Dougie’s Team 3 leading the way

With only one round remaining, the excitement is building up.

Team 3, captained by Dougie Stevenson, have regained the lead and they are in pole position with a three points lead.

Team 2, led by Damian Weir, and team 6, captained by Philip Strong, share second place with 12 points each. Both these teams lost in round six and that may prove crucial.

TEAM 1 VERSUS TEAM 3 - Team 3, captained by Dougie Stevenson, regained their winning ways with a 356–289 points win over a sad team 1.

Team 1 gave themselves no chance with only 10 cards returned. That’s four short of the required number.

Their number one player, Rory Madeley, continues to impress. He hit 31 points in round six.

Seamus Rooney, John Convery and Bertie Shaw all had 27 points.

That didn’t frighten team 3, who had the top team total of the week, 356 points.

Michael Allison was their top player with 32 points. He was supported by Paul Magennis 30, PJ Johnston 29, Dominic Quinn 27, Victor Mc Neill 26, Malcolm Hanna 25, John McDowell 25, Trevor Mullholland 25, Norman Doak 25 and Dougie Stevenson himself 25.

Considering the conditions, these were all good scores.

Another performance like that in round seven and they will be champions.

TEAM 2 VERSUS TEAM 8 - Team 2 went into this match against team 8 sharing the lead in the Pro Shop Winter League. They shot themselves in the foot, big time.

They lost by 24 points, 281–305.

And, the sad thing is, they had only 11 cards returned. If three other players had scored nine points each, they would have won. That’s the downside of the Winter League, when people join and then don’t play.

Full marks to Jim Cochrane 32, Ian Young 31, Damian Weir 30 and Gareth McGregor 27 who all did their best for team 2.

Team 8 returned 14 cards and that made the difference. They didn’t have any scores in the 30’s but it didn’t matter.

Kenny Jones, Jack Bickerstaff and Shane McCrory were their best performers with 27 points each. The remainder were low scores but they all added up to a winning total and that’s what it is all about.

TEAM 4 VERSUS TEAM 7 - Team 4 went into this match with an outside chance of winning the Pro Shop Winter League. They scored reasonably well, 323 points, but their opponents, team 7, scored even better, 337 points.

Kieran Magennis and Sydney Pepper were best for team 4, with 30 points each.

Paul McAleavey had 29 points and Kieran Meade had 28 points. The rest were 25 and under.

Young Conor Mulholland continues to play a starring role for team 7. In round 6, he shot 32 points, his fourth score in the 30’s.

Jim Minnis had 29, Paul Cochrane had 27 and their team captain, Kevin Smyth, had 26. The remaining 10 counting scores were 25 points or below.

TEAM 5 VERSUS TEAM 6 - Team 6, captained by Philip Strong, were joint leaders of the Pro Shop Winter League after five rounds. A win in their sixth round game against lowly team 6 seemed a foregone conclusion.

But Philip’s team lost and they have only themselves to blame. They had a total of 13 cards returned, one short. That missing card made all the difference.

They totalled 304 points and John Hanna’s team 5, with 14 cards, totalled 328. It was that close!

Brendan Meade was top scorer for team 5 with 30 points. Michael Robinson and Cathal O’Neill were next best, with 28 points each. David Cherry did well to get 27 points.

Trevor Woods led the way for team 6 with 30 points.

Alan Dale had 29, Cathal McNiff had 28 and Colin McDonald had 25.

Team captain, Philip Strong, also had 26 points.

THE TOP INDIVIDUALS - The individual prizes for round six of the Pro Shop Winter League were awarded as follows:

SECTION 0–9 - Winner: Michael Allison 32 points.

SECTION 10–18 - Winner: Jim Cochrane 31; runner-up: Sydney Pepper 30; third: Alan Dale 29.

SECTON 18+ - Winner: Bertie Shaw 27; runner-up: Dominic Quinn 27.