Ballycastle Bowllng & Social Recreation Centre
Sccrettys Reix)rt 2018
At the outset, mention must be Tnade of the passing in October of our esteemed Member Dan M¢Af¢¢, a Past
President. Selcctor and Committee Member. Dan was a trne Gentleman and highly respected within bowling circles,
an￿hIng requiring attcntion was never too Jnuch trouble. Deepest Sympathy 15 Cxtended to his Wife Annie and Family
and also to any of our Member5 who have suffered be￿avel￿ent during th¢ ￿$t Season. G(K)d wishes to any of our
Members who are suffertng ill health at p￿sent.
Witholtt doubt, 2018 has been the Ballyca5tle Club's most suc￿sSful year to date. However, at on¢ point we
nev¢r thoEbght we would get the Sca50n off the ground a5 a result of 'The beast from the easL' with tons of sand
deposited on the green. Sincere thank5 go to Ballycastle Golf Club for all their help and to &ny Members who were
able to com¢ along and assist. Thanks also to the Members who camc and cleaned out the ditrhcs and those who
helped clean up the premises, also to Francis for tKywer washing prior to Otthin& Our Official Opening was again
held on the first night of the Rinks. A g(th attendance of members were present to see Presiden¢ Freddie Mccandless
deliver the first bowl and oificially o￿n the Green for anothcr Season. His good wife. Lady Captain Elizabeth
delivered the first IK)wl on bchalf of the LAdies Club. With the Centre Flag unfijrled and after a few ends of IM)wls, we
retired to the Pavilion for refr¢shTnents.
This year we had 5 new mewnbers join th¢ Men's Club in S McCorn)icL F Regan. J Brennan, J McKinley and
F M¢Ginn. It was great to have them join and we wish them ev¢ry success in the futur¢.
With regard to the bowls as already mentioned. 2018 proved to EE an epic year for both teams in the Centre. In
respect of the Irish Cup, Ballycastle had trem¢ndous Cup run finishing Runners up in the Irish Itttermediate Cup. It all
began way back in May with a bye in the I st round followed by a 2nd round game home to Cavehill winning by 85
shots lo 62. The 3 round saw Ballycastle travel to Forth River winning by 86 shots to 74. The Quarter final was a
local derby travelling away to City of Dery on 28 July to play on waicr logged green. Following a break mid game
to allow the green to soak, we eventually won by 79 shots to 68 under v¢ry dilficult conditions. Semi-fin:.:.s saw us
trdv¢I to the neutrdl venue of Larne to play North Down. Thls w&$ a very close affair with some big bowli played in
the Closing stages to win by 76 shots to 69. Fittals day saw us travel to Old Bleach to play Ballywalter, last years
runner ups. This was a very fast 5wingiRg green. and we were able to keep it fairly tight till the closing slages and the
it slowly creeped away from us to lose by the narrow margin of l O shots 78 to 68.
Naturally we were disapwint¢d and we all gav¢ it our bes¢ on that particular day it wasn't to be. As was said at the
lime 2. in Ireland wasn't bad for the wce Club from Ballycastle! All those involved should be very proud of their
aehicvement. From a Club persp¢ctive, thanks must go to those who rcarrdnged work and pcrsonal commitments to
ensurc we had the strongest team possible on the gre¢n during the Cup campaign and for the special effort made to
turn out in full Club dress on such an important occasion: done EKTrth yoU￿1Ve5 and the Club proud. The B Team were
able to play in the Irish Junior Cup thi5 Year, travelling away to Banbridge, losing by 84 shots to 66.
In respect of the Leagues. once again we competa in Senior t£&gue Two and cam¢ out on top as League
Champions with 75 points hal'ing won I l of our 14 games and drdwn l. Ballyca5tle B had also a very creditable
Lcague campaign winning 8 of their 14 matches with 54.5 points. narrowly missing out on runner up spot by 3.5
points.
Within the NIPBA, our Cup campaign was stTII very much to the fore. These were played on a home and away
basis. The Senior Two Tcam reached th¢ final of the Cupples Cup with wins over City of Derry and Fairhill and th¢n
defeated Castlerock in the Final played in Ballymoney, by 86 shots to 43.
Ballyca5tl¢ B was also hot on the Cup trail in the Hyland tk)naghy Cup. Again played home and away, they
had a tremendous first round victory over Culrathain. Junior 2 Leagu¢ Champions in the 1° Round, follomied bv an
equally strong perforn)ance against Riada in the semi-final. Ballycastle B travelled to Limavady to play Omagh and
came away winners by 94 shots to 54. This was a super performance by Ballycastle B and all involved are to be
congratulated on their victory, bringing vet another trophv to Ballycastle. Ballvcastle also competed ¢he 5 man team
Competition, aT]d reached the semi-finals of iK>th the Kane and Mullan Cups. i￿Ing defeated by Dunlu¢e and
Cookstown respectiv¢ly.
The Ballycastle Club's success at Irish and Provin¢Tal Level saw us Ixing nominated forthe Senior Team
award in the Moyle Sports Awards. We won the Moylc Heat being presented with an ¢ngraved award and then put
through to the ftnal stages in the Causcwa). Coast and Glens Swrts Awards in the tKxlgc Hotel, Colerdine,
unfortunately losing out to Colerdine Football Club.
