Ladies Fall at Final Hurdle

Armagh Ladies couldn't quite manage to retain their Interzone title, going down to Foyle by 5 shots in yesterdays final in Ulster Transport BC, Jordanstown. It was a disappointing end to an impressive campaign as the ladies couldn't match the impressive performances of the previous rounds.

The first half was nip and tuck all the way. On rink 1 Sopia Minish, Jean Hawthorne, Flo McNally and Irene Doone were all square at 10 all playing the last end but dropped a 4. On rink 2 May Cassells, Linda Milligan, Rosemary Beattie and Daphne Marshall always had the upper hand in their game and finished 5 up. On rink 3 Diane Bell, Zoe Minish, Ann Patton and Rachel Cassells battled their way to a 3 shot victory.

This left Armagh 4 up at the break, but a disastrous 1st end in the second half on rink 4 saw Irene Douglas' rink of Christina Breen, Hilary Agnew and Leslie Strain lose a 6. The rink held their own for the rest of the game, but couldn't quite manage to claw back this initial loss.

On rink 5, things weren't just happening for Laura Cassells, Irene Cunningham, Diane Angew and Pauline Cassells. A slow start saw them trail 7-1. A mini revival followed but in the end there was too much ground to make up.

Rink 6 saw Armagh's only victory in the second half with Lisa Douglas and her rink of Michelle Wright, Eileen McDonald and Wendy Cassells recording a 3 shot win.

The ladies fought hard in the second half to pull back a deficit that got as high as 10 shots but in the end it wasn't to be. Congratulations to Foyle who have now won their second title.