Seniors claim PGL cup final place - but league hopes suffer another blow

In the NIPGL Senior League Division 1 the Braid men picked up a maximum 7 points in their Tuesday night game against Forth River. On Thursday night they put in a good performance when they easily swept aside Willowfield in the semi-final of the NIPGL Senior Cup however on Saturday they lost ground in the race for the NIPGL Senior Division 1 league title when they could only pick up 2 points away at Pickie.

LEAGUE

Ballymena Seniors (108) Forth River (56)

Five shots on the 1st end and 4 shots on the 4th end got the Ballymena rink of Michael Wilson, David Duncan, Jim Baker and Andi Duncan off to the best possible start against J Edgeworth. The visitors could only win 3 of the first 11 ends and at this stage of the contest the Braid rink were 11 shots to the good. A second count of 5 shots on the 12th end ensured that victory would go to the Ballymena men and even though the remainder of the game was much closer the home rink were well worth their 27-12 victory.

Steven Shields, Sammy Allen, Andrew Morrison and Andy Kyle also started well against G McClenaghan and 5 shots on the 2nd end gave them an early lead. The Braid men then played the perfect end on the 5th end when they picked up a maximum count of 8 shots. Three ends later the Ballymena rink lifted another count of 5 shots to leave the scoreboard reading 21-2 in their favour. The Braid men eased up over the remaining ends and in the end they eased home with 14 shots to spare with the final score 28-14.

A total of 50 shots were scored on rink 3 where J R Nicholl, Mark Torrington, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman took on S Toy. The visitors actually lead this match by 7 shots to 5 after 6 ends but a brace of 5’s over the next 2 ends changed the game in favour of the Ballymena men. This put Coleman’s men 8 shots ahead and this was still the margin after 16 ends. The home rink finished strongly and over the remaining ends they outscored their opponents by 12 shots to 2 and leave the final score 34-16

The closest game of the evening took place on rink 4 as James Gaston, Geoff Padget, Jimmy Hodges and Nigel Robinson were drawn against C Mullan. The home rink made a solid start and over the opening ends they built up a 5 shot lead. With 14 ends completed the margin was down to only 3 shots but the Braid men scored 5 shots over the next 2 ends to give themselves a little breathing space. The visitors had slightly the better of the closing exchanges but the Ballymena men held on to record a hard fought victory by 19 shots to 14.

PGL CUP SEMI-FINAL

Ballymena Seniors (98) Willowfield (55)

J R Nicholl, Mark Torrington, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman made the early running against J Moore and with 8 ends completed the visitors held a 5 shot lead. The game changed on the next end when Coleman’s men picked up a count of 6 shots and from then on there would only be one winner. Five ends later the Braid advantage was 9 shots but they totally controlled the remainder of the game as they won all of the remaining ends to end up comfortable winners by 29 shots to 10.

There was not much to separate Michael Wilson, David Duncan, Jim Baker and Andi Duncan and the Willowfield rink skipped by M Leckey. Scores were level at 8-8 after 7 ends and 13-13 after 12 ends. Two ends later the Willowfield rink lead by 3 shots but the Ballymena scored 8 unanswered shots over the next 4 ends to take charge of this contest and when the game had reached its conclusion the Braid men had a 6 shot advantage with the final score 23-17.

Steven Shields, Sammy Allen, Andrew Morrison and Andy Kyle were locked in close game against K Drew. The Braid men took an early lead and with 5 ends played the score board read 7-2. Three shots on the 9th end gave the Willowfield rink the lead for the first time but a single on the next end brought the rinks level with the score 10-10. Over the remainder of the game there was little to choose between the two rinks and with 1 end remaining the Braid men trailed by a shot and victory eluded Kyle’s rink when they conceded 3 shots to leave the Willowfield men victors by 19 shots to 15.

James Gaston, Jimm Hodges, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson were in majestic form against J Millar. The Braid opened their account with a count of 4 shots and this was followed by 4 singles. The Willowfield rink got themselves on to the scoreboard on the next end when they picked up a single shot but Robinson’s men stepped up a gear when they won the next 7 ends. During this period of the game the Braid rink scored 4 singles but counts of 4, 5 and 7 saw the Ballymena men lead by a massive 29 shots to 1. The Willowfield men had slightly the better of the remaining ends but in reality both the game and the overall match result were out of their reach and in the end the Ballymena men had scored an excellent victory by 31 shots to 9. Ballymena will now play Belmont in the final.

LEAGUE

Ballymena Seniors (78) Pickie (85)

Michael Wilson, David Duncan, Jim Baker and Andi Duncan were mixing it well with the Pickie rink skipped by R Irwin and with 6 ends played the Braid men lead by 6 shots to 5. Unfortunately for the Braid rink they were unable to score over the next 7 ends and by the time the visitors got back on to the score board they found themselves 12 shots in arrears. With 2 ends remaining the margin was still 8 shots but any outside chance of a Ballymena win evaporated on the penultimate end when they conceded a count of 6 shots. Two shots on the final end left the final score 27-15 in favour of the home rink.

J R Nicholl, Mark Torrington, Alistair Coleman and Steven Coleman did not make the best of starts against P Campbell. Two counts of 4 shots on the 6th and 7th ends along with a count of 5 shots on the 11th end saw the Pickie rink take a commanding 21-8 lead after 12 ends. The home rink was unable to score again as the Ballymena men racked up a total of 17 shots to claim an unlikely victory by 25 shots to 21.

Steven Shields, Sammy Allen, Andrew Morrison and Andy Kyle made a great start against W Angus. The visitors opened their account with a count of 5 shots and with only 8 ends played the scoreboard read by 13-1. Six ends later the home rink had reduced the margin to 7 shots but two counts of 4 shots on the 16th and 17th ends gave the Pickie rink the lead for the first time. Successive singles saw the Braid men level the game however 3 shots over the remaining 2 ends gave the home rink victory by 21 shots to 18.

James Gaston, Rod Coleman, Steven Falls and Nigel Robinson took on the Pickie rink skipped by M Caughey. Both of the rinks won 5 of the first 10 ends and it was the visitors who held a slender 2 shot advantage at this stage of the contest. Over the next 7 ends Robinson’s men extended their lead to see them home with the final score 20-16.