Rinks 
report & pic courtesy of A Rice

Colin Wilson, Don McNamara, Paul McNamara and Alan Laughlin from Spa Golf Club represented Ireland in the Fours. Colin was looking to add to the British Isles Singles and Triples titles that he had previously won. In their opening game the Irish four faced tough Welsh opposition. It was the Welsh who settled the quickest and by the sixth end had taken a 6-3 lead. However the next 2 ends changed the complexion of the game with the Irish four picking up 5 shots on the seventh end and 4 shots on the eighth end to lead 12-6. The Irish four had the luxury of losing 3 shots on the remaining 2 ends to win 12-9. Isle of Man were the next opponents and a count of 6 shots to the Irish four on the fifth end ended the game as a contest. Ireland eventually won 17-5. On day 2 Scotland were next up. This turned out to be a very close encounter with shots at a premium. Time after time the Irish four looked to be getting a count before some accurate weight shots from the Scottish skip changed the head. Ireland went into the last end 3 shots up but only lost a single shot to win 7-5. England were the last opponents for the Irish four and were skipped by former Cookstown player Stephen McAlister. They too had won their first 3 games but had a better shot difference. Nothing less than a victory would do for the Irish four. It was a tight game with the score level after 3 ends. England took the lead with a single on the fourth end before 3 shots to Ireland took them 5-3 ahead at the halfway mark. Two singles were exchanged leaving the Irish four 6-4 in front after 7 ends. The English four then scored 2 singles to level the match at 6 all playing the last end. It was the English four who played the better bowls on this end and with the last bowl in his hand the Irish skip attempted to burn the head. Alan made a valiant effort but unfortunately did not make the right connection which left the English rink holding the shot and a well deserved victory