reach the quarter finals included Glencloy 4 who defeated Black Bull and BUSC, who were too much for Halfway 1. McAuleys and Randalstown Veterans 2 also made it to the quarter finals. The real upset of the round was undoubtedly the defeat of Randalstown Veterans 1 whom Glencloy 3 saw out in a 5-2 score line.

The quarter finals set up another meeting of two Glencloy sides - Glencloy 5's team of Joe Abram, Michael Abram and Sean Davison eventually seeiing off Glencloy 1 5-4.

McAuleys were the next team to join them in the last four with a fine 5-3 win over Randalstown Veterans 2 team made up of James Talbot Seamus Birt and Nigel Murray. The final two teams to reach the semis were BUSC team of Jimmy Knowles, Tony O'Neill and Seamus Scullion and the Lurig A team.

The Semi Finals then saw the meeting of McAuleys and BUSC, the league leaders team proved too strong in this one and the Carnlough team made up of David Magill, John McAllister and Ryan Mitchell claimed a 5-2 win to book a finals spot.

The meeting of Glencloy 5 and Lurig A was a much tighter affair with the match going to the wire before being decided in the final frame Bengi Birt seeing off the challenge of Michael Abram.

The final was another close match with nothing to pick between the teams, with both teams having there chances to win the match before it went to the deciding frame. The game however was decided in the final frame with Michael Birt and Ryan Mitchell meeting each other, with Michael Birt holding his nerve to see his team take the 3 A-sides title.

Town and Country League officials have thanked the staff and management of the Ballymena United Social Club for the kind use of their facilities during the Festival of Pool.

RESULTS

Preliminary round: Social Chronics 4, Halfway B 5; Halfway A2 1, Glencloy Inn5 5.

Round one: Halfway B 2, Glencloy5 5; Glencloy2 5, Glencloy1 5; Glencloy2 4; Glencloy4 5, Black Bull 3; Lurig A 5, Lurig B 1; BUSC 5, Halfway A 2; Randalstown Veterans1 2, Glencloy3 5; Greenhills 2, Randalstown Veterans2 5; Greenhills 1, McAuleys 5.

Quarter-finals: Glencloy5 5, Glencloy1 4; Glencloy4 3, Lurig A 5; BUSC 5, Glencoly3 2; Randalstown Veterans2 3, McAuleys 5.

Semi-finals: Glencloy5 4, Lurig A 5 - D Birt bt J Abram; MAbram bt M Birt; S Davidson bt B Birt; D Birt bt M Abram; S Davidson Bt M Birt; B Birt bt J Abram; D Birt bt S Davidson; J Abram bt M Birt; B Birt bt M Abram.

BUSC 2, McAuleys 5 - D Magill bt S Scullion; J McAllister bt T O’Neill; R Mitchell bt J Knowles; J McAllister bt S Scullion; T O’Neill bt R Mitchell; J Knowles bt D Magill R Mitchell bt S Scullion;

Final: Lurig A 5, McAuleys 4 - D Birt Bt R Mitchell; D Magill Bt M Birt; J McAllister bt B birt; D Birt bt D Magill; J Mcallister bt M Birt; B Birt bt R Mitchell; D Birt bt J McAllister; B Birt bt D Magill; M birt bt R Mitchell.

LEAGUE RESUMES

This week, after a long absence for the Festival of Pool, sees a return to league action where Lurig A, Randalstown Veterans and Glencloy Inn will all seek to close the gap at the top of the league with McAuleys the only unbeaten team in the league.

This week's fixtures are:Glencloy inn v Heffrons; Social Chronics v Glencloy Elite; Lurig Inn A v Randalstown Veterans; Greenhills v Halfway House A; Black Bull v Lurig Inn B. Bye – McAuley's.

TABLE

PWLPts

McAuley's1212047

Lurig A129344

Glencloy Inn119244

R'town Veterans1110143

Halfway House A128434

Greenhills127531

BUSC116528

Lurig B126627

Halfway House B116526

Glencloy Elite123923

Social Chronics123923

Black Bull123921

Heffrons1221020