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Match Report

Our first game in the Matt Purdie Trophy has resulted in a loss by 14 shots.

Tony McLaren’s rink of E Tommany, G Taylor and I Patterson turned their game
From 8 – 15 down after the 8th end to win by 19 – 15 with a 1 – 1 – 1 – 3 – 1 – 1 – 3 finish.

Bob Linton skipped R Scott, M Reid and J McGuire to a 17 – 2 win with a stong finish of 11 Winning ends counting 13 shots from the 6th end.

Alex Walker and his rink of G Ross, W Stark and D Conway lost to Gordon Logan who had an Outstanding game , converting at least 6 ends which gave them a win by 14 shots.

G Smith’s rink of J Logan, R Flockhart and C Barr struggled against a strong rink skipped by K Martin winning 6 ends by single shots whilst losing 2s, 3s and 4s in 9 ends resulting in a loss by 19 shots.

Edinburgh & Leith franked their national title winning form by making a successful defence of the Roofline Scotland Trophy in yesterday’s £1000 Under 25 Inter County League Cup involving opposition from West Lothian, Mid Lothian, and Border at Sighthill. Sighthill was a busy venue with some 100 of the top Lothian & Border young bowlers parading their skills between 10-30am and 6pm and the end result saw E&L sharing top spot on points with West Lothian but triumph with a plus of 59 shots to the 7 of their rivals. “It was a great day and a great result but hard earned”, was the comment of E&L Under 25 convener Bernie Callaghan and echoed by team captain Colin Hutchison. E&L stuck with the same six skips for each of the three sessions and they were Colin Hutchison, Chris Southwell, Russell Wilson. Paul O’Donnell, George Kirk, and John McDermott. The popular round robin tournament started life back in the mists of time as The Calder Cup but it is now an event with a difference as the innovations introduced to attract Roofline Scotland as its sponsor back in 2004 include, Top Rink and Top Player awards for each team plus a Penalty Kick feature. E&L’s ‘player of the day’ was Mark Hogg of Goldenacre while their ‘rink of the day’ comprised Jamie McIntosh (Tanfield), Ross Noble (Sighthill), Robert Mitchell (Carrick Knowe) and Russell Wilson of Juniper Green. The Wilson Four won all three of their games but also enjoyed an additional bonus as the all over winners of the highest score at the nominated end on the third session. E&L looked like they were going to win the five man Penalty Kick feature having beat West Lothian 3-1 then leading Midlothian 2-0 in the final; but the opposition won the next three. E&L’s day started on a disappointing note as they suffered an 87-80 defeat from West Lothian despite wins on four rinks, skipped by Wilson (17-13), O’Donnell (13-1), Kirk (1`7-13), and McDermott (16-11). But West Lothian punished them on the other two with Andrew Semple crushing Southwell, 23-6, and Ewan Wilson beating Hutchison, 16-11. However second session wins for Hutchison (20-6), Wilson (13-12), and McDermott (14-8) helped secure an 85-74 win over Midlothian as they more than covered the losses sustained by Southwell (10-14), O’Donnell (12-15), and Kirk (16-19). Meanwhile Midlothian had defeated Border 96-84 on the first session but Border surprised West Lothian 80-74 on the second so all four teams entered the final session with 2 points each. West Lothian proceeded to beat Midlothian 84-77 but their shot margin bank was meagre and therefore vulnerable to strong finish from E&L against Border. O’Donnell set the scene for E&L with the new junior cap blazing a spectacular 20-0 trail then producing a sizzling 6, 3, 5 finish to skip Jamie Reid, Craig Ramsay and Stuart Jenkins to a 34-8 win over David Kerr. Wilson was also on fire and restricted his opposite number Chris Young to counts at three ends only as he skipped McIntosh, Noble, and Mitchell to an inspired 29-6 victory. Hutchison came under pressure at 12-10 down to Robert Munro but a swashbuckling 5, 1, 2 fight back from the captain saw him skip Neil Watson, Martyn Dickson, and Mark Hogg to a 15-10 success. McDermott did his best work early doors to skip Kerr McKail, Colin Tough, and Craig Aitken into a 13-4 lead then they held on to contribute a 13-11 win over Greg Nagle. Kirk salvaged a 14-14 peel against Andrew Hancock as he skipped Craig McArthur, Daniel Gormlay, and Kyle Newall to a 3, 1, finish while Dean Thomson, Neal Rooney, Jamie Gracie and Southwell blew a 10-5 lead to lose 15-13 to Kevin Donaldson.

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Peter Miller is celebrating his birthday weekend and the 46-year old bowls champion of Dudley has made it extra special and permanently memorable by etching his name on the iconic Tait Trophy –established 121 years ago as the Champion of Champions event of the Edinburgh & Leith Bowling Association. The final came close to being a marathon affair as it lasted 28-ends at Gorgie Mills yesterday before Miller came from behind to spring a 21-18 surprise on Robert Donaldson the 34-year title favourite from Parkside. “You’ll never belief this but I dreamt earlier on in the week that I was going to win this even to the extent of beating Robert (Donaldson) in the final”, said Miller later however he remains a duty manager with Travel Lodge as the vivid revelations didn’t include Saturday’s winning lottery numbers. “I am absolutely delighted at becoming the Tait champion and it represents the pinnacle of my achievements in the sport to date and of course because of its status I will now become a cult figure at Dudley”, he added. Miller’s success was a second for his club as Robert Gardner, presently with Parkside, was successful in 1996. Donaldson had to be the favourite in the final as the Edinburgh Fireman has a national junior singles title on his CV and although a first time champion at Parkside is an established Hamilton Trophy player with Edinburgh & Leith. “I am gutted at losing as I felt I had worked my way into a winning position but it’s 21 up that counts and Peter handled the climax better than I did so deserves his win”, summed up Donaldson. The crowd was sparser than it should have been for one of the bowling calendars showpiece occasions and the final itself was full of scrappy play due in many respects to a troublesome cross green breeze and seemingly tricky to master rink. Donaldson won the toss but elected to give the jack away so Miller opted for long but it cost him 2 shots with the Parkside challenger ditching the jack with his third bowl. It shaped like the formbook was going to be justified when Donaldson added a hat trick of singles to lead 5-0 but having changed to short jacks Miller switched back to long and got himself off the mark with a single. Good stuff – a rare commodity at the time- on end six from Miller yielded a double to 3 then Donaldson edged a single on an umpires measure before the Dudley support cheered a purple patch spell of 2, 2, 1, 1 that crossed Miller into a 9-6 lead. The breeze, and the rink, continued to win the quality battle with both players but not all of the time and ripples of applause were evident as Miller answered the loss of a single with a run of 1,1,2 to stand 13-7 up. End 16 was Donaldson best yet, quality wise, and he followed up his 3 shot reward with a single to take closer order at 13-11 then he held shot at the next but lost a 2 to Miller’s last bowl conversion. A brighter sky and a calming of the breeze benefited Donaldson most with improved consistency producing closer heads and a six end run that put 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1 on the card, thrusting him into the driving seat at 18-15. “I thought at this stage my sweet dream was going to turn into a nightmare”, said Miller later. Miller arrested his slide with a single to 16 then a Donaldson strike, that exploded on its target, got him a poor result with his opponent counting 2 to 18 then the Parksider’s bubble burst with Miller going on to hit 21 with a 1, 2 finish,

