Teams in Morrison Trophy action

New Row got a chance to see what the opposition is like in the higher division when they entertained the Marian. Even though New Row lost, at times they made life difficult for the Marian with three rinks giving a good account of themselves. Sammy McArthur (New Row) lead by one shot going into the last end but James Martin (Marian) salvaged a draw leaving the score at eight shots apiece. Joe Martin (Marian) scraped 10 shots to eight win against Mark Callaghan (New Row). In the second half William McCaw (Marian) beat Jonathan Elder (New Row) by three shots. The deciding game was the one between Brian McAlary (Marian) and Joe Elkin (New Row) with the latter going down by 10 shots.

St. Mary’s played Killowen out in Aghadowey but the Division 1 team had a fairly easy passage into round two. Jordan Mullan (St. Mary’s) beat David Morrison (Killowen) by six shots. John Campbell (St. Mary’s) won 14 shots to four against Billy Laverty (Killowen). Declan McCann piled on more agony for Killowen with his win against Sadie Davis and David Gaile completed the route for St. Mary’s when he beat Robert McClements (Killowen) 13 shots to six.

Garvagh & District, another Division 2 side, fell to Division 1 opponents, Second Kilrea. Again the margin of defeat was big with all of Garvagh’s four rinks losing. Brian McGrath (2nd. Kilrea) beat Elizabeth McCafferty (Garvagh) 19 shots to four. Ivan Smyth made it 2-0 for the home team with a four shot win over David Workman (Garvagh). Geoffrey Boyce (Garvagh) was beaten 15 shots to two by Nicky McCaw (2nd. Kilrea) and Margaret Johnston made it a full house for (2nd. Kilrea) by beating Ian Reynolds (Garvagh)

In an all Division 2 encounter, First Coleraine had to fight hard to overcome Castlerock. Ronnie Steele got the visitors off to a good start by beating Clifford McLernon (1st. Coleraine) 11 shots to five. Jim Campbell eased First Coleraine in front with a 23 shots to six win against Brian Wilson (Castlerock). Jackie Hutchinson kept Castlerock in the hunt with a 13 shots to seven win against Bryan Shaw (1st. Coleraine). Stand-in skip Dessie Hassan was the hero for the home team securing the overall victory with a hard fought four shot win over Victor Callaghan (Castlerock).

In another all Division 2 tie, Finvoy Presbyterian beat Dunloy Presbyterian by 12 shots. Joe Moore (Finvoy) took on Mark Shaw (Dunloy) and won 10 shots to five. Chris Jones kept the momentum going for the home team when he won by 11 shots against Thomas Paul (Dunloy). Stephen Dunlop brought some hope for Dunloy by beating Robert McShane (Finvoy) 12 shots to six. Joe Campbell tried to swing the game for Dunloy and went into an eight shot lead after six ends. However Gary McCloy (Finvoy) dug deep and came out on top, beating his opponent by two shots.

Dunluce beat Drumreagh (no result submitted).

Loughanreagh won over Ballinrees.

The draw for the second round is: St. Mary’s v Dunluce; 2nd. Kilrea v Finvoy Pres.; winners of St. Colmans/Moneydig v 1st. Coleraine; Marian v Loughanreagh. Matches to be played on week commencing January 14th.

North-West Squeeze out Northern Ladies

On Saturday 1st December, the Northern Ladies’ Inter-Zone travelled to Limavady to compete in the first round of the Inter-Zone competition.

In this local derby the scene was set for an exciting match. After the first five ends North-West had edged into a 3 point lead and after 8 ends Northern had taken the lead. However North-West finished the first half with a 7 shot advantage.

In the second half the Northern ladies started strongly picking up 7 shots in the first end. The continued to play some excellent bowls and after 7 ends only 3 shots separated the two teams. However the North-West ladies held their nerve and won the match by 7 shots.

The Northern team saw 5 players making their Zone debut and there were 7 changes from last year’s team so this was a very pleasing performance from a team which will now look forward doing well in the Plate Competition, when they will travel to either South Tyrone or Mid-Down

The results were: H. Arbuthnot v M. Douglas 10 - 5, T. O’Neill v I. Douglas 3 – 14 C. Murray v L. Rice 9 – 10, M. Johnston v P. McCann 7 - 6, D. McCloy v F. McDermott 12 - 9, , B. O’Neill v K. O’Neill 5 - 9, . Final score: North-West 53 Northern 46

IIBA JUNIOR PAIRS

The IIBA Junior Pairs will be held in Loughanreagh Hall on Wednesday 19th December. All players should report at 7.00pm.