Postal were not expected to produce the bombshell result of the night when they entertained title-holders Craigentinny in this week Division 1 of the Alpha Trophies Edinburgh Bowling League but last seasons Divison 2 runners-up inflicted maximum damage with a 9-0 hammering of the record 10 times champions..
Read MoreCraigentinny went into the 11th of the leagues 14 match schedule a worrying 11 points adrift of table-toppers Carrick Knowe and it will be of some consolation that their chief rivals were themselves on the end of a shock defeat losing 7-2 at home to Parkside..
Carrick Knowe came up this season as Division 2 champions and are bidding to enter the EBL record book as clinching the Division 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 titles at the first time of asking. Dropping 7 points at home is not impressive title-winning form but it will be a huge relief that they have increase their lead over the now third placed placed Craigentinny to 13 points with just three games to play.
Postal have leapfrogged the defending champions into second place and that is not only a nose-bleed position (unexpected dizzy heights) for them but they are tantalisingly only 4 points adrift of a Carrick Knowe team that next week faces a tough visit to Craigentniny
Maitland celebrated a surprise 9-0 away win over Queensberry while a releagtion zone battle saw foot of the table Brunstane 6-3 win at home to Northern. The table reads – Carrick Knowe 67; Postal 63; Craigentinny 54; Parkside 53; Maitland 53; Queensberry 43; Northern 35; Brunstane 28.
The night of shocks spilled over to Division2 with leaders Sighthill stunned by an 8-1 defeat away to relegation zoned West End but chief rivals failed to capitalise in a 7-2 defeat at home to third from bottom Hillside. Other results Summerside 7 Wardie 3; Colinton 3 Bainfield 6. The table reads Sighthill 67; Tanfield 58½; Summerside 55; Colinton 50; Bainfield 47½; Hillside 47; West End 40½; Wardie 30½.
An eventually rampant West Lothian team marched into today’s semi final stage of The Hamilton Trophy with the defending champions producing a brilliant performance to beat Dumfriesshire by 37 shots (150-113) at East Lothian venue Castlepark. Exchanges were tight over the first nine ends with only four shots in it (54-50) then a change of gear accelerated WL to a peak of 44 shots in a match that saw them lead from start to finish. Victory on five rinks and a narrow loss on the other reflected a strong team performance with the winning contributions coming from the rinks skipped by Andy Dunnett, Thomas Mann, Neil Speirs, Steven Fleming, and team captain Raymond Logan while Grant Logan went down by 4.
This Saturdays semi final of The Hamilton Trophy is re-run of last years final with West Lothian doing battle against Bon Accord at Midlothian venue Newbattle.
The semi final clash at Newbattle is a re-run of last season final with West Lothian facing far travelled Bon Accord, Team manager John Black makes two enforced changes with Gary Smith coming in at third to Grant Logan in place of Gary Orr while Jim Speirs the two-in-row County Singles champion plays lead to Raymond Logan in place of Darren Pearce. The other semi final features Lanarkshire South against Glasgow West at The Rock BC, Dumbarton.
Edinburgh & Leiths bid to reach the semi final stage came to grief in frustrating circumstances as they posted wins on four of their six rinks but suffered a six shot defeat (123-117) at the hands of Lanarkshire South in a tremendous battle that went right down to the wire. Single figure wins on the rinks skipped by John McDermott, Robert Marshall, Paul Veitch, and Paul O’Donnell failed to cover the 8 shot defeat of Danny Gormley and the catastrophic 24 shot hammering suffered by James Hogg. The result was a massive downer for Scotland star James Hogg and his third player Stephen Pringle ( the rink trailed 27-5 at one stage) who a week earlier had gloriously captured the British Isles Fours title in company with their Carrick Knowe clubmates Graham Pringle and John Priestley.
The final of the West Lothian Bowling Associations historic 4 rink Rosebery Cup (1882) is played at West Calder BC tomorrow (2pm) and features Kirkliston versus Linlithgow.