Western v Mid Ulster

In Group 1 the first game played was Western against Mid Ulster. It proved to be a gripping game with Mid Ulster making the early running assisted by a four scored on the second end by the rink skipped by G Wilson who led 5-0 after two ends. Western were ahead on mat1 but lost a three on the fourth end to trail by one. After three ends J Hagan had already showed her undoubted talent skipping her rink to a six nil lead but the home four with R Bell at the helm did not panic and were rewarded in the fourth end picking up a four to trail by two shots. After four ends Mid Ulster had opened a five shot lead on mat3 to be in front on all three mats and into an eight shot advantage.

Western then went on a momentum spurt and by the eighth end had taken a four shot lead as N Freeman’s four hit the front for the first time and D McGorman’s rink had won four consecutive ends to go in front by four shots.

R Bell encouraged his rink as they fought back from a six shot deficit to level after nine ends. The Western rink on mat1 won the last six ends to claim victory while both other games were all level going into the final end. J Hagan picked up a two to give Mid Ulster their only rink point as Western claimed a double on mat3 to win by two.

There was good quality bowling on all three rinks with J Hagan skipping for Mid Ulster catching the eye with an impressive display.

C Bell, D McVitty, M Burleigh & D McGorman beat N Quinn, D Davidson, R Palmer& T McCloy

J Crozier, C Crawford, K Moffatt & R Bell lost to v J McCullagh, S Turner, J Barnes & J Hagan

S Harpur, D Abraham, D Wilson & N Freeman beat C O'Neill, S O'Neill, K McCloy & G Wilson

Western 30 shots (4pts) best Mid Ulster 23 shots (1pt).

Mid Ulster v South Tyrone

Mid Ulster then played their second game; this time against the remaining group opponents, South Tyrone. All the games were competitive and could have gone either way. G Wilson bounced back from his late defeat in the first game to hold his nerve and claim a narrow win for Mid Ulster on mat1. This was equalled and cancelled out on mat3 by the foursome skipped by V Boden as she inspired her rink throughout the game. Each team had one rink point in the bag so the game on mat2 would decide the winner unless there was a draw. The South Tyrone four had the edge on consistency to win the rink and the overall win bonus to set up a decider with Western to choose which team would go through to the semi-finals.

It was promising for ladies bowls to have two very talented young ladies skipping against each other in a highly competitive game on mat3 with V Boden from South Tyrone high in the reckoning for player of the match.

G Wilson beat S Walker

T McCloy lost to C Hegarty

J Hagan lost to V Boden

Mid Ulster 26 shots (1pt) lost to South Tyrone 32 shots (4pts).

Western v South Tyrone

The two winners locked horns in the final game to battle for place in the last four. M Burleigh was drafted in as skip for Western and despite losing singles on the first two ends took control of the game to lead by four shots after six ends. S Walker’s quartet never gave up and claimed a three on the final end to finish level.

M Burleigh’s rink won a count of four on the fourth end to hit the front in their match-up and it was a timely count as South Tyrone were three shots ahead on both of the other games by the start of the fifth end. C Hegarty’s foursome won eight of the ten ends to overcome the Western rink on mat2.

On mat1 Western with R Bell at the helm came back from a three shot deficit winning the last six ends. They did not let up during this fine run and piled the pressure on over the final ends taking a count of five and then a three on ends nine and ten to get Western over the finish line in front and in doing so take the overall win and a berth in the semi-finals.

W Coulter, C Crawford, K Moffatt & R Bell beat the South Tyrone rink skipped by V Boden

S Harpur, T Brian, D Wilson & N Freeman lost to the South Tyrone rink skipped by C Hegarty

C Bell, J Beatty, D McVitty & M Burleigh drew with the South Tyrone rink skipped by S Walker

Western 30 shots (3.5pts) v South Tyrone 23 shots (1.5pts).

East Antrim, Larne, Lisburn & North Belfast

Larne v Lisburn 
Larne took the early initiative but by the half way point Lisburn had reduced the deficit and gained the momentum. Both teams continued to battle in three close games and just when it seemed that Lisburn could open a gap the Larne players lifted their game over the final ends to claim two rink wins and snatch a draw on the third mat.

North Belfast and East Antrim fought out an even closer game as North Belfast claimed two rink wins however they were very narrow wins. This enabled East Antrim to sneak the overall win by a meagre three shots which gave them three points.

Larne 4.5pts beat Lisburn 0.5pt
East Antrim 3pts beat North Belfast 2pts.

The second round of matches were as intriguing as the first games. North Belfast took on Lisburn and with a few ends to go were in the lead however Lisburn had improved throughout and battled back to win two of the rinks and claim the two points for the overall win. Another disappointment for North Belfast who had played well in their two matches only to narrowly lose both.

East Antrim made the early running against neighbours Larne and went ahead 6-0 on mats 1 & 3. A good start by the Larne rink on mat2 kept them in the match. Larne started to hit back on mat1 and then played an excellent end on mat2 to claim a seven and sneak into the overall lead. It was short lived as East Antrim dominated on mat3 and battled back on mat2 to take control again. East Antrim saw out the win on mat3 while Larne held off the fightback on mat2 to claim the point for the rink win.

Larne had settled on mat1 and reduced the early deficit to only two shots going into the final end. Larne then produced their best end of this game to lie the required number of shots with only the skips bowls remaining. The East Antrim skip held his nerve to draw shot but the Larne skip responded with another very good bowl unfortunately his bowl held on a normally swinging hand to push the East Antrim bowl onto the jack instead of out of the head. Larne were doubly unfortunate as the jack only moved sufficiently to get one shot; if the jack had of travelled further Larne could have gained a deserved draw or even steal the win.

Lisburn4pts [aggregate 4.5] beat North Belfast 2pts[aggregate 3pts]

East Antrim 4pts[aggregate 7pts] beat Larne 1pt [aggregate 5.5pts].

The results after the first two games ensured a thrilling last round of games with three teams all in frame to qualify for finals night with East Antrim in the driving seat.

East Antrim could not sustain their form of the first two games while Lisburn had built momentum throughout the day and hit their peak form in the decisive match when it mattered most. There were quite a few permutations possible but Lisburn gave themselves every chance of qualifying for the semifinals as they dominated on all three rinks to secure all five points but also significantly improve their shot difference.

Larne knew they had to win but North Belfast came out of the blocks quicker and took the lead on two of the three rink games. Larne then settled and despite looking out of it by the middle of the game put in a sprint finish on mats 2 & 3 to win both. Larne were in front on mat1 by a solitary shot going into the final end but were unable to take all five points as North Belfast played their most consistent end to snatch the rink win.

East Antrim 0pts[aggregate 7pts] lost to Lisburn 5pts [aggregate 9.5pts]

Larne4pts [aggregate 9.5pts] beat North Belfast 1pt [4pts]

Lisburn and Larne finished level on 9.5 points and with the head to head result not counting as a tie breaker it was down to mathematics to work out which team had the best shot difference. Lisburn qualified with a better shot difference over Larne by three shots.

A very good and enjoyable days bowling delivered by four very competitive teams any one of which was capable of winning the group. Lisburn showed their top form at the right time and steadily improved game by game producing their best when required.