It is a driving ambition for Carrick Knowe BC that they make a high quality impression on the EBL as quickly as befits their hard earned reputation as one of the top clubs in the capital city and that opportunity presents itself in the upcoming final of The Specsavers sponsored Edinburgh Cup.
Read MoreCarrick Knowe – who joined the Edinburgh Bowling League at the start of the 2015 season from the much celebrated Water of Leith League – faced tough opposition from Hillside in the semi finals of The Cup and romped to a 10-2 victory. Hillside – whose history dates back to 1870 – were founder members of the EBL in 1996 had yet to reach a final of The Edinburgh Cup and were pitching their status as a Division 1 club against the Division 4 standing of Carrick Knowe.
Carrick Knowe – currently runaway leaders of Division 4 having been promoted in their first season from Division 5 – showed their hunger to capture top flights scalps with strong home wins on the rinks skipped by Darren Hush, James Hogg and Johnny Priestley. The away leg saw them suffer a setback on the rink skipped by Stephen Pringle but that was the only blip with Paul O’Donnell and John Ramsay comfortably overpowering their respective oppositions. Hush roared into an 11-2 lead but was closed to 11-7 before scaling up the home crowd decibels by skipping Andy Beath, Keith Elder, and Kevin Tennant on a run of 4, 1, 1, 2, 6, 2 that crushed Dougie Robinson, 28-7.
Hogg sparked his rink into instant action with an explosive count of 6 on the first end them skipped Ray Smith, Trevor MacDonald, and Graham Pringle to a 26-10 blitz of Hillside icon figure BJ Smith. Priestley also carded a super 6 but his came on end 10 to skip Ralph Brand, Allan Shanney, and Craig Aitken into a whopping 21-3 lead; but his 23-18 win was clouded by the loss of a 5 and a 6 to Alex Littlejohn.
Hillside managed to win on one of their home leg wins with Colin Bell kicking on from 11-9 to skip Phil Harper, John Newall, and Peter Brown to a 19-11 win over Rab Hush, Colin Tough, Bob Mitchell, and Pringle. But Paul O’Donnell was on song to sustain the pressure on Hillside by skipping Cameron Tennant, Ray Smith, and Colin Spence to a 25-13 win over Steve Cormack having hit high notes from 14-12 on. John Ramsay accelerated in a 14-6 comfort zone with a purple patch run of 3, 4, 3 then skipped Chris Crawford, Andy McIntyre, and Alan Poole to a 21-10 win over Kevin Moncur.
Meanwhile, Maitland of Division 1 were stimulated by home wins on the rinks skipped by Jimmy McFarlane (30-12), and Gary Stout (17-14) that contributed to an 8-4 victory over Division 5 leaders Sighthill.