HEADLINES
SPARTANS GO CLEAR AT TOP ~ CASTLE WHITEWASH ~ MONKSTOWN STALL THE PIRATES ~ MSC TROJANS OVERCOME VALKYRIES ~ ALPHA MAKE THEIR POINT ~ ROCKERS KEEP UP THE CHALLENGE ~ SCORPIONS REGAIN THEIR STINGCastle 14-0 Whitehead Trojans
Monkstown 7-7 Pirates
Valkyries 5-9 MSC Trojans
Spartans 12-2 Barbarians
Eastway 5-9 Scorpions
Greenisland 4-10 Rockers
Teddy Bears 7-7 Alpha
Greenisland 4-10 Rockers. Captain Harry Warwick knew this was always going to be a hard match for his Greenisland team, so he was more than pleased when the consistent G.Burns got them off to a winning start. But The Champions responded in style reeling off 6 in a row to take us up to the interval. And they made sure of gaining at least a point by taking the first frame of the second session, though the hosts rallied to 4-8 with a treble of needed wins. Any notion Warwick had of a comeback for a point were soon extinguished by a classy A.Arbuthnot break and dish in frame 12. Rockers went on to take the last 2 for a solid 10-4 victory. On the screcard for the winners were Crawley (3), Arbuthnot (2), Harris (2), Butler (2) and Captain John McClean (1). On target for the home side were Burns, Lennon, A.Harris and D.Harris with one a piece.
Monkstown 7-7 Pirates. Monkstown couldn't have hoped for a better start against the League's 2nd placed team The Pirates, as they sped into an interval lead of 5-2. P.Charles registered twice as did P.Henderson. G.Russell got the other with R.McMurtry and S.Carson replying for the visitors. But as results between these two teams are usually close a Pirates fightback in the 2nd session would not have been a surprise, especially as they had a very strong line up still to come for the said session. But it was R.Henderson who won a marathon first frame for Monkstown after a sublime shot on his last colour to land perfect on the black, which he duly potted for 6-2. Then as expected Pirates started to sail with a 4 frame burst from C.Carson (2), P.McCaffrey and S.Carson again. The match now stood at 6-6 with 2 frames to play and it would have taken a brave man to bet on a winner. Advantage Monkstown as R.Henderson edged Frame 13 to gaurantee the hosts at least 1 point on the night but it was the experienced A.Corrigan of the Pirates who sunk the final black ball of the night to give his team a point too in a thrilling 7-7 draw.
Valkyries 5-9 MSC Trojans. Valkyries nearly caused a big upset as they entertained MSC Trojans at their new venue of Whitehead GRSC. Although Clare Webster's team won the first frame, the improving Trojans won the next 6 on the trot to lead 6-1 at the interval. It seemed the Valkyries were going to be on the end of a heavy defeat, but a 4 frame burst of their own brought them back to 5-6 much to the disbelief of the away side. And when R.McMaw hung a tricky black in Frame 12 it looked like the hosts would level the match. But McMaw got a second chance and made no mistake to restore a 2 frame advantage. The away side then closed out the match winning the remaining 2 Frames. Valkyries scorers were A.Galloway 2, J.McIlroy 1, L.Ruddock 1 and C.Webster 1. Scoring for the MSC Trojans were A.Mackey 2, R.McMaw 2, R.Brown 2, M.McIlvenny 1, M.McMeekin 1 and A.McMeekin 1.
Spartans 12-2 Barbarians. Spartans won this match very convincingly, although the scoreline could have been closer than it ended up. E.McDowell was in fine form for the hosts, shooting a hat trick including an amazing clearance on his first visit to the table in Frame 2. The score at half time was 6-1, J.Regan being the visitors only point scorer. It was a similar 6-1 scoreline in the 2nd half, this time G.Harrington being the Barbarians frame winner. Spartan scorers on the night were McDowell 3, Hawkins 2, English 2, Martin 2, Lowe 2 and McWhirter 1