The morning semi finals were of good standard with Miller breaking from 10-10 to 17-10 with a run of 1, 3, 3 but under pressure at 18-17 before carding a 3 on the 22nd end to beat Donny Gilbertson of West End. Meanwhile 27-end battle of the big guns featuring Donaldson against 23-year old Paul O’Donnell of Bainfield was a ding-dong affair won 21-18 by the Parksider having tipped the scales by trailing the jack for a 2 to 20 when facing 3 against at 18-17.

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The Edinburgh & Leith challenge in the East section of the Scottish Cities & Counties Championship is over and it ended on an extremely low note with a surprise defeat from Fife at Strathmiglo their third set back in a seven match campaign. The early promise of three wins in a row turned out to be a false signal from the capital city’s elite bowlers and in the words of E&L secretary Colin Nicholl “It’s back to the drawing board and a complete rethink of our strategies”. The alarm bells have been ringing loud and clear for several seasons now and the albeit narrow two shot defeat (117-115) from a team that seldom threatens the section front-runners is just the latest of many under-performances. “To be fair we went into this match chasing shots in an effort to overhaul East Lothian for the second qualifying spot in the league table and our attacking policy was a risk strategy that back-fired on occasions” ventured one member of the E&L camp. Two enforced changes saw E&L hand well earned debuts to George Kirk (Blackhall) and Russell Wilson (Juniper Green) and both showed promise in the absence of Darren Hush and John Ramsay. E&L were successful on the rinks skipped by Mal Higgenbotham, Robert Marshall, and Paul O’Donnell but their colleagues Colin Hutchison, Colin Mitchell, and James Hogg were unable to deliver. Fife benefited from the count of a magnificent 7 on the seventh end against Hogg and that enabled them to capture the first phase 50-33 and although E&L did enough to edge the next two, 38-32, and 44-35 it wasn’t enough to rescue a win. Hogg and his front-three of George Kirk Johnny Priestley and Darren McKenny suffered the biggest nightmare of all, counting at only 5 of the 21 ends as they suffered a 27-7 drubbing from Alan Pearson.  Hutchison was heading in the same direction as Hogg at 14-5 down after 11-ends but skipped Kevin Hunter Scott Rogers and Jamie Gracie to a 2, 4, 2, 2 revival and cross to 15 before slipping to a 22-20 defeat from Calum Young. Mitchell skipped David Brown Danny Jackson and Paul Veitch into an encouraging 13-7 lead but collapsed to 21-14 down and lost 21-19 to Malcolm Comrie. Any challenge that did come from E&L was fired up by Higgenbotham who was aggressive in skipping David Scott Jason Ronaldson and Andrew Caldwell to a 27-16 win that included a run of 2, 1, 5, 1 against Alan Hill. Marshall made a strong start to skip Dougie Martin Frank O’Reilly and Alan Brown into an 11-1 lead and they traded on that cushion to beat James Forbes, 18-10. O’Donnell was in trouble 16-9 down so did well to skip Alan Trotter Russell Wilson and Robert Donaldson to a 24-21 win over David Comrie, with only the loss of a 5 spoiling a finishing flourish of 3, 4, 1, 2, 2, 3.

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Parkside celebrated a double success in last night’s finals of the Edinburgh & Leith bowling championships at Gorgie Mills and it marked a glorious return to the headlines for Alex Hurry Jun who learned his trade as a youngster at the host club. Hurry formed a strong Parkside partnership at lead to former Scottish Junior Singles champion Robert Donaldson but despite their class they were forced to play out of their skin before surviving extra end drama against John Underwood and Roddy Watson of the Dean. Parkside looked to have a grip on their opposition at 11-6 up after eight ends but Dean rattled their cage with a run of 1, 3, 1 to peels before being subdued by a hat trick of singles that pushed Hurry and Donaldson into a 14-11 lead. Dean were far from finished however and they roused the banking with a 1, 2, 1 fight back to cross 15-14 playing the last. Parkside then saved their skin with a single that took the final of the Coronation Pairs into an extra end decider. Hurry chose the moment of intense pressure to demonstrate his undoubted skills by way of plastering the jack with three of his four deliveries and despite some disturbance from Dean enough survived to clinch the title for Parkside.

It was to be a night of nail biting drama for the Parkside support with their rink of Hally Cockburn Ian Kay Rab Gardner and David Moran seemingly in the doldrums at 15-10 down to Slateford with just two ends to play in the Coronation Fours. The outcome was put in the melting pot however when Parkside carded a sizzling 6 to cross 16-15 then they clinched the title with a single at the last against a shell-shocked Slateford rink of Jimmy Gordon Paul Marino Rab Stewart and Robert Marshall.
Sighthill turned the final of the David Kyle's Triples into a procession with Graeme Eddington Adam Melrose and Alan Trotter turning on the style to convert a 12-1 lead into a 20-3 win over a luckless Dougie Young Graham Hayward and Hugh Thomson of Merchiston.

The final of the Under 25 Junior Singles for the James Fleming Trophy was a marathon 30-end treat for the large banking with Russell Wilson of Juniper Green edging a 21-20 thriller against Kyle Newall of Hillside. The nip and tuck early stages saw peels called at 9-9 then Wilson made a break to 16 with a run of 1, 3, 1, 1, 1 but it was soon back to level-pegging after a similar 1, 3, 1, 1, 1 response from Newall. Wilson carded a 2 to 18 then it was back to peels with successive singles from Newall and the nerve ends twanged in both camps when Wilson’s 2 to 20 was matched by Newall to leave the outcome on a knife-edge. The enthralled banking was then treated to a spectacular climax with Wilson first burning the jack with game against then faced with the same challenge on the replay he snatched the glory from Newall with an exciting last bowl trail on the jack. “You dream of memorable events like this happening in your year of office”, summed up E& L President David Greig.
Edinburgh & Leith complete their East section programme in the Cities & Counties Championship with a match against Fife at Strathmiglo tomorrow. They are competing for the second qualifying place but have 28 shots to make up on rivals East Lothian who take on West Fife at East Linton. Section winners West Lothian face Border at Newbridge.

