Drumaness A billiards boys are on cue in Mahon Cup

11 April 2011

DRUMANESS A 335
QUEEN'S HALL 293

DRUMANESS lifted the first billiards silverware of the new season when they beat Queen's Hall to win the Mahon Cup.
Gordon Stannage drew the short straw when he was paired with the redoubtable Darren Dornan and over on the other table current Northern Ireland Amateur Billiards champion Stephen Brown was drawn against the talented Jimmy Hunter.
If Queen's Hall were to win the cup then Hunter would have to win well, but he struggled in the early part of his match to find any fluency and Brown forged ahead with breaks of 37 and 30.
Dornan was his usual imperious self and posted breaks of 62 and 33 with team manager Seamus McGivern purring at having the Northern Ireland champion and the runner-up in tandem on different tables.
Stannage was struggling and could only manage two breaks of 14 and further breaks of 28 and 30 gave the darling of Drumaness victory by 160 points.
Over on table one, Hunter had at last found the sweet flowing rhythm that has made him a formidable opponent and a break of 54 gave him the lead.
Brown battled back with breaks of 27 and 20, but the momentum was with Hunter and breaks of 38 and 36 gave the Queen's Hall player victory by 15.
These two results left Drumaness 10 in front with Seamus McGivern to play Chris Scantlebury. The large Drumaness support in the hall had already marked up the result with the vastly experienced McGivern expected to steer his side home.
However, when Scantlebury opened with a more than useful 40 break, he had put the cat among the pigeons, but McGivern refused to panic and responded with breaks of 21, 22 and 23 to move Drumaness 48 ahead.
Scantlebury battled valiantly, but once McGivern scents victory it usually isn't too far away and moments later an unfinished break of 17 secured victory.
League president Billy Watson congratulated Drumaness on winning the trophy and commiserated with Queen's Hall. He also congratulated the St. Patrick's club on having the tables in immaculate playing condition.

Killyleagh aces
hit second gear

SEAFORDE YFC 2
ST. MARY'S, KILLYLEAGH 8

SEAFORDE, with the Christie brothers now in on their ranks, were out to test themselves against the Killyleagh aces.
Wins were exchanged in the first quarter. The St Mary's rink of Paddy Murray played accurate bowls to go 5-0 up after two ends and were never headed as they went on for a comfortable 8-3 win over Derek McCann's quartet.
The home rink of Paddy Burns snr. that got off to a good start as they went 4-1 up after three ends and survived a fightback from Patrick Rooney jnr. for an 8-7 win.
On the second run of the mats wins were exchanged again. The game between Peter Christie and Davy Boal was a very tight affair. Both rinks won three ends each but the St Mary's quartet just got the nod in a hard fought 6-5 win.
The home rink of John McCandless, Kirsty Burns, Paddy Burns jnr and skip Graham Christie played good, solid drawing bowls to win four of the six ends in a splendid 8-2 win over the rink of Ricky Cathcart. At the interval Seaforde led 24-23 on shots. On the restart.
St Mary's then upped the tempo Megan Ward, Tommy Patterson, Kieran McMullan and skip Patrick Rooney jnr. won five of the six ends in an excellent 13-2 win over Graham Christie., while Paddy Murray's four secured their double with a comprehensive 10-5 win over Peter Christie.
With their tails now firmly up St Mary's went into the last two games with gusto as they now held a 15-shot lead. Ricky Cathcart's quartet won four of the six ends in a good 6-3 win over Paddy Burns snr., and the in-form rink of Davy Boal won four of the six ends in a fine 5-2 win over Derek McCann.

DRUMAROAD 6.5
ST. MICHAEL'S 3.5

THE hosts were keen to continue the good form they showed at Killyleagh and ran out comfortable winners by 54-35 shots.
On mat one Kevin Walsh and Greg Hamilton were involved in a tense struggle and Hamilton just got home by a 6-5 margin. On mat two the in-form rink of Laurence McCartan gave St. Michael's a real boost when they totally dominated the rink of Harry Addis in a splendid 8-1 win.
In the second quarter the tables were turned. Thomas Walsh put in a powerful display, winning five of the six ends in a comprehensive 10-1 win over Joan Farrell and Pat Lennon won five of the six ends in a good 5-3 win over the rink of Alan Telford. At the interval there was nothing in it as Drumaroad led 21-18 with the points shared at 2-2.
On the restart the successful home rinks continued where they left off. Pat Lennon's quartet may have only won three ends but they hit big scores on those ends to secure their double with a fine 9-3 win over Laurence McCartan. On the other mat Thomas Walsh's four were ruthlessly efficient as they powered their way to another double with a 15-2 demolition.
With the match now effectively over St Michael's had nothing left but their pride to play for. Alan Telford fought out an honourable 5-5 draw with Harry Addis and Joan Farrell secured a good 7-3 win over Kevin Walsh.

BALLYCRUTTLE 6.5
ST. PATRICK'S 3.5

BALLYCRUTTLE needed to win two of the last three games to get over the line by one shot, 40-39.
The match couldn't have started any better for Ballycruttle. Eileen Connor, Mary Doherty, Marcus Smyth and skip Clare Tumelty had a superb 10-1 win over Niall Dunlop's quartet and Noel Holland won four ends in a fine 6-2 win over the rink of Anna McElnea.
On the second run of the mats the visiting rink of Jim Toman led 5-1 going into the last end against Willie Bassett, but had to settle for a 5-5 draw. But Betty Fitzsimmons, Peter Cunningham, Nicky Walsh and skip Ed Murnin steered St. Patrick's back into the match, winning five of the six ends in an emphatic 13-2 win. At the break Ballycruttle held a slender 23-21 shot lead and were 2.5-1.5 up on points.
On the restart wins were exchanged. On mat one Anna McElnea finally got going and they played steady drawing bowls to win four ends in a fine 7-2 win over Assumpta Taggart. Ballycruttle talisman Willie Bassett led his rink to a fine 9-4 win over Niall Dunlop.
Going into the last two games Ballycruttle held a two-shot lead so it was all to play for.
Ed Murnin's rink did their bit for St. Patrick's as they secured their double with a good 5-2 win over Noel Holland's rink. On the other mat Clare Tumelty's quartet played a superb game to secure their double and a 4-2 win over Jim Toman, which was enough to give the home team victory by a solitary shot.

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