Page 14 - Winter 2012

Top Team 1:Layout 1 04/01/2013 08:08 Page 1

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8th TOP TEAM TITLE FOR MID ULSTER
8th TOP TEAM TITLE FOR MID ULSTER
Mid Ulster made it a successful 8th appearance in the British Top Team competition with a com-
prehensive win over England’s representative Cheshire and Wales representative Swansea.
Cheshire had claimed the title in 2011 when the Northern Zone represented Ireland but this time
they and Swansea were completely overwhelmed by a Mid Ulster side that never looked in dan-
ger of losing. Such was their superiority that victory was gained with 2 of the 6 games still to
play.
Mid Ulster started off with the individual series against Swansea. In the singles Alan Paul
was drawn against World Singles champion Steve Williams in what was expected to be a keenly
fought contest but Williams was totally outclassed in a heavy 25 – 7 defeat. Danny McStravock
won his singles 16 – 10. In the pairs Clarke Hill and Colin Hogg lost 13 – 11 while Dayne Jordan
and Glen Smith won 19 – 11. In the triples Colum McHugh, Liam McHugh and Tommy Johnston
won 25 – 4 while Sean Quinn, Sean Davidson and Damian McAllister lost 15 – 5. In the rinks
Damian McElroy, Seamus Kyne, Damian Grimes and Robin Clarke won 8 – 4 while Mark Wilson,
John McKay, Trevor Turkington and Aaron Ward won 12 – 4, giving Mid Ulster 12 of the 16
points.
In the second game England just squeezed out Wales to claim 9 of the 16 points. Game
3 was an international between Mid Ulster and Wales and it was a clean sweep for Mid Ulster.
Damian McElroy’s rink won 12 -1, Colum McHugh won 17 – 1, Dayne Jordan won 9 – 1, Sean
Quinn won 14 – 1, Mark Wilson won 16 – 1 while Alan Paul completed the win with a 9 – 1
score. Game 4 was an individual series in which Wales came out on top against England gaining
11 of the16 points.
In the final game of day 1, Mid Ulster knew that a win over Cheshire would make the re-
claim of the title almost a formality and they certainly achieved that. Danny McStravock and Alan
Paul maintained their singles form with impressive 15 – 2 and 17 – 2 wins. In the pairs the Hill
/ Hogg and Jordan Smith combinations also came out on top 20 – 2 and 12 – 2. The only points
dropped was in the triples where S Quinn, S McGlinchey and G Merron were clearly the better
side but somehow lost 12 – 8 while D McElroy, S Kyne and D Grimes 10 – 4 down with 3 ends
to go came back strongly to win 12 – 10. C McHugh and M Wilson’s rinks won 13 – 2 and 10 –
2 respectively.
On day 2 Wales and England started with an international game with Cheshire claiming
9.5 of the 12 points. This was followed by an individual series between Mid Ulster and Cheshire.
This was Mid Ulster’s only tight game with the 16 points shared. In the singles Dayne Jordan
was comprehensively beaten 25 – 3 while Alan Paul continued maintained his record with a 27
– 2 win. In the pairs M Wilson ands C Hogg won 17 – 2 while D McStravock and T Johnston
went down 15 – 6.