Graham Christie [lead], Peter Christie [skip] & Alan Laughlin [2nd]

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Garfield Lithco [2nd], Richard Fleming [skip] & Andrew Bonnar [lead]

 

Preliminary Rd
N.Smyth	United Services	v	K.McKarthy	Peizers
T.Duffy	Ballybay	v	G.Bell	Raphoe Pres
M.McGrade	St.Joseph's	v	J.Beattie	Drumgor
K.Conroy	Redeemer	v	H.Burrows	Wilton
J.Mackey	Soldierstown	v	M.Reid	Balmoral
J.Montgomery	Abbey Pres	v	P.Christie	Spa GC
S.Bell	1st Larne Pres	v	J.McKenney	St.Michael's
A.Tanner	Conna	v	G.McTasney	Castleton BC
P.Morgan	Cabra	v	C.Shortt	Clogherney
D.McCarron	Bishop Street	v	C.McHugh	Cookstown Par
G.Smyth	BallywalterPark	v	C.Taggart	Benvarden

T Duffy and G Bell fought at close quarters with Bell taking the lead then Duffy levelled early on. Duffy then opened a three shot lead but relinquished it with a loss of four. The Duffy triple levelled again going into the final end and scored the required one to win. Beattie and McGrade each took the lead at one stage but could not draw sufficiently away from their opponent to feel comfortable. Beattie almost took control but lost a three then proceeded to win the last two ends to claim the victory. Christie, Bell and Taggart had reasonably straightforward wins but McHugh had to work hard for victory over D McCarron. Both sides swapped the lead but were all square after six ends. Then a single and a double on consecutive ends was enough to see the McHugh trio home as they restricted their opponents to a single on the final end.

Last 16
N.Smyth	United Services	7	v	11	T.Duffy	Ballybay
J.Beattie	Drumgor	6	v	5	K.Conroy	Redeemer
J.Mackey	Soldierstown	3	v	9	P.Christie	Spa GC
S.Bell	1st Larne Pres	8	v	6	G.McTasney	CastletonBC
C.Shortt	Clogherney	8	v	7	C.McHugh	Cookstown Par
C.Taggart	Benvarden	10	v	3	P.McKiver	St.Brigid's
S.White	Boveedy	8	v	10	R.Fleming	Ballymena Utd SC
P.Prunty	Glasslough	6	v	7	K.McNeill	Ballinteer

The majority of games in the round of sixteen were very close fought with nearly all the sides still in with a reasonable chance of progressing at the halfway stage. Duffy and Smyth were level after six ends but then Duffy won two out of the remaining three ends to seal victory. Beattie lead Conroy by one shot after five ends as each team restricted the other to a single shot per end. Beattie won the next two ends to open a four shot lead which was sufficient as they restricted Conroy to scoring three shots over the last two ends which resulted in the Oriel triple coming up one shot short. Christie only led by one shot after six hard fought ends but then scored five shots over the next two ends to leave their opponents too many shots to score in the final end. A crucial three for Bell in the second last end put him three ahead going into the final end. Their opponents did win the last end but Bell’s triple made sure that they had close enough bowls so that they would not concede a count. C Shortt looked as if he was thru as he led 8-4 going into the last end but with the the final bowl of the end to come the jack was in the ditch and C McHugh had a yard to draw for fourth shot. Shortt’s triple of Alan Millar, Trevor Vance and Colin had their hearts in their mouths and were almost resigned to a tie end but surprisingly the usually unflappable Colm came up short giving the Shortt triple passage into the quarter finals. They would play C Taggart who led his tie for the first half of the game but just as the McKiver triple threatened to come back into the game the Taggart trio secured the win by scoring on the final two ends. Two opening threes, one for each side gave no indication of how the match between White &`Fleming would turn out. Fleming lost another three on the fourth end to trail 5-6 but then won three consecutive ends to lead by four shots. White did win the remaining two ends but could only score singles which gave the Mid Antrim triple a place in the next round. Prunty and McNeill had an up and down finish. McNeill had a two shot advantage after seven ends but then lost a three to trail going into the final end. He won the end with a single to take the tie into a deciding end which McNeill won to complete the roller coaster finish.

Quarter Finals

T.Duffy	5	v	12	J.Beattie
P.Christie	10	v	2	S.Bell
C.Shortt	7	v	6	C.Taggart
R.Fleming	10	v	7	K.McNeill

The last three ends were the business ends of the first two matches with Beattie scoring six shots and Christie five to give their sides the wins required for a place in the semi-final. There was never more than two shots scored on an end in the Taggart v Shortt game but the Shortt triple did win six of the opening eight ends enabling them to play conservative bowls in the final end to take a one shot victory. The Fleming trio continued to score highly but only won three ends going into the last end. There was nothing certain as the Mid Antrim trio had lost counts in their game so they would have to maintain concentration. Richard had to play a perfect drawing bowl right in front of the jack in the last end to seal a hard fought win.

Semi-Finals

J.Beattie	6	v	7	P.Christie
C.Shortt	10	v	13	R.Fleming

The Christie threesome got off to a dream start as they won the first three ends to lead by five shots. The Beatties [two brothers, David and Joe and a sister, Catherine McMillan] then drew level scoring a single and a four after five ends. From this stage on the game could not have been any tighter. Beattie kept the momentum to win his third consecutive end and to lead 6-5. Then Christie claimed a single. In the eighth end Joe lay two against but squeezed the jack resulting in one of his and one of the Christie’s bowls touching the jack for a ‘no’ score. All square going into the last end and it was down to the final bowl. Joe looked slightly wide with his bowl but as it finished it clipped one of the lying bowls, fell into the head but was fractions from claiming shot. Christie triple progressed to the final by the narrowest of margins.

The Shortt triple were perhaps slight favourites due to their consistency going into the game against the Fleming triple who from time to time seemed to lose concentration and counts at any stage of the game. They could however be more than capable of counter attacking their way out of trouble scoring large counts in the process. Shortt claimed a three on the fourth end to level the game then inexplicably the Mid Tyrone consistency deserted them as they lost a three and a five on consecutive ends to put the Mid Antrim trio in control of the match. They had a nine shot lead with only two ends to go but them conceded a five to give their opponents a sniff of an opportunity going into the final end. The Mid Antrim triple did eventually see out the match losing only a single for a much coveted place in the final.