Champions maintain their position at the top of table

Ulster Transport 69 (2)

REIGNING champions Dunbarton maintained their position at the top of Private Greens Senior Division One with a hard fought 22 shot win over fifth placed Ulster Transport.

However this was not one of the hosts' best performance as the visitors had a number of players missing and they will be disappointed to have dropped two points.

The locals started well thanks in the main to DJ Wilson's four who began with a bang scoring 13 unanswered shots. It was obvious that DJ's rink felt they had a point to prove after Saturday's horrible defeat to Portrush.

Myles Greenfield's four also started well leading 5-1 while Clifford Dennison was ahead 6-4. Only Conor's four trailed as the loss of two counts of four left them 5-8 behind. Already the home side had a 16 shot advantage.

By the midpoint, the game was well in control of the Dunbarton side but only one point seemed secure. DJ's men continued their charge and led 18-3 while Myles was 10-4 to the good. With Conor now ahead 11-9 and Clifford ahead by one shot, maximum points looked a real possibility.

At the three quarters mark the visitors had fought back and now led on two rinks. The loss of a four followed by a treble left Conor's rink six behind and in trouble of dropping their point. Clifford now trailed by two shots and while the overall game was not in doubt, these two points were starting to slip away.

DJ was in cruise control and with a further count of six was 28-5 in front while Myles had seen his lead increase to 16-8.

By the close the locals wrapped up a comfortable victory but five points was really the minimum requirement. DJ's foursome were in terrific form all evening and wrapped up a 21 shot victory, while Myles' rink led form start to finish to win by 12.

Unfortunately that was as good as it got for Dunbarton as the remaining two rinks were defeated. Conor's four were edged out by three shots while Clifford finished eight shots in arrears.

With four games remaining the Gilford side are 2.5 points clear of Ballymena with Belmont a further half point behind.

Next up is a trip to improving NICS next Saturday while an intriguing tussle between Belmont and Ballymena should decide who Dunbarton's closest rivals will be.

Rink 1: D McElroy, J Magennis, G McElroy, C McCartan - down 20-23.

Rink 2: D Copeland, A Leckey, T Bell, DJ Wilson - up 32-11.

Rink 3: D Pedan, P Adamson, A Hughes, C Dennison - down 15-23.

Rink 4: I Perry, E Campbell T Mulholland, M Greenfield - up 24-12.