HEADLINES
LEAGUE CAMPAIGN REACHES THE HALF WAY MARK AND IT'S AS YOU WERE AS TOP 5 ALL WIN AGAIN ~ 31st DECEMBER TRANSFER AND SIGNINGS DEADLINE APPROACHESMonkstown 9-5 Teddy Bears
Valkyries 3-11 Castle
Spartans 11-3 Alpha
Eastway 3-11 Whitehead Trojans
Greenisland 5-9 Pirates
Rockers 9-5 MSC Trojans
Barbarians 4-10 Scorpions
Pictured right - Partners Clare Webster and Paul Roberts were on opposing sides when the Valkyries entertained Castle in Whitehead. Castle kept up their League challenge with an 11-3 win.
Below right - Barbarians players Hugh "Santa" Regan (the beard is his own !!!) and Michael Lowry relaxing before their match with Scorpions in Greenisland last night.
Monkstown 9-5 Teddy Bears. With these 2 teams meeting for the first time it was anyone's guess how the result would pan out. But it was the home side who came storming out of the blocks in the first half taking it by a 6-1 scoreline, leaving the Bears with a mountain to climb. On the scoresheet for Monkstown were R.Henderson (2), P.Henderson, G.Russell, R.Nelson and P.Charles. D.McIlwaine notched up the visitors only score. The second half was much tighter and the Bears who have aquitted themselves well in their debut season in the League came out on top by 4-3, but it was Monkstown who took the 3 points courtesy of a 9-5 overall scoreline. Registering for Monkstown after the interval were P.Henderson, Russell and Charles. For the Bears it was debutante A.Moore, A.Lyndsey and R.Williams (2). An Xmas buffet to welcome the visitors into the League was well received and a party atmosphere made for a good night for all.
Rockers 9-5 MSC Trojans. Rockers entertained MSC Trojans in their final match of 2011 and Captain J.McClean took advantage of a bit of loose play to put his team 1-0 up. Rockers stalwart A.Arbuthnot made it 2-0 before great finishes from G.Crawley and R.Butler gave the hosts a comfortable 4-0 lead. M.McIlvenny reduced the arrears to 1-4 but the Champions secured the final 2 frames of the first session to hold a healthy 6-1 lead. It was to get better for the home side as P.Harris controlled the 8th frame to put Rockers on the hill, and an unbelieveable wafer thin cut on the black by Crawley soon secured the 3 points for Rockers. To their credit Trojans didn't crumble and D.Montgomery ripped out a superb clearance. This was followed by another 3 on the trot for the away side to bring it back to 4-8. But Harris had the last word winning his 2nd in style as Rockers sent a Christmas message that they will be fighting tooth and nail to retain their title Spartans 11-3 Alpha. Spartans never reached the heights from the previous evenings Knock Out Cup success and a determined Alpha team got in amongst them early on and were unfortunate to trail 4-3 at the interval. But the interval done the hosts a favour as they regrouped and took all 7 frames in the 2nd half for an 11-3 win, although the scoreline was a bit harsh on the visitors. Spartans scorers were E.McDowell 3, R.Hawkins 3, S.McWhirter 2, K.English 2 and Manager T.Maguire 1. Replying for Alpha were A.Hall with a fine finish, M.Kitson and L.Carson.