On Saturday morning the ladies were at home to a very strong Greystones team. They put up a strong fight which was not reflected in the final score of 7 -23. Their next game is away to Kenilworth on the 28th of May.
On Saturday afternoon the 1st team played St Games Gate away. In a close, low scoring game punctured by heavy rain showers we came away with a 6 – 1 win. The final score was 67 – 62 a 5 shot difference. All rinks won the 21 end with a total of 6 shots earned which highlights how the game could have gone either way. After 10 ends it was looking like a easy win as we were 41 – 21 up but by 15 ends the score had narrowed to 52 – 42. The next 5 ends had the Gate fighting back to leave the overall result in the balance going into the last end. Thankfully all rinks got their act together on the final end and we came away with a hard fought win.
Derek’s rink of Paul, Frank and Zach were in another tight match. The score was 8 – 10 after 13 ends before losing 4 shots on the 14th end which made it near impossible to win the match. But with every shot counting they fought hard to minimise the loss and the 1 shot they gained on the last end was very important in the over all score. They ended up losing 12 – 18.
Adam’s rink of Ian, Tim and Carrick were 4 – 4 after 6 ends. They got 5 shots on the 10th end to go into a strong 12 – 4 lead. After 17 ends they were in a good 15 – 11 lead, but the Gate won the next 3 ends to go into the final end with a 1 shot lead. With 10 woods bowled Railway were holding 1 shot then Carrick drew in a great second shot. The Gate’s Skip missed his 2 drives and we ended up winning 17 – 16.
Frichra’s rink of John H, Paul K and Jerry were always in control. 12 – 3 up after 9 ends and 19 – 11 up after 19. They lost 4 on the 20th end but got 2 on the last for a 21 – 15 win.
Nigel’s rink of Bryan, Viv and Dave start well and were well in control 11 – 4 after 10 ends. and 16 – 11 after 19 ends. They lost 2 shots on the 20th end so were 3 up entering the last end. Amazingly for such a speedy rink they were the last rink to finish, So starting the last end they knew we were 4 shots ahead overall. After 8 woods they were 4 shots down but Dave drew in to get the 2nd shot. But the gate knocked him out to hold 3 shots as Nigel played his first wood and he brilliantly drew in the winning shot.
So a 67 shots to 62 shots total and a 6 points to 1 Win.
Then on Sunday the 1st team played Bray in the 1st round of the cup. Having beaten them in the league on Tuesday we were optimistic of coming away with a easy win. But the reality was very different. After 10 ends the score was 34 – 35 to Bray. At one stage Bray were 13 shots ahead. Derek’s rink was struggling and were 14 shots down and Adams rink who finish 4 ends before the rest were also 5 shots down.
Adam’s rink of Bryan, Tim and Ian were 5 – 13 down after 8 ends but after 12 ends they had come back to lead 14 – 13. After 16th ends the score was 16 – 17 when the Bray skip hit a purple patch and took the game away from Railway. They ended up loosing 17 -24.
Carick’s rink of John H, Jerry and Fiachra were 7 – 6 up after 7 ends and 14 – 13 after 14 end but they won 6 of the last 7 ends to win 24 – 14 and wipe out the 7 shots that the Adams rink lost by.
Nigel’s rink of Tadhg, Viv and Dave start well again and were well in control 10 – 4 and after a 4 on the 17 end they were 20 – 10 up. They ended up with a good 21 – 14 win.
Derek’s rink of Paul, Frank and Ultan were struggling badly. They started well enough and were 5 – 6 after 7 ends. But after 14 ends they were in a big hole and were losing 5 – 19. Just when we were all ready to blame them for losing the match they won 6 ends in a row gaining 14 shots and drawing level 19 – 19. They lost a shot on the last end to lose 19 – 20. But we had the match won at that stage.
So a 81 shots to 72 shots win. whew.
The next game is on Saturday 4th of June at home to Newtownabbey in the Irish cup a 1pm start.
On Monday night the second teams match was away to CYM. 1 rink was good, 1 was bad and the last rink was not as ugly as it ended up.The overall score was 45 – 61. 1 point to 5. Their next game is on Tuesday the 7th of June away to Westmanstown.
Drew’s rink of Phillip, Brendan B and Paddy were good. With a 5 and a 4 in the first 4 ends they raced into a 10 – 2 lead. Cym fought back to 16 -12 after 11 ends and 18 -14 after 14 ends but a 5 on the 15th end finished the game as a contest and they ended up winning 24 – 17.
Nigel’s ring of Brian, Brendan C and John M were not good. They lost a 4 on the first end and although they did not give away another big count until the 12th end they did struggle to win any ends. After 10 ends they were down 3 -12 but after losing a 5 and 4 in the last 7 ends they ended up losing 10 – 25. Even for Nigel it seems that 3 games in 3 days is too much.
Pat’s rink of Paul k, Tony and Joe were in a ugly tight game for most of the match. The score after 6 ends was 2 – 4. The main difference at the end of the game was where they lost a 5 on the 7th end. In such a tight match this was too much to claw back and they ended up with a 11 – 19 Loss.
During the week in the Marple cup our two remaining players had contrasting results. Nigel found it difficult to adjust to the artificial green in Bray after playing on grass for the last few weeks. His opponent started strongly and although Nigel fought back well he had left himself to big a mountain to clime and was knocked out of the competition. On Thursday night Adam had a humdinger of a match against John Byrne. No player could take control and going into the final end the score was 20 – 20. Adam held his nerve best and came away with a brilliant win. He plays M O’Sullivan of Blackrock at home in the next round.
