Ladies Inter-Zone Scores

Donegal Ladies                                            North Eastern Ladies
D. Montgomery		S. Davidson
M. McClintock		J. Burns
Ruby Graham		B. Campion
M. Montgomery	13	M. McGill	05
M. Sullivan		M. Scott
K. Duggan		M. McAuley
S. Bell		R. Gault
A. Gilfillan	04	A. McKillop	14
M. Mullin		P. Johnston
R. Hamilton		F. Cunningham
J. Buchanan		R. Johnston
E. Doherty	17	L. McKillop	04
Half Time	34		23
C. Wilson		E. McLernon
R. McCausland		M. Huey
R. McDonnell		D. Hughes
R. Crawford	18	J. Sharp	05
P. Lyttle		E. Moore
R. Dowds		A. Burns
P. Bustard		M. McMullan
I. Duncan	18	N. O’Kane	03
M. Beattie		O. Gault
L. Finlay		D. McKeeman
V. Patterson		P. Calvin
T. Spence	09	A. Elliott	09
Result	79		40

Donegal approached this game with some trepidation following the defeat against North Eastern in Bushmills last season. It appeared that the game was following the same pattern as North Eastern moved into a 7 shot lead after 5 ends.

However, Elizabeth Doherty’s rink got a 5 and Margaret Montgomery’s rink got a 6 in quick succession to turn the game on it’s head and put the hosts into the lead. Doherty’s rink gained confidence and claimed a further count of 5 to assist Donegal to go into the interval ahead.

An 11 shot lead gave the Donegal side the momentum going into the second period. Ruth Crawford’s rink lost a shot in the first end but then went on to win six consecutive ends which time they had taken the score out to 14 shots to 3 shots in Donegal’s favour. Isobel Duncan’s rink performed consistently throughout only losing two ends in their impressive 15 shot victory. Tracy Spence’s rink fought for a hard earned draw.

North Eastern will no doubt be disappointed but this result shows that ladies bowls is unpredictable as many of the ladies teams are around the same quality with home mats, used in the right way becoming a distinct advantage.

South Tyrone ladies at last brought their home form and the form they normally reserve for the shield competition into the main competition to oust an expectant Mid Ulster side.

Mid Ulster 52 v South Tyrone 60

K McKenna 3 v A Herron 15

S Anderson 13 v B Jennings 6

B Brown 9 v K Daly 9

Half time south Tyrone in front by five shots

E Wright 7 v A McKiver 13

K Jones 9 v M McGrath 11

B Davison 11 v C Campbell 6

Armagh as expected got off to a winning start but they had to fight more than expected as the first three rinks from Mid Antrim put in a very good display with rinks of Daphne Marshall and Jennifer Wilson well matched. Both rinks played very good bowls making this was the game to watch. Jennifer Wilson has the full range of shots and she should gain in confidence after this performance. Helen Lynn was the pick of the visitors as she produced quality bowls to save several counts despite going down by five shots to a very good rink skipped by May Cassells.

A special mention must go to debutant Amy Hunter, Mid Antrim, who was not overawed by the occasion and produced a high level of consistency.

Armagh are a formidable outfit and they have quality right through their rinks.

Armagh 62 v Mid Antrim 30

D Marshall 7 v J Wilson 7

M Cassells 10 v H Lynn 5

R Cassells 9 v R Morrison 4

Half time: Armagh 26 v Mid Antrim 16

P Beattie 14 v P Wilson 4

C McMillen 12 v W Adair 3

F McNally 10 v I Adams 6

Western put behind them the disappointment of being on the wrong end of an upset last season to win at home to North Down. The hosts were still not at their best but this game was a good test for them as the visitors turned in one of their best performances for a few years with the ever reliable Elaine Hastings starring.

If Western can return to the form of 2008 then they will be serious challengers.

Western 58 v North Down 46

C Scott 8 v M Palmer 5

P Harper 17 v E Neill 2

K Bradshaw 7 v M Young 11

J Carson 8 v J Hollinger 7

J Parkinson 6 v E Hastings 11

E Foster 12 v M Gaw 10

Northern 53 v South Down 46

B O’Neill 9 v A Pennington 6

M Johnston 9 v B Flanaghan 8

B Caldwell 8 v E McKenna 6

D McCloy 7 v M Dowds 12

T O’Neill 11 v A Grant 10

C Murray 9 v O Jalloway 4

In the other games Cork ladies finally broke their away duck winning at Monaghan while the upset of the day went to Lisburn ladies who won on their travels against Foyle. This is an excellent result for one of the lesser lights in ladies bowls against a team that has consistently reached the later stages in recent seasons.