Western produced a solid performance on Saturday to book their place in the Semi Finals of the Inter Zone competition once again.
Donegal were the opponents in what looked like a tricky Quarter Final tie which was played in Enniskillen, but at the half time mark the game was effectively over as a contest as Western had raced into a 20 shot lead.
Mat 1 pitted William Parkinson, David Ferguson, Ivor Armstrong and Jude Morris against a Donegal rink skipped by James Marshall. After losing a single shot in the first end the home rink never looked back and only lost one more single over the course of the ten ends, eventually running out winners by 12 shots to 2.
Rodney Kelly took on Nixon Alexander on Mat 2 and this turned out to be a much tighter affair. Chrissy Crawford, David Dickson and William Harpur along with Kelly were 5-2 down at the half way mark before collecting four shots on the sixth end. Both rinks traded shots over the final four ends to finish with a score line of 9-9.
The final game of the half was between the Western rink of Harry Gawley, Finbar Maguire, Michael McGrade and Karol Bradshaw and Donegal’s Lee Jacob. 
This was another game that the home side took a foothold in early on and never relinquished. Leading 6-1 at the half way point, Bradshaw picked up a further six shots on the sixth end to move into a commanding 12-1 lead. Despite losing three out of the last four ends they still finished with a valuable win by 14 shots to 4.
The half time score was 35–15 in favour of Western, which meant a massive ask for the visiting Donegal side to claw back over the second half games.
The first game on Mat 1 saw Marc Moore, Trevor Brien, Johnny Breadon and Davy Graham take on Jamie Glackin’s rink. 
The Western rink got off to a great start and moved into a 5-0 lead by the third end, but the Donegal rink then sprung into life and went on to claim a 14-10 win.
On Mat 2 Gary Burke’s rink took on Michael Gallagher. Again, it was the home rink who started the brighter and moved into a 5-0 lead after the second end. But with Gallagher claiming six singles over the next seven ends this became a much closer affair. Derek Gilliland, Alan Browne and William Stephenson along with Burke were able to hold their nerve however and claim a victory by 7 shots to 6 after the ten ends were completed.
The final game of the contest was between the Western rink of Darren Hunter, Norman Noble, Ian McElroy and Ally Graham against Donegal’s John Quinn. This was another close game and with the visitors picking up two shots in the final end it ended as a 9-9 draw.
This left the home side running out winners by 61 shots to 44 and sealing a place in this year’s Semi Final. Next up for Western will be North West on February 3 where they will be looking to make amends for last year’s second round defeat at the hands of the same opposition.
Next week sees Western ladies in Semi Final action also when they take on Donegal in the Unionist Hall, Enniskillen. All support would be welcome for the ladies as they attempt to make this year’s final.