The opening action in the Weslo Seniors Open claimed two former champions as victims with Gordon Scott (2012) of Armadale and Gordon Logan (2014) of Kirkliston biting the dust in the end of season Major on the annual calendar of The West Lothian Bowling Association.
Read MoreEtching their name on the coveted Weslo trophy is a prime target of the competitive minded brigade of Senior bowlers embraced by the 34 member clubs and the first headline makers are Freddy Dailly of Oakbank and Allan Lynch of West Calder. Dailly captured the scalp of Scott in a major 21-15 upset and while Lynch produced an even stronger performance to progress at the 21-8 expense of Logan – a former County Singles champion in the mainstream. The first round proper of the 2017 Weslo was denied a third personality figure in the shape of John Black the celebrated 2014 Scottish Seniors Champion from Buchan Park who failed a late fitness test.
Three close encounters in the prelim head to heads saw Charlie Houston of Kirkliston win an epic 21-20 battle with John Traynor of Pumpherston while John Weir of Whitburn edged a 21-19 thriller over Eddie Scott of Harrysmuir and Bill Whaley of Watson Memorial did likewise at the expense of Whitburn’s David Gracie.
Tonight’s (Thur) first round proper brings title-holder Bob Mackay into sharp focus against Bill Close of Kirkliston at Kinneil while recent District champion Robert Saunders of Whitburn faces George Marshall of Pumpherston at Buchan Park.
Football Legend Colin Stein has strong ambition to be pictured with The Weslo Cup in a champions pose and the Linlithgow star launches his campaign against Clark Steele of Watson Memorial at Kinneil. Round 2 in The Weslo takes place on Tuesday the 29th.
East Calder stage the final days play in the WL Council Super Fours -supported by Derek Logie of Small Business Accountancy Scotland – this Sunday (10am start) with 12 rinks set to battle it out for the capture of the £600 title. The 12 qualifying rinks were due to emerge from last night’s head to heads involving 24 Fours competing across venues, Armadale, Whitburn, Harrysmuir, and Pumpherston.
Newbridge reign as the WLBA Top Five Singles Champions for a sixth time and their latest triumph came in the shape of a stunning 3-2 victory over title-holders and record 14 times kingpins Kirkliston in a dramatic final played at Middleton Hall. Wins for Paul Sweeney, James Speirs, and Drew Paterson tipped the scales in an epic battle that went right down to the wire as Newbridge escaped from the jaws of defeat to snatch a title victory that had looked out of their reach.
Kirkliston took to the green against their neighbour village favourites to complete a hat trick of title triumphs having dominated the Top Five scene in 2015 and 2016 and wins for super star duo Neil Speirs and Grant Logan gave them every chance to spark three-in-a-row celebrations. But ‘The Cheesetown Boys’ failed to deliver that elusive third match win with Calum Logan and Mark Allison unable to dominate against Sweeney and Speirs (James) respectively while Steven Forrest failed to deliver the killer punch from 20-17 up against Paterson.
First blood – in front of a good sized banking – was drawn by Newbridge and the the outcome was never really in doubt albeit surprising that Calum Logan failed to strike many blows against 43 year old Paul Sweeney. Sweeney raised eyebrows on the banking as he swept into a 10-0 lead then when closed to 10-5 re-asserted his supremacy with a run of 2, 1,1,1,1 to 16 and went on to score a commanding 21-10 victory.
That outcome was a blow to the chin of the KBC efforts but Grant Logan (cousin) restored confidence within the camp by capturing the scalp of Blair Mackie, albeit there was sweat forming on the brow having been crossed17-16 before hitting 21 with a 4, 1 finish. Neil Speirs became the second KBC big gun to shoot effectively from the hip and having blazed into a 15-1 lead he emerged from his showpiece battle against fellow cap Thomas Mann with a resounding 21-12 victory. It was James Speirs (brother) that squared the final at 2-2 with the 39-year old calling most of the shots to lead 12-4 then stay on strongly to beat Mark Allison, 21-11. The final showdown swung the title focus on the Paterson v Forrest confrontation -both current Hamilton Trophy players with West Lothian – and the main spotlight beamed in on Forrest holding all of the aces with leads of 15-8, 19-14, then 20-17. Paterson – a late sub for Greg Baldry – is a former Scottish Triples Champion and the 55 year old stalwart campaigner having done well to stay in contention grabbed the title winning glory with a fabulous 1, 2, 1 finish to win 21-20.
“Steven must have looked like a banker when he had me in his 13-3 grip and playing like a machine at which stage my one thought was to stay on the green for as long as I could then having pegged him back I managed to nip him on the line – a great result for Newbridge”.