West Lothian gents produced a formbook performance to score a commanding 27 shot victory ( 85-58) over foot of the table Fraserburgh in their Division A Premier League clash at the Inveralmond Stadium.
Read MoreHowever a dramatic drop of intensity, that may have been caused by the lack of a killer instinct, resulted in a much- reduced margin of 9 shots over the second third (26-17) and the drop in tempo worked in favour of the visitors. So much so that it inspired a spirited fight back from the relegation doomed opposition who dominated the final third of the match to outscore West Lothian by 12 shots (16-28). The home team outgunned 17-2 over a nightmare last two ends across the carpet.
That reduced winning margin could prove costly in the battle to avoid second from bottom place as WL are just 2 points and 4 shots ahead of West of Scotland who showed no mercy in their 42 shot demolition (102-60) of second top team Ardrossan. West Lothian’s next fixture on December 14 is away to WOS and it is followed by a visit to an Ardrossan opposition that have already won at Livingston.
Against the far travelled Fraserburgh it was wins on all four rinks – skipped by Mark Allison, Calum Logan, Craig Moss, Thomas Mann – that delivered the 2 precious points for the home team. Allison included 11 singles in winning 15 of the 21 ends and skipping Richard Mark, Scott McMaster, and Raymond Logan to a 20-18 win over S Massid.
Logan skipped Jimmy Speirs, Ian Drysdale, and Bryan Cooper into a 13-2 lead after six ends the had to battle hard to secure a 22-14 win over D Watson. Moss (captain) inspired his front-three of Jamie Aitken, Connor McKendrick, and Cameron Greer into a stunning 20-2 lead after 13 ends but was then outscored 13-0 on the run in to deliver a 20-15 win over RF Clark. Mann skipped David Wilson, Graeme Lees, and George Sneddon into an 11-0 lead after four ends but only managed a 23-21 win over S Murray.
Meanwhile Balbardie gents competing in Division 1B produced a strong performance in their top versus bottom clash with undefeated leaders Auchinleck at Bathgate and it took a wonderful last bowl conversion delivery to sentence the home team to a 71-70 defeat.
Wins on three rinks – John Ellis 24 D McClue 15; Walter McDougall 14 D Ferguson 12; Mark Bonar 16 S Rankin 14; – was brilliant stuff against the league leaders while the 30-16 loss of Ewan Shearer at the hands of G Johnston ended in a dramatic climax. Shearer and Co holding a match-winning 2 shots but denied by an extra special chap and lie conversion by the opposition skip. Balbardie continue to sit at the foot of the table with just one win out of six but running the undefeated leaders that close could well spark a revival.
The playdown action of the Scottish Triples Championship dominates the national calendar this weekend with Midlothian the venue of the ladies and gents of both West Lothian and Balbardie.
Calum Logan skips Blair Mackie and Cameron Greer against Tweedbank in Saturdays prelim round at 9-30am while Graeme Turnbull, Kenny Martin, and Ewan Shearer represent the Balbardie banner and face Teviotdale.
The West Lothian ladies trio of Liz Lynas, Jenifer Richardson, and Lisa Barret parade their skills against Falkirk in the first round proper at 9-30 am and share the carpet with the Balbardie triple of Kim Ross, Sharon Leitch, and Lorraine Craig who tackle East Lothian in the prelims.
Lorraine Craig is named as a skip in the Ladies Team to represent Scotland in the Home International Series at Llanelli from Friday 6th to Sunday 8th March and is in touching distance of bringing her tally of caps to a distinguished total of 39.
Neil Spiers will reach the magic number of 50 caps having been named in the Gents team to compete in the Home International Series being played at Llanelli from Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th March. Speirs is joined by his brother James and Bryan Cooper.
West Lothian Senior Gents sit mid table in the East A section with 4 wins out of 8 having scored a 67-52 away win over Fintry but their Balbardie counterparts competing in the B section suffered a 105-32 devastation away to Falkirk.