Published: Wednesday, 1st July, 2009 3:11pm

Early exit for Clacks trio

by Elaine Birse

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SCOTTISH bowling triple title holders Joe Young, Mark McCallum and John Bell fell at the first hurdle when they took on England in the British Isles Bowling Council (BIBC) championship.

The Clackmannan bowlers were confident going in to the opening round clash against the Auld Enemy in Northern Ireland on Thursday.

However, after leading by five points to nill the trio threw it away as the game progressed.

Speaking to Joe on his return from the tournament held in Belmont, he told Advertiser Sport, 'It was a great experience. We were a wee bit disappointed not to have won anything, but we tried our best and on the day the best team won.'

A large support from their local club, plus others in the county, made the journey over the Irish sea to cheer them on.

'We had a very good support from Clackmannanshire and a couple of guys we knew from Dunfermline were on their holidays and came to see us,' he went on. 'I think between us, after the game, we knew we could have played better than we did.'

'England adjusted better to the green than we did. We were winning five-nill and at that point we thought, 'here we go"

'In previous games [before the tournament] we would come out the blocks fairly quick, but this time it looks like the wheels fell off.'

Now the Clackmannan trio have their sights set on the national competition held in Northfield, Ayr, at the end of July.

At that event they will compete in the rinks section as Mark"s uncle Jim joins the winning team.

Joe added, 'We are now looking ahead to Ayr and hopefully start the process again of getting to the British Isles finals, this time with a win in the rinks. Next year"s BIBC finals are at Worthing so that"s spurring us on.'