Men reach Interzone final - Historic double still on!

The Ladies done it last week and the men followed suit this week! Armagh are in both Interzone finals - a first for the zone. North West were the last zone to win both competitions in the same season (1997-98) and Armagh will be hoping the emulate this feat on the last 2 Saturdays in February. The ladies play Mid Down in Dromore Catherdral hall on Sat 21st Feb and the men face surprise packets Donegal in their final on Sat 28th (venue to be confirmed).

In todays semi final the men staged a brilliant second half comeback away to Oriel. The home side led by 8 shots at the break and half way through the second half the lead had increased to 11, but the lifting of a 6 by Joe Beatties rink sparked a great fight back and by the last end of the game Armagh were 6 up and coasting into the final. A great win for the men.

Scores from the game were as follows (Oriel skips first)

Rink 1: F Dillon 14 A Roberts 14
Rink 2: J Muraghan 18 D McDonald 6
Rink 3: M Hand 9 A Leckey 13

Half time: Oriel 41 Armagh 33

Rink 4: G McCabe 7 M Trainor 12
Rink 5: K Conroy 7 J Beattie 12
Rink 6: S McMahon 6 T Mulholland 11

Final Score: Oriel 61 Armagh 68

Ladies through to Interzone final

Armagh ladies are into the final of this years Interzone competition with a hard fought 11 shot victory over West Down. Armagh were 14 up at the break, but West Down fought back in the second half and reduced the deficit to 2 at one stage. However the home side rallied and pulled away again to win by 11 at the end. Mid Down are the other finalists after beating South Down in the other semi final. Scores from todays game are as follows (Armagh skips first).

Mat 1. R Cassells 9 v 2 L Martin
Mat 2. M Cassells 12 v 8 A Canaway
Mat 3. D Marshall 11 v 8 M Gamble

Half time score Armagh 32-18 West Down

Mat 4. F McNally 4 v 10 B Conlon
Mat 5. B Malone 10 v 10 K McGrail
Mat 6. P Beattie 10 v 7 A Poland

Final score Armagh 56 v 45 West Down

Now it's up to the men follow suit next week in their semi final against Oriel.

Locals picked for Irish A team

Congratulations to St. Anthony's Danny McDonald, St. Mark's Andrew Leckey and Drumgor's Aidan Corrigan who have been picked in the Irish squad for the British Isles "A" series to be held in Shrewsbury Bowls Centre on 14 and 15 March. Danny is skipping a rink in the team event, Aidan is playing second in the team while Andrew is leading on the Irish rink in the individual events. The full squad can be found here.

Cookstown pair win St. Mark's

St. Mark's Portadown pairs tournament concluded on Sat 10 January with Cookstown High School pair Seamus McGlinchey and Mark Wilson winning this year's competition. Gary Vernon and Robert Greer from 1st Dromara were runners up. Results from Finals Night were as follows:

Quarter Finals
Connor & Terence McCartan (St. Colman's) beat Joe Clarke/Tom Haire (Hillsborough)
Seamus McGlinchey/Mark Wilson (Cookstown High) beat Angela Canaway/Eddie Campbell (Tullylish)
Rachel & Robert Cassells (St. Mark's) beat Stanley Whiteside/James Emerson (Moy Parish)
Gary Vernon/Robert Greer (1st Dromara) beat Gary Smith/Dayne Jordan (St. Saviour's)

Semi Finals
M. Wilson beat T. McCartan
R. Greer beat R. Cassells

Final
M. Wilson beat R. Greer

Men make it an Interzone semi final double for Armagh

Armagh remain on course for an historic double in the Interzone competition with the Mens team emulating the Ladies acheivement last week and booking their spot in the semi finals of this year's competition. The men overcame Mid Tyrone in St. Saviour's by 10 shots to set up a semi final clash away to Oriel in a fortnights time. Oriel booked their place with an impressive 25 shot win against Mid Ulster, so the semi will certainly be Armagh's stiffest test yet.

Details of todays game are as follows:

Rink 1 A Roberts 12 v 5 T Vance
Rink 2 D McDonald 11 v 6 R Cunningham
Rink 3 A Leckey 7 v 9 M Cunningham

Half Time Armagh 30 v 20 Mid Tyrone

Rink 4 T Mulholland 16 v 6 D Spratt
Rink 5 J Beattie 7 v 10 G Conroy
Rink 6 M Trainor 5 v 12 C Short

Final Score: Armagh 58 v 48 Mid Tyrone

Ladies into Interzone semis

Armagh's ladies progressed to the semi finals of this years Interzone competition with a fine 21 shot win over Oriel at St. Matthew's Richhill. The game was over as a contest at half time with the 3 first half rinks running away with things to put the home side 34 shots up at the break. The visitors fared alot better in the second half, but had no hope of pulling back the deficit.

The ladies now play local rivals West Down at home in the semi final. The other semi final is between South Down and Mid Down.

Scores (Armagh skips first)

M Cassells 12 M Flannagan 6
D Marshall 17 J Roullier 3
R Cassells 17 S Larkin 5

Half time score: Armagh 46 Oriel 14

B Malone 10 R Brannen 7
F McNally 3 I Hanratty 9
P Beattie 5 M Carroll 13

Final score: Armagh 64 Oriel 43