Spa GC overcome St Mary’s in final

Spa GC overcome St Mary’s in final

3 April 2024

ST MARY’S.................................27 

SPA GOLF CLUB........................50

A MUCH anticipated meeting between the league’s top two sides in this final at Ballycruttle turned out to be a one-sided affair.

The players from Spa completed their treble of league title and both cups to show how superior they have been this season.

They completely controlled the match and did not give St Mary’s many chances to get a foothold in the game.

The first game on mat one was keenly fought with both rinks playing good bowls, but the Spa rink of Frances and Derek McCann, Don McNamara and Alan Laughlin won four ends, all with counts of two, to overcome a spirited effort from Ricky Cathcart and his rink of Donna Raybould, Terry Quinn and Kieran McMullan.

On mat two Adam Gilmour, Davy Cavan, Cyril Cromie and Robin Horner were having a much easier time against Tommy Patterson, Philip Woodside, Tony Ward and Meghan McCabe as they ran out 8-2 winners.

On the next run the Saints managed to get a win through the rink of Raymond Brown, David Anderson, Nigel and Neil Brown when they left it late as they were 6-1 down with two ends to play and secured counts of three and four to finish 8-6 up against the Gilmour quartet to get a couple of shots back in the overall.

Over on mat two the rink of Artie Rice, Davy Vance, Graham and Peter Christie got the shots back when they defeated the Cathcart rink by 7-5 in what was another closely fought game.

With the match going into the final two games, Spa held a nine-shot advantage and they were in no mood to give this up as the Christie and Laughlin rinks kept the pressure on against the McCabe and Brown rinks.

With two ends left to play, St Mary’s shook hands and conceded the match as the win was beyond them with the scores 12-2 and 9-5 respectively.

Once again, a great season for the bowlers of Spa and the big question will be if anyone can get close to them next season. It has been a season of so close for St Mary’s, who will be hoping to come back stronger.

Many thanks to the members of Ballycruttle for hosting this final and for making everyone welcome. The night finished with the league secretary, Babs Bassett, presenting the Paddy Burns Cup to the victorious captain, Don McNamara.