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Mid Tyrone men lose out in close affair after long trek east

Thursday, 19 January 2012

ON Saturday, the Mid Tyrone men's team made the long journey to play North Down in the Boomer Cup.
This highly anticipated game for both was always going to be a close affair and that's the way it was. After the first half, the North Down men had established an 11 shot lead and were rampant with their aggressive style of play compared to the more laid back drawing approach of the Tyrone men.
Even at this stage, North Down will feel very lucky, having gone into the break 11 shots up, which did not really reflect the game. The home advantage most definitely paid off for North Down due to the unpredictable mats, which even after the game most players still probably did not know what the mats' true lines were.
But the mats were the same for both teams and simply the Down men had their homework done on this matter.
Scores from the first half were as follows (Mid Tyrone names first): D Spratt 8 R Hastings 13; H Wilson 7 N Belch 10; PJ McCrossan 6 G McKee 6.
In the second half, the Mid Tyrone men knew that it was going to take an exceptional effort to bridge an 11 shot deficit to come out victorious and they had the gap down to two shots at one point, but with a few key chances of getting big counts going amiss, the bridge couldn't be crossed.
If the Mid Tyrone men had taken advantage of those key points, victory most definitely was theirs for the taking.
“With some unusual umpiring in this half again, they were always up against it," said a spokesperson. "The North Down men in this half again were aggressive and up for the game and executed their shots well."
In the end North Down deserved their win, but it could as easily have been a Tyrone win. Mid Tyrone will learn from this experience.
With many younger faces introduced this season, it takes time for this to gel and work and with more experienced players around them the youth will mature and in time Mid Tyrone will not be far away in capturing the elusive Boomer Cup.
Scores from the second half were as follows: G Conroy 6 M Caughey 11; C Shortt 10 S Cavan 4; R Cunningham 10 P Campbell 8. Overall, Mid Tyrone 47 North Down 55.
“Special thanks must go to the players and their families for all the time and effort given in this year's campaign and, no doubt, we will be back next year trying again," said a team spokesperson.
The dinner dance is in the Silverbirch Hotel on Saturday, February 25, and a good show of players from both the ladies and men's teams is expected. Contact Trevor on 02880758130 for further details.
World bowls
The committee wish Micheal Savage and Gerard Conroy the best of luck at the World Bowls stage where they have been picked in the pairs event to represent Ireland and, no doubt, they will do the zone and country proud. The worlds are on March 23-24 in Ballybrakes.

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