Ladies beaten by Armagh

Western had made a good start in the first two ends across the three mats, leading by 5 shots to 2 but in the following three ends across the mats Armagh were to take control as they opened up a 16-7 advantage. And things were only to get worse for Western with eight ends now played by all three rinks, the scoreline stood at 25-11 in favour of Armagh. But credit must go to the Western Ladies they kept their head and dug deep to crawl there way back into the game by reducing the halfway scoreline. Janet Brown’s rink got two shots in their last end, Katrine Bradshaw’s rink pulled back two shots in their last end to gain a draw and Ellen Brogan pulled of a brilliant shot to reduce a head of four possibly five shots lying against her to losing only one shot. After the three games had been played the scoreline now stood 27-19 in Armagh’s favour.

With two ends now played in the second half of the game, Armagh still were in front at 31-23 and after five ends played across the three mats, Armagh’s score stood at 38-25. During play of the following three ends Western had gained eight shots and Armagh 11 shots (Western 33-49 Armagh). Armagh continued to gain ground during the ninth end gaining another four shots to Westerns two shots. With all to play for in the final and remaining ends, Caroline Scott’s rink got one shot to gain a draw, Jean Carson’s rink picked up five shots and Esther Forster’s rink got one shot to tie her game against Pauline Beattie, an international player for Ireland. The final score was Western 42–53 Armagh. Armagh Ladies now meet North West Ladies away in the semi-final.

L Lunny, G Dunlop, W Graydon, E Brogan (skip) 4 – 7 M. Cassells M Nelson, R Cranston, P Hannon, K Bradshaw (skip) 8 – 8 E. Smyth A Brian, E Maguire, N Hassard, J Brown (skip) 7 – 12 R. Cassells S MaVitty, P Moohan, R Donnelly, C Scott (skip) 6 – 6 F. McNally A Stewart, C Brogan, C McGovern, J Carson (skip) 9 – 12 C. McMullen F Cartwright, H Ternan, Lisa MaVitty, E Forster (skip) 8 – 8 P. Beattie