The Ulster Transport Veterans 1 team finished in 5th place in the VBLNI Zone A Section 1 League after defeat by 12 shots (36 - 24) in the last game of the season away at Whitehead.

Scoreboard

The Final VBLNI Zone A Section 1 Table

A bad start with defeat at home to a poor Carrickfergus side and narrow losses to Larne and Curran were enough to derail a title challenge and at least four points were needed in the last game at Whitehead to stay in third place, but the game, like the season, slipped away, resulting in a 5th place finish.

Player Match Statistics

It was a close game in the first half, but Whitehead created enough of a gap later in the match to hold on and take maximum points, with Tommy Brown's rink only losing out on the last end.

Player Team Statistics

A total of 12 players were used this season with 7 playing 10 or more of the 14 games (1 x 10, 1 x 11, 2 x 12, 3 x 13).

Tommy Brown finished with the highest rink points, 10 out of 13 games played (77%).

Season Summary

The Ulster Transport Veterans 1 team made a strong challenge for the title last season, only missing out with defeat in the last match, but a couple of injuries and a poor start led to the team playing 'catch up' for the rest of the campaign.

A very strong Ballymena side challenged the 'big two' (Ulster Transport and Whitehead) for the title this year and defeated both clubs on their way to becoming champions.

There are only two rinks in the Veterans teams and this reduces the number of spaces available by 50%, a major problem this year for Ulster Transport with over 30 players unable to get a game this season.

If the VBLNI do not move to 3 rinks per team in 2024, Ulster Transport have enough players to enter an additional two teams and give all the veterans an opportunity to play competitive bowls each week.