Dunbarton lose their grip on the Irish Cup
Portrush A 82
Dunbarton A 66
REIGNING holders Dunbarton crashed out of the Irish Senior Cup after a flat performance at a very tricky Portrush green.
The home side who were missing two of their top skips, very cleverly played the game off match settings and this undoubtedly worked to their advantage as the Gilford side could not adapt to some of the strange lines being played on the heavy wet surface. The game was not pretty and it was the hosts that took full advantage.
Despite a decent start across the green where Stevie Adamson and Clifford Dennison's foursome moved in front early on, this was as good as it got as DJ Wilson's four had an afternoon to forget.
A double on the first end was followed by the loss of 3, 1, 1, 1 to trail 2-6 at the five ends mark.
With Conor McCartan 1-7 in arrears Dunbarton were behind by two shots after the first quarter.
By the midpoint the arrears had increased. DJ was now 2-16 behind while the other three rinks were close. Stevie led 11-8, Clifford was ahead by one and Conor trailed by two. The home side were now in pole position.
During the second half of the game, despite continually trying to fightback, the Gilford men could not get their noses in front and Portrush always had a comfortable lead of between 10 and 15 shots.
Conor's four were the one rink that really got going over the second half and they won impressively by nine shots. Stevie's rink lost by the smallest possible margin, while a last end count of four saw Clifford's deficit increase to six shots.
The real disaster however came on DJ's rink. Although the locals lost a five on end seven, the game was full of singles with the odd double being scored, but it always seemed to be Portrush bowl that ended up beside the jack.
Having won their previous 16 games, DJ's quartet were not expected to lose, never mind by such a margin, but bowls is a “funny old game”. It was a bad day at the office for this rink and the team in general.
The next couple of weeks will prove to be a huge test of Dunbarton's credentials as they still have two trophies to play for – a fifth successive league title will be their main aim now.
Rink 1: D McElroy, E Campbell, G McElroy, C McCartan up 24-15
Rink 2: D Pedan, I Perry, A Hughes, C Dennison down 18-24
Rink 3: M Higgins, C Mulholland, T Mulholland, S Adamson down 18-19
Rink 4: D Copeland, A Leckey, T Bell, DJ Wilson down 6-24
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Weather for Banbridge
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