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The Scottish Under 25 League Cup is back in the capital city with ‘ the crème de la crème’ of the Edinburgh & Leith junior bowlers emulating their 2007 title success with a 26 shot victory (120-94) over Stirlingshire in the final at Kilsyth. E&L showed remarkable scoring consistency over the three seven-end phases of the match and dominated them 40-33, 40-27, and 40-34 to emerge worthy champions. Wins for the rinks skipped by Paul O’Donnell, George Kirk, Jamie Gracie, and Chris Steven made for a strong team performance with team captain Colin Hutchison and John McDermott just suffering narrow defeats. O’Donnell enjoyed his best spell with a late run of 1, 2, 5, (1), 1, 1 to skip Kerr McKail Craig Ramsay and Scott Noble to a 23-11 win over Gary Malcolmson. Kirk included a middle-match run of 3, 2, 2, 1 as he skipped Craig McArthur Kyle Newall and Russell Wilson to a 24-13 win over Craig Ross. Gracie carded a sizzling 6 at the second end and went on to skip Dean Thomson Neal Rooney and Chris Southwell to a 26-16 win over Murray Orr. Steven was nip and tuck most of the way but just did enough to skip Stephen Stewart Robert Mitchell and Nicky Brown to an 18-16 win over Gary Hutchison. Hutchison (Colin) and his rink of Neil Watson Euan Craig and Derek Smith were against the collar at 10-18 and went down 19-15 to David McEwan. McDermott and his front-three of Mark Hogg Neil Mackintosh and Andrew Caldwell were in front at 12-9 but dipped to a 19-14 defeat from Darren Coupar. “We won well but it was always a tough battle across the rinks and these lads have done Edinburgh & Leith proud throughout the entire campaign”, said spokesman Bernie Callaghan.

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Edinburgh & Leith may yet stumble over the finishing line in second place to qualify from the East section of the Cities & Counties Championship but the capital’s elite bowlers continued to falter with a shaky 130-116 win over foot of the table Stirling East at Parkside on Saturday. Whilst the win was welcome after two defeats on the trot the 14 shot margin was too meagre for a team that is now 28 adrift of second placed East Lothian going into the final round of section fixtures. Wins for the rinks skipped by James Hogg, Colin Hutchison, and Paul O’Donnell was sufficient to more than cover the defeat of Mal Higgenbotham, Colin Mitchell, and Robert Marshall. 

E&L should have benefited from 12-0 flying start from James Hogg and a sizzling count of 6 for Colin Mitchell on his opening end but all the team had to show for it at the end of the first seven-end phase was a 3 shot lead (39-36). The home team did manage to raise the pace on the second phase and won it by an encouraging 20 shots (52-32) but it all turned into a false promise with Stirling clawing back 9 shots (48-39) on the run in. Hogg hogged the positive limelight by skipping John Ramsay Johnny Priestley and Darren Hush to a spectacular 33-6 win over Gary Crosbie having dominated the final phase 14-0.

Hutchison – stepping up to skip in place of Billy Mellors- broke from 0-3 to 17-6 then included a mighty 5 at the 19th end as he skipped Kevin Hunter Scott Rogers and Jamie Gracie to a 25-11 win over Lloyd Ramsay. O’Donnell tipped the scales with a late 1, 2 to skip Alan Trotter Darren McKenny and Robert Donaldson to a 23-21 win over Roy Ross. The major blot on the E&L performance came from an unlikely source in the shape of Dougie Martin David Brown Alan Brown and Robert Marshall who trailed 18-0 after nine ends and crashed 30-13 to Stuart Hogg. Mitchell finished 3, 1, 1 but went down 26-19 to Stuart Williamson while Higgenbotham slipped from 15-9 up to a 22-17 defeat from Simon Thomson

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Semi final  action in the Edinburgh & Leith bowling championships saw a major highlight in the Under 25 Singles for the James Fleming Trophy with Kyle Newall of Hillside edging a 21-19 thriller over John McDermott of Sighthill at Postal.

Newall- last seasons winner of the Edinburgh Bowling League equivalent- made the more promising start to lead McDermott 11-6 but a rapid transformation saw the Sighthill challenger capture six of the next seven ends to cross 16-13.

The match temperature was then raised as Newall reeled off a run of 1, 2, 3, to lead 19-16 but the melting pot sizzled with a 3 for McDermott to 19-19 after 20-ends played.

McDermott – a previous winner of the title- then build the better head at the next end but Newall captured the headlines with a brilliant ‘chap and lie’ conversion that yielded 2 shots and a place in next weeks final at Gorgie Mills.

Meanwhile the other semi final was down for decision at Dudley and it resulted in more bad news for Sighthill with Scott Noble making a 21-16 exit to Russell Wilson of Juniper Green.

Wilson led 11-4 but was crossed 12-11 before producing a purple patch spell of 2, (1), 3, 1, 3 to have Noble at his 20-13 mercy then he answered the loss of a 3 with the winning single on the 19th end.

Parkside celebrated two contrasting wins at Postal with the first one a runaway success in the Pairs for Alex Hurry and Robert Donaldson who accelerated from 6-6 to a 28-6 win over Vince Naylar and Ally McIntyre of Beechwood.

They also won in the Fours but their rink of Hally Cockburn Ian Kay Rab Gardner and David Moran had to come flying off a 7-13 pace with a run of 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, to steal a 14-13 win over Graeme Gow Mike Wilson Gavin Smith and Darren McKenny of Pilrig.

Sighthill did celebrate one success and it was delivered in the Triples by Graeme Eddington Adam Melrose and Alan Trotter at the 23-4 expense of Bainfield trio Dougie Henderson Ally Gillan and George McNab.

 Dean caused a stir in the Pairs at Dudley with John Underwood and Roddy Watson recovering from 5-10 to lead 20-11 and win 23-21 against Ian Veitch and Graham Munro of Tanfield.

Merchiston’s Dougie Young Graham Hayward and Hugh Thomson converted a 10-0 lead into a 20-15 win over Queensberry in the Triples while Robert Marshall slipped Slateford to a 22-11 success over Brunstane in the Fours.

