West Lothian IBC have lost their two opening matches in Section A of the premier league so are bidding to get their campaign moved into a higher gear when they entertain Lanarkshire at Livingston this weekend.
Lanarkshire share the bottom wrung of the league table with West Lothian but are no mugs and with both teams desperate to start their escape from the relegation zone an epic type encounter is in prospect.Changes have been made to the WL line up with Jamie Gracie, George Sneddon, and Blair Mackie now occupying the reserve bench and replaced by Stuart Johnston, Dougie Mitchell, and Connor McKendrick. The reshaped line up now reading, Rink 1. Paul Lyness, Ian Drysdale, James Speirs, and Thomas Mann.Rink 2. James Greenock, Dougie Mitchell, Stuart Johnston, and Mark Allison.Rink 3. Cameron Greer, Connor McKendrick, Craig Moss, and Calum Logan.Rink 4. Bryan Cooper, Raymond Logan, Paul O’Donnell, and Neil Speirs.
Balbardie IBC sit top of Division 1 North with two wins out of two and the Bathgate based team bid to complete a hat trick of opening wins when they make the long and demanding journey north to face Turriff.
West Lothian ladies sit joint top of Division 1C but face their toughest test to date when they go head to head with fellow leaders East Lothian at the recently named Alex Marshall Arena at Tranent.
Balbardie tackle another joint leader in the shape of Bainfield but with home carpet advantage have every chance to get back to winning ways after losing out by a narrow margin to their West Lothian neighbours.
Connor McKendrick of West Lothian IBC made it to the second round of The Scottish Junior Singles Championship unopposed but the lack of a prelim and first round built up cost him dear in the play down action at Dunfermline venue, Abbeyview. McKendrick failed to find the sharpness and focus needed to trade blows with Connor Milne of Turriff and suffered a disappointing 21-5 defeat as a consequence. Milne justified that high level of performance by reaching the Last Four stage and will be joined by Ewan Fallen (East Lothian), Stephen Lowrie (Glasgow), and Derek Ferguson of Auchinleck at Paisley on the weekend of 23/24 January.
Lisa Barrett carried the WLIBC banner in the ladies version of The Scottish Junior Singles and made an encouraging start at Abbeyview to defeat Joanne Stewart of Turriff, 21-5, in the prelim round. But Barrett made a first round exit to reigning Singles champion proper Lesley Doig of East Fife who triumphed 21-13 and went on the reach the Last Four where she joins Rebecca Houston (Prestwick), Carrie McLean (Auchinleck) and Carla Banks of Garioch.
West Lothian IBC and their near neighbours Balbardie IBC served up an exciting encounter in their derby clash match played at The Inveralmond Stadium and the home team emerged six shot winners (80-74) in a hard fought battle. It was a strong middle-phase supremacy that tipped the scales in favour of a West Lothian team that were forced to play second fiddle to their visitors who called the tune on the first and third phases of the match.
Jennifer Sneddon was the hero figure for WL as she skipped her rink of Lucy Noon, Sheila Oxley, and May Davison to a 10 shot victory that was supported by a single shot success for Lynn Greer, Isabel Lindsay, Beth Erskine, and Lisa Barrett.
Balbardie were kept in the picture by wins for Lynn McDougall, Nan Mitchell, Pat Aitchison, and Pat Purdie (+3), and the rink of Betty Johnston, Sara Jane Wright, Ally Blagg, and Margo Duff (+2).
Purdie & Co caught the eye on the first phase with a 9-1 dominance over Jean Brown and it helped the visitors into a 26-20 capture of the opening seven-ends and Purdie also enjoyed a great third phase domination of 10-3. However a middle-phase catastrophe saw Purdie and Co crushed 14-2 by Betty Tate, Jill Dickie, Lily Sword, and Brown who inspired a strong second phase recovery from West Lothian. Sneddon dealt a 12-5 blow to Delia Flannigan in the same period while Barrett contributed 10-3 against Angie Uttley and Ann Clark supported with a 7-6 edge over Duff. Final Scores J Sneddon 26 D Flannigan 16; L Barrett 20 A Uttley 19; A Clark 16 M Duff 18; J Brown 18 P Purdie 21.
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