Midlothian IBC ladies 2016/17 campaign in the East Premier League has hit the ground running with the stars from the Dalkeith Stadium reeling off a hat trick of wins to establish a two- point lead that has raised morale and fired up expectations.
Read MoreWins over their neighbour rivals East Lothian (81-74) then Bathgate based Balbardie (89-60) were both toughly tested away fixtures and were then backed up by a fine home performance to beat previously undefeated East Fife by 13 shots (82-69) We are delighted to get our season off to such a great start especially as several of our notable players were unavailable but to beat three strong team in such circumstances demonstrates we have strength in depth.
Our winning margins have not been of a commanding nature and that is a signal that we have to stay focused and seek to step up our gears in order to sustain our challenge for top of the table honours. The word of team spokeswoman Shona Johnstone who is a skip spearhead figure along with Sandra McLeish, Margaret Porter, and Anne Rutherford. Johnstones latest contribution, against East Fife, was to skip Ellie Borthwick, Elizabeth France, and Susan Liddle to a hard fought 20-15 win over Scotland cap Julie Sword. The game-changing spell in the 21-end match came on ends 12, 13, 14, and 15 with Johnstone and Co exploding from 8-10 to 18-10 with a run of 1, 3, 3, 3. McLeish opened with all guns blazing and a run of 1, 3, 4, 2 to lead 10-0 set the scene for her skipping Sandra Muir, Alison Plenderleith, and Grace MacGregor to a 19-17 win over Ruth Stewart. Rutherford stormed from 11-7 to 26-7 with a whirlwind run of 5, 2, 5, 3 then skipped Pat Liddle, Jean Lavin, and Mary Clement to a 28-14 win over Kate McAndrew.
However Porter and her rink of Lorna Goldsmith, Norma Shillinglaw, and Jeanette McVicar were always battling against the collar in a 23-15 defeat from Alice Fyall. Meanwhile, East Lothian have two points from two matches having bounced back from their defeat at home to Midlothian to score an encouraging 83-77 away win over Abbeyview.
This weekends fixtures feature East Lothian at home to East Fife while foot of the table Balbardie are at home to Abbeyview; Midlothian are idle. West Lothian IBC ladies hold up the East Division 1 League and seek to break their duck at the expense of Headwell with home advantage at Livingston.