Winners prove hard to ‘Beattie’ in Co Antrim pairs final!

The St Mark’s Portadown pair scooped the title at the Jim Baker Stadium, beating David Coulter and Steven McKinley (Ulster Transport) in the final, to bring the curtain down on a torunament which featured some high-class bowling.

In the Quarter Finals Joe and Pauline Beattie (St Marks Portadown) faced Andy Riley and Nigel Hamilton (Hillsborough Social club). After a close contest the Portadown pair qualified for the first semi final.

Quarter Final 2 saw local interest with William and David Morrison (1st Ahoghill) in opposition to Paul Moffett and Andrew Hughes (St Saviours Portadown). Good play by the local pair saw them qualify for the semi final with a 9-3 win.

The bottom half of the draw saw Jim Hendron and Robert Kidd (Armagh Golf Club) in opposition to Billy Clingham and Glen Harvey (Annihilt Parish). This was an extremely close contest with the Lisburn pair eventually reaching the semi final with a 9-10 win.

The last of the quarter finals saw David Coulter and Steven McKinley (Ulster Transport) in opposition to Colm McHugh and Keith McCullagh (Largy). The Transport pair started slowly but dominated the end of the contest to qualify for the semi finals.

Semi final 1 saw P Beattie in opposition to D Morrison and the Portadown pair dominated the contest from the start of the game as they recorded a comprehensive 11-3 win to qualify for the final.

The other semi final saw G Harvey in oppositon to S Mckinley and the Ulster transport pair always held a slight advantage in the contest to qualify for the final.

A close contest was expected in the final and this proved to be the case. Both sides held the lead during the contest with the portadown pair taking a 9-8 lead into the last end. A single for the Beattie pair allowed the to become the first winners of the Co Antrim open Pairs.

Thanks also have to be given to the sponsors Bairds Funeral Service, NFU Mutual, FL Amusements and Stephen Coleman Building and Joinery Services.