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Defeat from Midlothian at Polton in the East section of the Cities & Counties championship was Edinburgh & Leith’s second in a row causing them to nosedive out of the top two qualifying places.  E&L only suffered a narrow 117-111 defeat but that pushed them down to fourth place albeit they share the 6-point mark with Midlothian and East Lothian but worse off in the shot margin bank by 21 and 3 respectively Midlothian’s win has pushed them up to second place just 2 points adrift of West Lothian and with two fixtures remaining a thrilling climax to the section is in prospect. All is not yet lost for E&L as their run in brings them form book opportunity to score significant wins over Stirling County East at Parkside then Fife at Strathmiglo but neither opposition can be treated as canon fodder.

The same opportunity falls to Midlothian who face Fife at Thornton then Stirling at Allandale while East Lothian face tougher challenges on the book against Border at Hawick Wilton and West Fife at East Linton. At Polton wins for the rinks skipped by Robert Marshall, Paul O’Donnell, and Billy Mellors put 32 shots in the bank for Edinburgh & Leith but they were wiped out by the combined defeat of James Hogg, Colin Mitchell, and Mally Higgenbotham. The hero figures for Midlothian being Craig Hodge, Colin McFarlane, and David Peacock. Colin Walker was a late call off and Billy Peacock was stepped up to skip. Midlothian set the pace over the first seven-end phase to capture it 41-27 but E&L kept themselves in the picture with a 49-39 reversal on the second then it was a real ding-dong affair on the third with the home team edging it 37-35. “To be fair it was finger-biting stuff with the outcome hanging in the balance but the scales tipped our way and it is a great result for us as we are back in the qualifying picture”, summed up Frank Gray for Midlothian. The down side for E&L came in a big way with the damaging 27 shot defeat inflicted by Craig Hodge on John Ramsay Jason Ronaldson Darren Hush and James Hogg. Hodge producing a spectacular run of 2, 3, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 5, 1, 1, to skip Martin Wylie Arron Clinkscales and Jim Gibson from 7-4 to 30-4 and scoring at 15 of the 21 ends. Colin McFarlane produced a 1, 1, 3, 2 finish when the chips were down to skip Ronnie Duncan Jim Farquhar and Lindsay Plenderleith to an 18-15 win over Danny Jackson Frank O’Reilly Paul Veitch and Colin Mitchell.

David Peacock traded on an 8-1 lead to skip Tom Moffat Jamie Mitchell and Scott Briggs to a 19-14 win over Andrew Caldwell David Scott Graham Munro and Mal Higgenbotham. Robert Marshall was the top star for E&L having carded a 5 at the first then leading 17-6 and skipping Dougie Martin Jamie Gracie and Alan Brown to a whopping 34-12 win over Calum Crawford Scott Matthews Drew Pearson and Billy Peacock. Billy Mellors came from 12-2 down to 19-12 up with a super run of 4, 3, 2, 4, 4 then skipped Kevin Hunter Scott Rogers and Colin Hutchison to a 25-18 win over Eddie Adams Brian Gardiner Ramsay Blair and Willie Rankin. Paul O’Donnell tipped the scales with a 1, 2, 1 finish to skip Alan Trotter Darren McKenny and Robert Donaldson to an 18-15 win over Steven Currie Dougie Russell John Stevenson and Ian Brown.

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Hillside ace Kyle Newall was in cracking form at Wardie last night to beat Ian Duncan of Craigentinny 21-14 and reach the semi final stage of the Edinburgh & Leith Under 25 Singles for The James Fleming Trophy. Newall enjoyed a space-making spell from peels at 8 to 17-10 then answered a 2, 1, 1, comeback from Duncan with a sizzling 1, 3 finish to 21. The 22-year old won the equivalent Edinburgh Bowling League title last season. John McDermott was a course and distance winner back in 2003 and he remains on course for a repeat following a hard earned 21-17 win over his Sighthill club-mate Daniel Marr at West End. McDermott trailed Marr 13-5 but counted 3, 2, 1, 4 to cross 15-13 then came back under pressure at 17-15 down before reaching 21 with a 1, 2, 1, 2 finish. Russell Wilson of Juniper Green blazed a 12-0 trail over the opening six ends against Blane Robertson of Postal at Corstorphine and remained on top to triumph 21-11. Scott Noble of Sighthill conceded home green advantage to teenager Daniel Gormley at Craigentinny but it was he who made the better start to lead 13-2 and go on to win 21-10.

 Northern duo Harry Hastie and Jim Bathgate were giant killers against the Ramsay brothers of Slateford in the previous round but they soon trailed 11-3 at West End last night and made an 18-10 exit to Alex Hurry and Robert Donaldson of Parkside in the Coronation Pairs. The Beechwood partnership of Vince Nayar and Ally McIntyre added a 5 at the eighth end to lead 12-5 and carried on to score a 20-14 win over Brunstane at Mayfield. Tanfield’s Ian Veitch and Graham Munro came flying off an 8-10 pace to beat Gordon Jamieson and Jim McCaskell of London Road Foundry 19-11 at Cortsorphine. Drama at Craigentinny saw John Underwood and Roddy Watson of Dean benefit from a mid match fluke to go on and triumph 18-12 over Rab Trainer and Andy Jeffrey Sen of West End. Sighthill scored a runaway success over Gorgie Mills in the David Kyle Triples at West End and Bainfield also produced a strong performance to crush Beechwood 25-11 at Mayfield. Merchiston carded 4 shots at the last end to clinch a 15-10 win over Dudley at Corstorphine while Leith just did enough to edge a 15-13 thriller over Queensberry at Craigentinny.

Play in the Coronation Fours saw Darren McKenny of Pilrig skip Graeme Gow Mark Wilson and Gavin Smith to a 24-7 win over Ross Maguire of Whitehouse & Grange at West End having set up a healthy 15-4 lead. Parkside beat Sighthill 19-13 at Mayfield while Robert Marshall skipped his Salteford rink to a substantial win over Merchiston at Corstorphine, and Brunstane surprised Carrick Knowe 21-11 at Craigentinny.

