Seniors lose in thrilling encounter

Rink 1: R Bolton, K Aiken, D McCandless, J McKenny.

Rink 2: R Matthews, T Wilson, D Burns, SG Malcomson.

Rink 3: D Graham, B Paylor, W Clinghan, D Shanks.

Rink 4: G Dawson, A Johnston, F Cranney, G Clinghan.

A very close five ends saw Portrush edge ahead by one. McKenny was one down, SG two down, Shanks was three behind with Clinghan having a good start to lead by five.

At the halfway stage the teams were level at 36 each. McKenny was one down, SG was three ahead, Shanks was four down with Clinghan ahead by three.

The next quarter did not make much difference with Portrush a shot to the good. McKenny was now six down, SG was two ahead, Shanks was two in arrears with Clinghan ahead by five.

In the final six ends Portrush showed their experience to get over the winning line. McKenny finished down by 10, SG was defeated by six, Clinghan lost out on the last end by three and Shanks outpointed G McCloy by three shots.

Tonight (Tuesday) the seniors are away to Newcastle while the juniors are at home to Curran. On Saturday the seniors are at home to Dungannon and the juniors are away to Lagan Valley all league games.

- There was a poor day at the office for Dromore Juniors in the NIBA Junior Cup, played at Holm Park on Wednesday last as they went down by 16 to Donaghadee.

Rink 1: J McCullough, G McDowell, T Gribben, A Sudlow.

Rink 2: C Davis, A Clinghan, J Elliott, S Malcomson.

Rink 3: J Black, S Harrison, J Topping, I Houston.

Rink 4: E Walker, S Dugan, H Maxwell, T Sudlow.

After a slow start the juniors found themselves trailing by six at the five ends scoreboard. A Sudlow was a single ahead, T Sudlow was down one, Houston was all square and Malcomson was down by six.

At the halfway stage the juniors had cut the deficit to a single. A Sudlow was now four ahead, Houston had the better of the exchanges to lead by seven, T Sudlow wa down five with Malcomson seven in arrears.

At the three quarter stage Donaghadee had turned the tide around to lead by eight. A Sudlow had a lead of seven, Houston was going well at seven ahead, Malcomson was six down and T Sudlow was finding the Donaghadee skip too hot to handle to be in arrears of 14.

In the final six ends Donaghadee had no problem gaining a 16 shot victory. A Sudlow was down by a single, Malcomson came back to score a victory of three, Houston was in for a win of five, and T Sudlow had an evening to forget, finishing down by 23.

- It was a bad week for the Dromore Juniors having found themselves knocked out of two cups.

In the Irish Junior Cup they played CYM at home on Saturday, going down by 13 shots.

Rink 1: J McCullough, WJ Morgan, T Gribben, A Sudlow.

Rink 2: E Walker, S Dugan, G McDowell, T Sudlow.

Rink 3: C Davis, A Clinghan, J Elliott, S Malcomson.

Rink 4: N Lindsay, S Harrison, J Topping, I Houston.

CYM. took an early lead six up at five ends. A Sudlow and T Sudlow were both down by a single, Houston was in the red by six while Malcomson had made a good start to lead by two.

At the halfway stage CYM had increased their lead to 10. A Sudlow and Malcomson had a three shot advantage with T Sudlow down by five. Houston was finding the going hard to be down by 10.

At three quarter stage the game was slipping away from the home team down by 15. A Sudlow was five ahead, T Sudlow was down six, in a close encounter Malcolmson was a single in arrears and Houston was now 13n in the red.

In the final six ends the visitors held on to gain a victory of 13 shots. A Sudlow recorded a single shot victory, Malcomson took the honours in a three shot win, T Sudlow was still six down with Houston in arrears of 11 by winning the last four ends by scoring a single shot on each.