Historic treble win for Larne teams at inter-league event
Larne’s B1 team, led by Bill McIlroy Snr., won two out of three group games to book their place in a semi-final where a strong Coleraine team waited. With the score finely poised at 11-10 to Larne, one frame remained for Larne to book their place or play a decider. And it was Stephen Burns who held his nerve to take Larne to a 12-10 victory. Carrick awaited in the final - they had won the event three years in a row.
However, Larne showed no mercy and raced into a strong five-frame lead. They never looked back and secured a memorable 17-11 victory, with Alan Johnston potting the winning black.
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Hide AdThe Larne B2 team, led by Alex Irvine and Rab Wilson, overcame Ballymena with another epic 12-10 win to secure the plate. League stalwart Hugo Manson pocketed the winning black.
Meanwhile, Larne had high hopes for the prestigious ‘A’ event. A routine 17-5 win over Ballynahinch set up a winner-takes-all match against Ballyclare. Larne were thankful to Ed McDowell for holding his nerve to win the last frame for a 12-10 victory.
In the semi-final against past winners Antrim, the lads comfortably won 12-6.
The final provided an engrossing contest with Coleraine in a race to 17. The match went all the way and Larne had Ellis Martin to thank when he remained cool to bag the last frame in front of a packed crowd to complete the treble.
All in all, a terrific achievement for the league and its players.