West Lothian IBC have made a strong impression on their return to the top flight of gents indoor bowling and at the halfway stage of life in Section B of the Premier League share top spot with defending champions East Lothian.
Read MoreThe only setback being an away one at the at the hands of East Lothian but the section favourites have just been rocked by a shock 89-71 defeat on their travels to relegation zoned Elgin. The stars from the Inveralmond Stadium have won all three homes games and last weekends sizable 34 shot victory (98-64) over Paisley at the Livingston fortress was the team’s fourth win in five matches. Wins on all four rinks – skipped by Neil Speirs, James Speirs, Mark Allison, and Calum Logan – delivered an encouraging win that reflected a spirited display and strong team performance.
Neil Speirs and his front three of Scott Logan, Grant Knox, and Jamie Aitken, led the charge to victory having zipped from 4-4 to 17-4 with a run of 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2 and over the piece counted at 14 of the 21 ends in their inspirational 28-14 win over David Fisher, James Speirs also enjoyed supremacy on 14 of the 21 ends having made a strong start to skip Richard Mark, George Sneddon, and Craig Moss into a 10-2 lead then converting that superiority into a 21-11 win over Derek Moffat.
Mark Allison conjured up a magic spell of 2, 2, 6, 1, 2 that transformed a 9-1 deficit into a 14-9 lead and winning 12 of his 21 ends went on to skip Ian Drysdale, Raymond Logan, and Cameron Greer to a 26-19 win over G Wiggins. Calum Logan started with a bang in the shape of carding a super six on the opening end but winning only 10 of his 21 ends it took spirited 1, 1, 4 finish for him to skip Blair Mackie, Alan McCormick, and Bryan Cooper to a 23-20 win over Callum Taggart . The mettle of West Lothian faces a serious challenge this weekend with a visit to a Falkirk team that has reached the last two Premier League playoff finals and won last seasons Scottish Cup.
Changes have been made with the selection of Connor McKendrick and Dougie Mitchell at the expense of stalwart figures Raymond Logan and Grant Knox. Rink 1. Scott Logan, George Sneddon, Jamiie Aitken, and Neil Speirs. Rink 2. Blair Mackie, Alan McCormick, Bryan Cooper, and Calum Logan. Rink 3. Ian Drysdale, Connor McKendrick, Cameron Greer, and Mark Allison. Rink 4. Richard Mark, Dougie Mitchell, Craig moss, and James Speirs.
The form of the gents of Balbardie IBC continues to disappoint with the distressing formline of five straight defeats resulting in them being stranded on the bottom rung in Division1 South.
The latest result of the Bathgate based team is a foot of the table 89-77 away defeat at Inverclyde and the prospects getting off the mark in this weekends visit to undefeated table toppers West Of Scotland look grim indeed.
West Lothian IBC ladies emerged with the bragging right from last weekends derby clash with their Balbardie neighbours but it was a nail-biting triumph that went right down to the wire with the vistors clinching an 80-78 victory. The two teams share top spot with six points each in Division 1 East and both have home games this weekend with West Lothian entertaining Teviotdale and Balbardie. Tweedbank.
Last weeks action in the East B Seniors League saw home wins enjoyed by both local clubs with West Lothian defeating Bainfield, 70-65, and Balbardie beating Tweedbank, 79-52.
Yesterdays fixtures saw WL visit table toppers East Lothian and Balbardie travelling to joint leaders, Bainfield.