Two bright local talents go head to head in the opening playdown action of the Ladies indoor bowls Scottish Singles Championship today with Mandy O’Donnell of Bainfield and Dee Hoggan of East Lothian clashing in the prelim round at Arbroath.
O’Donnell is the senior figure of the two with 27 caps gained at Junior Scotland level and the reigning Bainfield champion has added three in the full cap arena (2009) in a career that saw her sidelined by motherhood for a few recent seasons. Hoggan is a rising star at the now to be known Alex Marshall Arena at East Lothian IBC and the niece of 2000 gents national outdoor champion John McCrorie is exceptionally well schooled and currently has nine junior caps to her name.
Lorraine Malloy is a high profile banner carrier for Bathgate based club Balbardie but the two times winner of the national outdoor singles title is yet to make the same impression on the indoor equivalent. The recent Commonwealth Games internationalist currently has 24 indoor full caps to her name and pitches that high level of experience against Alison Strachan of Cowal in the prelim round.
Midlothian IBC – last season’s Club Of The Year award winner- also have high profile representation in the shape club champion Gaynor Duncan who currently has 18 full caps to her name. Gaynor opens in the prelim round against June Dowll of Stirling.
A touch of romance comes with the West Lothian IBC challenger as 80-year old Jean Brown seeks adventure for the first time at this level of national competition having been promoted into the limelight as runner up to the unavailable Claire Watson. Brown has a bye into the first round proper where she meets Ann Gilmour of Galleon. Leslie Doig of East Fife defends the title.
Meanwhile the ladies team of Bainfield are celebrating two wins out of two in Division 1C of the national leagues having followed up their opening win over East Lothian with a 92-76 triumph over West Lothian at The Hutchison Crossway Stadium. Wins for the rinks skipped by Mandy O’Donnell, Marion Dickson, and Anna Anderson delivered the result with the major contribution being a 35-11 success for Heather Stoddart, Chloe Thomson, Rita Reid and O’Donnell over Lisa Barrett. Other 1C results were, East Lothian 124 Teviotdale 53; Tweedbank 82 Balbardie 79.
The Midlothian v East Lothian derby clash in the East B Seniors League at Dalkeith saw ‘the garden county’ crush the home side, 73-72, with wins for the rinks skipped by Alistair Russell, Peter Laidlaw, and Tom Young.
Midlothian’s sole success was an impressive 24-8 win for Lindsay Plenderleith over Willie Wood MBE. The other East B results were, Bainfield 125 Teviotdale 29; Tweedbank 58.5 West Lothian 64.