Although 5 of their Bridlington squad were on the UK mainland with work commitments, Northern Ireland B1 Team Manager Ady Toner took a 6 man team (pictured right) down to the seaside town of Whitehead in County Antrim for a warm up match against an experienced Carrick select side captained by Johnny Johnstone, on Sunday 28th March. The match atmosphere was boosted by the inclusion of 5 NI 'B2' players in the Carrick side. The B1s and B2s are set to meet in the first group match in Bridlington on Sunday 25th April.
In a best of 44 (4 sessions of 11) match, that swung back and forward all day the sides were eventually locked at 18-18 before Carrick went on a run of 4 in a row to guarantee themselves at least a play off frame decider. And although the B1s won the 41st frame to bring it back to 19-22, Carrick took the next soon afterwards to secure the win. The next 2 were shared making the final score NI 'B1's 20-24 Carrick & District Select.
Session scores were as follows (NI 'B1's first) 5-6, 5-6, 7-4 and 3-8
Best for the B1s was Manager Ady Toner on 4/7 and for Carrick it was Kenny English on 4/5.
The B1s thanked the Carrick League for putting on a light buffet
