Bann B&D team begin with smashing away win

Travelling to Galgorm Castle for the first leg, they put one of the best away performances, and secured one of the best results, ever by a Banbridge B&D team. Team captain Connor Doran led from the front with a convincing win and he was delighted when Colin Wilton, Jonathan Ward, Rory Madeley and Jim Carvill followed that up with four more well-earned victories. You are never going to win all seven games matched away in the B&D. Indeed, winning five is a rare enough event at such a high level. Josh Lockhart and Jonathan Shannon both lost but they and the whole team were rightly delighted with the overall result, a fantastic 5-2 victory that sets them. ulster fourball team through to round two The Banbridge Ulster Fourball team, captained by Merton McDowell, have progressed into round two of the competition after a tight 6-4 victory over Down Royal. Banbridge had won the away leg 3-2 and they were very confident going into the second leg at home on Sunday afternoon. They were not so cocky, however, after they lost the first two games with the plucky Down Royal threatening to cause an upset at Bann’s home course. Aidan Lavery and John Poots lost but took their match down the 18th, losing one down. John Convery and Victor McNeill also lost on the final par-three green as Bann went 4-3 behind in the overall scores. Captain Merton was surely a worried man but thankfully things started to go his way soon after. The Bann comeback was kick-started by the outstanding Sean McGreevey and Dermot Magee, who totally outclassed their opponents on the day, winning eight and seven. Robert Haire and Will Dickson won two and one to put Banbridge back into the driving seat and a 5-4 lead. Down Royal had to win the final game to draw the match and send it into a decider. They certainly gave it a great shot, taking the match a final nervy hole. Banbridge’s Gerry Blevins and Gavin Greer, however, held their nerve to win by one hole up and that meant victory for Banbridge by six games to four overall. The team will now be hoping they can maintain this form as the campaign continues.