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Edinburgh & Leith will contest the final of the Scottish Under 25 League Cup at Kilsyth BC On Sunday June 14 having produced a strong performance to beat Ayrshire by 13 shots in a tough semi final battle at Coatbridge Victoria yesterday. Wins on the rinks skipped by Paul O’Donnell, Jamie Gracie and team captain Colin Hutchison plus a peel for George Kirk were positive components of a 131-118 victory that contained minor setbacks for John McDermott and Chris Steven. “We performed superbly well against excellent opposition for two thirds of the match then suffered a dip on the run in but our shots up bank was healthy enough to contain the damage and overall this was a display to be immensely proud of” said spokesman Bernie Callaghan for E&L. Callaghan referring to the fact that E&L had hit the ground running and powered into a 22 shot lead (50-28) on the first seven-end phase then stepped up the pressure on Ayrshire by adding further 14 shots (54-40) on the second phase. Ayrshire showed their class with a determined fight back to capture the third phase, 50-27) and so claw back 23 shots but never came close enough to put sweat on the E&L brows. Colin Hutchison emerged ‘captain marvel’ as he skipped Neil Watson Euan Craig and Derek Smith to the best result of the match, a 10 shot win over James Gibson having caused an early sensation with a magnificent count of 7 at the fifth end. Hutchison and Co also counted a mighty 5 at the 14th end and were the early inspiration for E&L as they clocked up a 23-11 lead entering the final phase. O’Donnell put on 16 shots from 5-9 to 21-9 over a purple patch spell of nine ends and although conceding 4, 1, 2 on the run in he cashed in to skip Kerr McKail Craig Aitken and Scott Noble to a 21-16 win over Alan Campbell. Gracie started like an express train to skip Dean Thomson Neal Rooney and Chris Southwell into a 12-2 lead over Scott McNellie and he pushed on to 18-3 before coming under second half pressure and forced to settle for a 22-21 win. Kirk was ding dong with Chris Duffy for all 21-ends of the match and conceding  a single at the last resulted in him skipping Craig McArthur Kyle Newall and Russell Wilson to a 23-23 peel. McDermott was absolutely flying to skip Mark Hogg Neil mackintosh and Andrew Caldwell into a 22-12 lead over full Scotland cap Craig England after 14-ends but the rink ran out of steam and that cost them a 23-22 defeat. Steven was never far off the pace and skipped Stephen Stewart Robert Mitchell and Nicky Brown into a 15-13 lead playing the last against Kevin Boyd but the opposition still had a sting in their tail and counted a 4 to snatch a 17-13 win. Meanwhile the other semi final being played at Kirkliston saw Stirling County the dominant team to inflict a 140-90 defeat on Grampian.

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Their World hasn’t collapsed although Edinburgh & Leith are nursing the wounds of a crushing 48 shot defeat (156-108) sustained at the hands of West Lothian when the two undefeated teams clashed in the East section of the Hamilton Trophy at Mayfield on Saturday. Mayfield was in splendid condition and on a sun drenched day the only pre-match cloud surrounding E&L was that home team captain Andrew Ramsay was an absentee leading to the call up of Robert Donaldson (Parkside) and the promotion to skip of Paul O’Donnell. Wins for the rinks skipped by O’Donnell and James Hogg paled into insignificance as their colleagues Billy Mellors, Robert Marshall, Mal Higgenbotham, and Colin Mitchell tumbled to defeat. WL arrived as favourites due to their strength on paper so it seemed the ideal answer when E&L attacked from the off and helped by a sizzling 6 for Higgenbotham rocked the visitors with a 13-0 clean sweep on the opening end. E&L traded on that over the next six ends and captured the first 7-end phase 53-39 but a sensational transformation saw West Lothian roar back to win the second phase 52-28 then complete the destruction of their closest rivals with a 65-27 domination of the third. Two teams qualify for the knockout stage of the Cities and Counties Championship and E&L have tumbled to the runners up spot but in a great stroke of good fortune their next two closest rivals, East Lothian and Border, both suffered second defeats. So with three fixtures still to fulfil West Lothian top the table with 8 points from four games played followed by Edinburgh & Leith on 6, Border Midlothian and East Lothian on 4, West Fife Stirling County East and Fife on 2. Supporters of Edinburgh & Leith were greatly encouraged by an 11-2 count across the green on the eighth end as it fired them into a match lead of 23 (64-41) but the signal being flashed proved to be a false one as a spectacular 115-44 crash lay ahead.The major damage on E&L was inflicted by Thomas Mann who became the ‘man of the match’ as he skipped Frazer Muirhead, Walter McDougall, and Gary Smith to a 39-5 win over David Brown, Johnny Priestley, Paul Veitch and Colin Mitchell. Mitchell and Co only registered at 3 of the 21 ends and the price of that is being paid by the front end who are stood down for E&L’s next match. Higgenbotham and his rink of Andrew Caldwell, David Scott, and Graham Munro also suffered and made to pay a heavy price for their opening 6 as John Aitken retaliated by skipping Bryan cooper Gerry Duggan and Calum Logan to a 34-15 win. Mellor’s led 18-9 before piped 22-21 by Graeme Archer while Marshall was involved in a cracker of a contest although losing 24-19 to Neil Speirs,. Hogg converted a 13-3 lead into a 23-16 win against Grant Logan while O’Donnell added 1 and 4 to beat Ray Logan, 25-21.

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Edinburgh & Leith are heading for the semi final stage of the Scottish Under 25 League Cup at Coatbridge on Sunday June 7 having added the 140-95 scalp of the previously undefeated Midlothian at Gilmerton to make it 4 section wins on the trot.Wins on five rinks, skipped by Paul O’Donnell, Colin Hutchison, Derek Smith, John McDermott, and Jamie Gracie made it a great team performance with only George Kirk losing. O’Donnell emerged the leader of the pack with the Bainfield star breaking from 11-9 to skip Kerr McKail, Craig Ramsay, and Scott Noble to a 36-12 win over Ryan Yuill.

