Western’s Men team have claimed the Inter Zone Shield title for a fifth time after a commanding win over Mid Down in Enniskillen on Saturday.
In what looked to be a close contest on paper, the title was effectively decided by the half way mark in this game with the local side building up a 22 shot lead.
The first game of the day set the tone for the entire contest with Ronnie Stubbs and his rink in impressive form. Stubbs dominated from start to finish against Derek McCann, winning eight out of the 10 ends on the way to a 20-2 victory.
On Mat 2, Davy Graham took on the experienced Peter Christie. 
It was Graham who raced into an early lead and was 9-0 up at the half way point. 
Despite the Mid Down rink winning four out of the remaining five ends, it was the Western four who claimed a 12-5 win.
The final game of the half saw Western’s Jude Morris up against David Boal. With a 9-5 lead after seven ends, it looked like a clean sweep of victories for Western in an impressive first half, but Boal and his rink had other ideas and scored seven shots over the final three ends to claim a 12-9 victory that gave something for the visitors to smile about.
With Western leading by 41 shots to 19 at the break, the game was effectively over as a contest, but nonetheless, the second half players knew that keeping the pressure on early would extinguish any hope of a remarkable comeback.
The second half started with Karol Bradshaw facing his International team mate Alan Laughlin on Mat 1, and it was Bradshaw who took the bragging rights. 
The Western rink was in total control winning eight out of the 10 ends to rack up a 19-4 victory.
Gary Burke was having a good contest with Graham Christie on Mat 2, and the scores were tied at 3-3 at the half way mark. 
But it was the Western rink that kicked on and claimed shots on three out of the next four ends to ease to an 8-4 victory.
The victory was wrapped up by another Western win, this time Ally Graham accounting for Paul McNamaras rink. 
Although the Western rink was to drop four shots in the final end, they still came away with a comfortable 11-6 win.
Overall this was as straight forward a victory as Western could have hoped for. 
After losing out to Oriel in the first round of the Inter Zone competition, the local side have bounced back in impressive style. 
A particular plus this year has to be the emergence of some fringe players who have settled in well to the Zone team, this will leave next year’s selectors with a welcome headache ahead of the commencement of the new season.