My thanks go to all those who werc prepared ￿ takc their cars to the away matches and to those Members
who gave up their time to float betwe¢n both teams. Thls ycar again a nUm￿r of play¢TS t￿k part in the Veterans
League Rink5 and enjoyed ¢ompeting in this competition
I must thank the selection panel of President Fr¢ddify Vice-President Andy, Joseph. TuTlough and Michael for
all their help in assisting me guidc the respective teatDs through the twue and Cup progrdmme. A special word of
thanks to Bob for taking charge of the B Team.
The Monday night fun rinks were well attended again and I would thank Alice and Jim Burn5 for organising

the rinks during ihe Se&soD at]d to those who PTovided prizes each week.
The Ladies Sec'tion comp¢t¢d in the Weekly Mixed Triples Competltion competing for the Charles Coyle
Memorial Cup. Thts provided the Ladies with cownpetttive bowls and thanks to all the Male Members for taking part
on FFiday Afternoons. Congrntulations to Alice Burns Tommy Grainger and Fran¢is Regan on wit￿1ng this
¢OTJ]PCtition and thanks to Bob for oroanising and running this Cornpetition.
Thanks tnust go to Lady Captain Elizabeth McCandle4 Hon Secretary Lyn ChestnutL Treasurer Rosaleen
Donnelly, Catering Officer Catherine Grninger and all the Mcmbers of th¢ IAdies Club who give of thcir time to cat
at hotne tnatches, provide food for other Centre fitnctions and also through their finan¢ial supw)rt.
Once again the Club Competitions and Doak Cup were keenly contested and all CoTnpetitions were
Completed before closing.
We held our CJreen Keep¢r's Benefit on Saturday 15th S¢ptemlKr. There wa5 a disappointing turnout but
those present enjoyed a ritths competitron and were served a lovely tea in the Pavilion.
Our sincere thanks go to green keeper David who has carrid out his d￿7¢$ very efficiently with the green playing
very well. This year we wer¢ able to get hollow tinnin& lop dressing and reseeding done, so should improve the
playing surface next year. My thanks to Brian McKaJ for all his assistance in helping maintain the green.
May I thank all Officials and Committees for their assistance in running the Centre this Season. Sincere
thanks must go to President Freddic. who gav¢ his attention to many issues during the Season and has been at the helm
of the Club's s most su¢c¢ssful year. l also wish Fre(Idie a $￿Y recovery following illn¢ss. Many thanks to Vice-
Pr¢sident Andy and Assistant .%ecretary Sean for their h61p throughout th¢ Season. Mightl also mention and thank
Honorary Treasurer, Michael Denni5 for all his assistance once again and in dealing with the Centre's financial affairs
so eificiently for yet another year. Michael hasn't been in the IKst of forni in the last while, but hopefully now has the
worst over him and w¢ wish him well for a swift Tecovery. Sincere thanks go to all those, t(x) numerous to mention,
who slip in and carry Out various tasks around the Club which make such a difference.
We have had a very successful year, however success has brought provnotion to Senior I bowls once again, an
arena which we wer¢ in before and no doubt will bring Tts own challcnges on the green. I have &xhausted all avenues
lo ty and get our Saturday games an evenin& all to no avail. From a Club peryective. the maiTt problem is thc
transfer of players, on a substitute basis between Senior l and Junior 2 and vice versa is now very very restrictive and
will require a degree of conllnitmeni frotEI Senior players to kcep th¢ Senior team going. The use of substitutes will
takc careful handling so as ttot to j￿pardiSe the B Teams perfornianc¢ in Cups and League. However. we have faced
challenges before and is not in our nature to lie down to these. If the players available in our senior panel were all
fielding, Ih¢re is no doubt we could cause an upset here and there.
The Club's launch into Social Media with our FaCe1￿k Page. thanks to Mark and Sean, posting Club
information and photographs has opened up a ￿hole n¢￿. avenue of publicity for the Club in the wider area. As
administrdtors of the page, seeing the hits or views run into the thousand5 is amazin& This can be only good for
ourselves and would ask firstly all members to encourage anyone who is interested to comc along. Secondly, use thts
new avenue of publicity to invite people within this wider viewing audience to come along and have a go.
You will have saw from the Tninutes w¢ were hoping to get a Grdnd Draw underway. Obtaining spollsorship
has be¢[] very dE￿i¢￿1t with many refltsals. l am pleased to say we ar¢ slowly getting there and if we could obtain
another Couple of good sums wc ￿.111 be ￿adY to gei things moving. If any of you att aware of any businesses who
would like lo get involved, please let me know.
The succe&s we have had this year just doesn't happen. It is a result of thc commilment from every Member
within both teams, their bowling ability, hunger for success and Te%pect for their teammates within t￿]r Club. and
indeed foT their Club, culminating in four Cups at Irish and Provincial levcl. topp&J with a spotts award.
I tn]st this commitmetÈt will k carried into 2019.
S. Craig.
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