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Edinburgh & Leith flirted with disaster before completing an opening hat trick of wins in the East section of the Scottish Cities & Counties Championship at the 128-120 expense of West Fife at Abbeyview (Dunfermline) on Saturday. The 8 shot margin was flying close to the wind in a match that E&L were expected to win but satisfaction was expressed by the management as the visitors managed to win on five of the six rinks making for another solid team performance. The five successful skips were, Robert Marshall, James Hogg, Mal Higgenbotham, Colin Mitchell, and team captain Andrew Ramsay while Colin Hutchison was the one to taste defeat. West Fife are an able team capable of an upset against the very best on a good day and with home green advantage they started with their tails up and blazed a 52-27 trail on the opening 7-end phase. E&L could well have folded under that opening onslaught so it is greatly to their credit that the weathered the storm and fought back to capture the second phase, 51-34 and so re-establish contact with their opposition. So E&L had the momentum going into the final phase and although suffering a potentially damaging 3-13 wobble on the Hutchison rink managed to complete a match-winning fight back with a 50-34 domination. “To be 25 shots adrift so early in the match was dream shattering but we started to turn the corner with an 8-0 reply on the eighth end and I thought the team showed tremendous spirit and character to fight back and win”, said E&L president David Greig. Higgenbotham made a horrendous start to trail 13-1 after seven ends but typified the true grit style E&L required with a run of 1, 2, 2, 1, 4 in reply and went onto skip Andrew Caldwell David Scott and Graham Munro to a 26-24 win over Stuart Pagan. Marshall was the General however and his second half charge of 2, 4, 1, 1, 2, (2), 3, 1, 2, 3 to transform a 10-5 deficit into a 24-12 lead saw him skip Dougie Martin Jamie Gracie and Alan Brown to a 24-13 win over Jim Gilruth. Hogg closed to 14-15 with a mighty 5 at the 14th end then included a grandstand finish of 2, 3, 1, 2 as he skipped David Ross Jason Ronaldson and Darren Hush to a 23-18 win over Paul Brown. Mitchell trailed 16-11 after 13-ends but fired up his challenge with a run of 1, 1, 3, 1, 4 then skipped David Brown Johnny Priestley and Paul Veitch to a 21-19 success over Jim Roxburgh. Ramsay and his front three of Alan Trotter Darren McKenny and Paul O’Donnell edged a 19-17 win over Alan Bernard while Danny Jackson Kevin Hunter Scott Rogers and Hutchison lost 29-15 to Robert McFarlane.

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The Edinburgh & Leith bandwagon keeps rolling in the Scottish Under 25 League Cup with the cream of the junior stars in the capital completing a hat trick of wins with a massive 52 shot win over Fife County at Newport. The 152-100 match score represents an another great team performance from E&L with wins for six rinks, skipped by Paul O’Donnell, George Kirk, John McDermott, Chris Steven, Jamie Gracie, and team captain Colin Hutchison. And the phase scoring makes for good reading in terms of consistency with E&L capturing the first seven-ends, 50-33, the second, 48-29 and the third, 54-38. O’Donnell was the highest flyer with the Bainfield ace making telling space from 12-9 to 23-10 then including a 5 at the 20th end as he skipped Kerr McKail, Craig Ramsay, and Scott Noble to a 32-18 win over former team mate Allan Ramsay. Kirk enjoyed a great session from 4-7 after six ends to 20-10 after 14 then skipped Craig McArthur, Kyle Newall, and Russell Wilson to a 25-14 win over Alan Stein. McDermott also won by an 11 shot margin having made a spectacular start to lead 13-0 after five ends then skipping Mark Hogg, Neil Mackintosh, and Andrew Caldwell to a 26-15 win over Craig Watson. Steven transformed his match with a scorching run of 1, 6, 1, 6, 2 to cross into a 24-11 lead after 16-ends then he skipped Stephen Stewart, Robert Mitchell, and Nicky Brown to a 27-17 win over Blair Doig. Gracie carded a mighty 5 at the 18th end and that made the difference in his 23-18 success over Andrew Kennedy while Hutchison emerged from a real ding-dong battle with a 19-18 win over Kevin Brunton. “We know face a crucial match against Midlothian but enter it with the confidence of a 100% record and a pile of shots in the bank”, said E&L spokesman Bernie Callaghan.

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Edinburgh & Leith produced another encouraging performance in their quest to qualify for the knockout stage of the Hamilton Trophy from the East section with a healthy 20 shot victory over Border at Leith in the Cities & Counties Championship on Saturday.

The weather conditions were once again on the raw side and not conducive to consistent displays of exciting skills but they didn’t deter a determined E&L side that managed to lead from start to finish and were worthy of their 121-101 victory.

Border are always a team to be reckoned with and did make an impression with their defeat of the rinks skipped by Colin Hutchison and Robert Marshall also the holding of E&L team captain Andrew Ramsay to a peel.

But E&L had the upper hand on the rinks skipped by Colin Mitchell, James Hogg, and Mal Higgenbotham and always sufficiently so to keep the match scales tipped in favour of the home team.

E&L made their major impact on the first 7-end phase with a 13-3 contribution from Mitchell driving them on to a 46-28 domination and the significance of that strong start is highlighted by the hard fought 38-37 and 37-36 returns on the next two.

“The weather is yet to settle and our ability to handle fast running surfaces still to be tested but we have defeated two dangerous oppositions in our opening matches and that gives rise to a confidence that the team is on the right track”, said E&L president David Greig.

Mitchell- who captained Scotland last season – was the main driving force of the E&L effort as he cashed in on a 14-3 lead after eight ends to skip David Brown, Johnny Priestley, and Paul Veitch to a 26-0 win over Stuart Bebbington.

Hogg also basked in the limelight of a strong performance having fired up the match temperature with a 6 at the sixth end and a 5 at the 10th as he skipped Davie Ross, Jason Ronaldson, and Darren Hush to a 29-19 win over Rob Crawford.

Higgenbotham was much harder pushed and included a mighty 5 at the 15th as he fought back from 7-14 to skip Andrew Caldwell, Davie Scott, and Graeme Munro to a battling 19-17 win over Ian Crawford.

Ramsay looked on course for a win when skipping Alan Trotter, Darren McKenny, and Paul O’Donnell into a 16-12 lead with just four ends to go but they lost a 5 at the next then were flat out to grab an 18-18 share with Graeme Forsyth.

Hutchison recovered from 9-4 down to skip John Ramsay, Kevin Hunter, and Scott Rogers into a 12-10 lead but couldn’t maintain that head of steam and paid the price with an 18-15 defeat from Stuart White.

Marshall and his rink of Dougie Martin, Jamie Gracie, and Alan Brown trailed 14-8 and lost 20-14 to Malcolm Thin.

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Edinburgh & Leith Under 25s vs Border Under 25s Match Report

Edinburgh & Leith Under 25s made a great start to this season’s campaign by beating Border Under 25s at Corstorphine B.C. on Sunday 3 May by 129 shots to 89.

After a fairly slow start, where we were leading the Border team by 1 shot after 7 ends, the Edinburgh & Leith players picked up the pace in the middle phase of the game to outscore their opponents by 30 shots. The team consolidated their victory in the final phase to achieve an overall victory by 40 shots.

Colin Hutchison, the team Captain, skipped his rink of Neil Watson, Euan Craig and Derek Smith to an exciting victory 18 – 14 over Greg Nagle’s rink. Colin’s team finished the match strongly outscoring their opponents 6 – 2 in the final 7 ends.

