CI women struggle to match earlier heroics

THE Bank of Nova Scotia CI teams competing in Dublin for the European pool championships had, as usual, mixed fortunes. The A team fared the worst as they lost four games on the bounce.

After opening-day defeats against Northern Ireland and then the current European champions, Malta, day two saw them play Ireland.

This turned out to be as tight as they come, the CI team winning the first session 3-2 with a four-ball clearance from Alan Humphreys as he defeated John McMahon.

Ady Bougourd beat Tony Holgate with a four-ball clearance, as did Gary Cook against John Colomb.

They also won the third session 3-2. Bougourd had a three-ball clearance against McMahon, Humphreys a total clearance against Paul Noonan and Cook outplayed Steven Horan to make the score 6-4.

The third session was a total disaster - they lost it 1-4 with only Aaron Canavan winning against McMahon - resulting in a 7-8 defeat.

The next day they lost to England 5-10, Wales 4-11, Malta 3-12 and France 4-11. Their next game is against Belgium.

The women were unlucky to lose their first two matches, against Ireland 9-6 and Scotland 10-5, as there were plenty of games that could have gone either way.

But they went on to beat the current European and World champions, England, who have dominated women's pool for the past 10 years, a huge shock.

Unfortunately for the women, they could not continue where they left off against England as the French beat them 9-6 and Wales defeated them 11-4. Their last game is against Northern Ireland.

The Bank of Nova Scotia Men's B team had the best chance of making the semis as they beat Northern Ireland 11-4 in their opening game.

Although they were beaten by Malta 5-10, they went on to beat Scotland 9-6.

The B team needed another two wins to secure a semi-final spot but they lost 7-8 to Ireland in a last-frame decider and 7-8 to Wales. They play France in their last game.

The juniors, who were semi-finalists two years ago in Gruissane, have an even chance of repeating that feat as they have won two and lost three with one to play.

They faced Ireland in the first match and won by the odd frame 8-7.

Scotland were next and the score-line was the same, with the boys scraping the first two sessions 3-2 as Ryan Durrant beat junior champion Darren Mathews and Colin Corcoran, Chris Alexander beat Corcoran and Mark Burns, Christian Moriarty beat Paul McCarron and Carl Dix defeated Craig.

The game was won in the next two as Alexander with his third victory, this time against Mathews, and Moriarty with his second, against Corcoran, saw the team to an 8-7 win.

They faced the might of England next and were completely outplayed 3-12. Alexander was the only player to play to any form, beating Andrew Davis with a six-ball clearance and a total clearance against Darren Turode.

The second day saw them play Malta and although the boys did not play well, they won quite comfortably 9-6. The first two sessions were shared as both sides won 3-2 but the CI juniors took control of the game by taking the last session 4-1, with wins from Alexander, Durrant, de Sousa and Dix.

They played Wales next, needing a win to secure a top four spot but the Welsh were on fire as they completely outpotted the CI boys on the way to an 11-4 victory.

The boys will play Northern Ireland in their last game, knowing that only a good win and other results going their way will secure a semi-final spot.