Jamie Gracie’s rink of Dean Thomson, Neal Rooney and Chris Southwell performed brilliantly to record an impressive 24 – 7 win over Andrew Hancock and his team. Our guys got off to a ‘flyer’ and were leading 17 – 3 after 14 ends and this provided the basis of their resounding win.

Paul O’Donnell led his team of Kerr McKail, Craig Ramsay and Scott Noble to a 19 – 16 victory over Ross Nichol’s rink. Paul was trailing 4 – 7 after seven ends but the team had a tremendous middle phase outscoring the Border rink 13 – 1.

Chris Steven skipped his rink of Stephen Stewart, Robert Mitchell and Nicky Brown to a very good win 28 – 18 over Mark Alexander’s team. Once again, a strong middle phase was the bed-rock of this victory where Chris and his team outscored their opponents by 10 shots to 5.

George Kirk, a ‘new’ skip this season, led his rink of Craig Aitken, Kyle Newall and Russell Wilson to a highly commendable victory 22 – 16 over Kevin Donaldson. George’s team performed well across all three phases of the game and were worthy winners.

Finally, John McDermott led his team of Mark Hogg, Neil Mackintosh and Andrew Caldwell in a thrilling comeback to record a ‘peel’ 18 – 18 against Chris Young’s rink. John was 0 – 9 after 5 ends but the team dug in and worked well together to get back to 18 – 17 playing the last end. They lost a 1 at the final end but showed tremendous spirit and determination to get back on level terms.

Overall, a very pleasing first match of the campaign against a steadily-improving Border team. This will set us up well for our future games against East Lothian, Fife and Midlothian. The team showed great skill and also tremendous character throughout the game and we can only benefit from these attributes in later matches.

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Edinburgh & Leith got their Hamilton Trophy campaign off to a flying start with a surprise 15 shot victory over East Lothian in the weekends Scottish Cities and Counties championship match at the Co-op green in Tranent.

The cold wet and altogether dreich weather conditions didn’t make for a great spectacle however it was the same for both teams and a credit to E&L that they managed to turn the form book upsides down.

Wins on four of the six rinks confirmed the superiority of the visitors who were blooding five new faces so the final 125-110 scoreline has fired up expectations of a successful campaign in the East section, and beyond.

“The top two qualify for the quarterfinals knockout stage so an opening win over one of our chief rivals is a great confidence boost and a result that we can build upon” summed up E&L president David Greig.

E&L would be pleased with an opening five ends that saw them edge a 31-28 lead and the next ten produced a similar tightrope situation but it was still the visitors retaining a 59-56 upper hand to give them a 6 shot match lead.

East Lothian could easily have wiped that out with a strong finish but the home side still failed to fire on the run in and it was E&L that pressed home their advantage with a 35-26 score.

Mal Higgenbotham, Robert Marshall, Colin Hutchison and team captain Andrew Ramsay were the successful skips for Edinburgh & Leith while James Hogg and Colin Mitchell lost to Alex Marshall and Derek Oliver respectively.

Ramsay made good headway over the first eight ends to skip Alan Trotter Darren McKenny and Paul O’Donnell into a 14-7 lead over Steven Morgan then stretched to 22-8 and finally triumphed 29-17.

Higgenbotham enjoyed an early match purple patch from 3-3 to 16-3 then traded on the cushion to skip Andrew Caldwell David Scott and Graham Munro to a 24-13 win over Alister Kennedy.

Marshall (Robert) made an inspirational start to skip Dougie Martin Jamie Gracie and Alan Brown into a 13-1 lead after eight ends then coped with a drop in pace to clinch a 22-16 win over Struan Robertson.

Hutchison looked to be in trouble when trailing 12-5 after 11 ends but he closed to 15-12 then added 1, 1, 2 to skip John Ramsay Kevin Hunter and Scott Rogers to a 16-15 win over Craig Valentine.

East Lothian were kept in the picture by Alex Marshall MBE who set a scorching pace to skip his rink into a 20-3 lead over David Ross Jason Ronaldson Darren Hush and James Hogg after 11-ends.

Hogg and Co then helped the E&L cause by a reduction in damage to 26-15 while David Brown John Priestley Paul Veitch and Colin Mitchell went down 23-19 to Derek Oliver.

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Edinburgh & Leith continued their flying start to the Under 25 Scottish League Cup campaign with a 30 shot victory over several times champions East Lothian at capital city venue West End BC yesterday.

East Lothian came to conquer after an encouraging start to their own campaign last weekend however they were repelled by a team of city starlets that celebrated success on three of the six rinks and a peel on two others.

“Although we won comfortably enough in the end this match did take a deal of winning as East Lothian made the better start so the pleasing aspect is that the guys had the spirit and skill to fight back”, summed up E&L convener Bernie Callaghan.

East Lothian were inspired in the early stages by a 10-1 contribution from Paul McLaren (skip) to capture the first 7-ends 37-27 but Chris Steven took a 10-2 revenge on McLaren and that enabled E&L to reply 42-27 on the second phase.

The third phase belonged to E&L as they clinched a satisfying 125-95 victory with a 56-31 domination that was fuelled by a spectacular 20-3 input from Colin Hutchison.

Hutchison, Paul O’Donnell, and George Kirk skipped the winning rinks for E&L while John McDermott and Jamie Gracie each finished peels with their respective oppositions.

Chris Steven was the only home skip to taste defeat although it was a close run thing as in company with Stephen Stewart Robert Mitchell and Nicky Brown they slipped from 13-13 to lose 20-15 to Andrew Pringle Gordon Pryde Grant Thomson and McLaren.

Hutchison skipped Neil Watson Euan Craig and Derek Smith into a 12-7 lead after 14-ends then included a magnificent 7 at the 16th as they upped the tempo and accelerated to a 32-10 win over Stuart Thomson Craig Brogan Ewan Diven and Stephen Cochrane.

O’Donnell won all three phases ( 6-5, 9-4,8-4) as he skipped Kerr McKail Craig Ramsay and Scott Noble to a 23-13 win over Mathew Sadler John Cochrane Michael Greenan and Calum Gordon.

Kirk was on the ropes early doors to trail 9-2 but bounced back to skip Craig Aitken Kyle Newall and Russell Wilson to a 17-14 success over Steven Mackie Steven White Jamie Blair and Mark Taylor.

Gracie and his front three of Dean Thomson Neal Rooney and Chris Southwell conjured up a magic 3, 3, finish to pull a 20-20 peel out of the hat against Scott Rutherford Edward McNaughton David Sked and Chris Fallon.

McDermott trailed 18-12 with four ends to play but rescued a peel as he skipped Mark Hogg Neil Mackintosh and Andrew Caldwell to a 1, 1, 2, 2 finish against Ewan Fallon Glen Blair Scott Thorburn and Gareth Lusk.

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Edinburgh & Leith’s bid to emulate their title winning campaign of 2007 in the Under 25 Scottish League Cup got off to a great start at Corstorphine on Sunday with the capital starlets in great form to beat Border 129-89.

“A 40 shot victory is great for our morale and so is the fact that we kick started our season with wins on five of our six rinks and a peel on the other” commented a delighted E&L President David Greig.

The title takes a deal of winning with neighbour Associations East Lothian, Midlothian, and West Lothian (holders) always knocking on the door but E&L look to have a particular strong formation for the 2009 campaign.

Five talented skips remain in place from the title success in 2007, namely Colin Hutchison (Goldenacre), Jamie Gracie (Sighthill), Paul O’Donnell (Bainfield), Chris Steven (Pilrig) and John McDermott (Sighthill), and George Kirk of Blackhall joins them.

McDermott lost a single at the last end to finish peels otherwise it would have been a clean sweep for a team that had the ability to accelerate into top gear after an opening nip and tuck first phase that saw them just edge Border 38-37 after seven ends.

The second phase brought a spectacular transformation with a 13-1 and 8-1 contribution from O’Donnell and Gracie respectively inspiring E&L to a 54-24 domination and the home team remained in the driving seat to outscore their rivals 37-28 on the third.

Gracie emerged the king pin figure for E&L with the recently crowned Bainfield indoor champion continuing his winning streak by skipping dean Thomson Neal Rooney and Chris Southwell to a handsome 24-7 win over Andrew Hancock.

Gracie and Co collected at 16 of the 21 ends and their chief highlight was an eight end purple patch that yielded 10 shots and accelerated them from 5-2 to 15-2.

Steven also notched up a double figure success by skipping Stephen Stewart Robert Mitchell and Nicky Brown to a 28-18 win over Mark Alexander that was highlighted by a finishing run of 3, 2, 2, 2, 1.

Kirk enjoyed a great middle match run of 2, 3, 1, 4, 1, 1, 2 that enabled him to skip Craig Aitken Kyle Newall and Russell Wilson to a 22-16 win over Kevin Donaldson.

Hutchison (captain) made the stronger finish from 11-12 after 13 ends to skip Neil Watson Euan Craig and Derek Smith to a battling 18-14 win over Greg Nagle.

O’Donnell had the opposition in his grip at 16-7 after 12 ends was then stretched to skip Kerr McKail Craig Ramsay and Scott Noble to a 19-16 win over Ross Nichol.

McDermott and his rink of Mark Hogg Neil Mackintosh and Andrew Caldwell came off a 10-16 pace to finish peels at 18 with Chris Young.

************   RESULTS

BOWLS RESULTS.

Water of Leith League/
1st 16’s. Bainfield 3 Balerno 2; Carrick Knowe 2.5 Slateford 2.5; Currie 4 Gorgie Mills 1; Juniper Green 4 Beechwood 1; Sighthill 5 Colinton 0.

2nd 16’s. Balerno 2 Bainfield 3; Slateford 2 Carrick Knowe 3; Gorgie Mills 4 Currie 1; Beechwood 1 Juniper Green 4; Colinton 0 Sighthill 5.

*
West Edinburgh League

1st 16’s  Bainfield 6 Gorgie Mills 3; Fountian 7 Caledonian B 2; Carrick Knowe 5 Slateford 4; Sighthill A 0 Sighthill B 9.

2nd 16’s. Caledonian A 5 Stenhouse 4; Colinton Mains 7 Bainfield B 2;  Colinton A 5 Colinton B 4; Ardmillan B 4 Currie 5.

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Robert Marshall was the last man standing in the Tait Trophy and the chorus of approval from the crowded banking at Colinton yesterday( Sunday) was music to the ears of the 44-year old 15 times Slateford champion.

Marshall’s 21-7 win in 18 magical ends over 37-year old Scott Mackintosh of London Road Foundry saw him etch his name on the coveted Edinburgh & Leith Champion of Champions Trophy for a third time.

“My previous titles were won in 1982 and 1998 and now 2008 which suggests I am a poor bet for next year but a stronger fancy when the next decade dawns and a fourth Tait is an ambition I would like to achieve”, said Marshall.

Marshall’s latest success was just reward for an immaculate display of relentless drawing to the jack that looked effortless to him as his smooth delivery action caressed every bowl that left his hand.

Mackintosh didn’t play at all badly and tried various mat and jack length tactics to upset Marshall’s rhythm but to little avail and he spent most of the final on the back foot.

“Having lost a previous Tait final 21-20 when holding the driving seat I desperately wanted to win this one so I am greatly disappointed however the pain is less severe as Robert was a clear winner”, reflected the 9 times champion of LRF.

The final opened on Mackintosh’s short ¾ length jack and his opening effort finished 9 inches jack high yet Marshall was drawing for a third inside that but disturbed his own head and had to settle for a single.

Mackintosh produced a nose trail that jammed the jack in a no-shot position then treading on eggshells neatly folded out Marshall’s bowl to card a 2 at the second end.

Marshall made it 2-2 with a singles from a ½ bowl flick in then opened the fourth end with two jack huggers that made the card after surviving a full blooded strike attempt from Mackintosh.

Peppering the jack was now a feature of Marshall’s play and a 1, 1, 3, reward to lead 9-2 had the added benefit of forcing his opponent into a fierce striking mode that gained little or no reward.

End 8 opened with Marshall nosing the jack and he coupled that with his third bowl to card a cracking double to 11 however a longer jack at the next cost him a single before a more aggressive yard on converter at the 10th led to a double and 13-3 lead.

Mackintosh gained some respite with a jack smothering single to 4 at the 11th but then the scrappiest head so far – 8 short bowls- closed with Marshall edging a single to 14.

Black clouds were now forming overhead but they brought no silver lining for Mackintosh as a close clustered 3 moved Marshall to 17 and with the writing firmly on the wall it was soon all over with the loss of 2, 1 answered with a 1, 3 reply.

The morning semi finals saw Marshall lose a 7-0 lead to stand 10-7 then 13-11 down to Andrew McKendrick of Currie however he escaped to victory with a thrilling finish of 2, 1, 2, (2), 3, 2.

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Midlothian thumped Edinburgh & Leith by 36 shots at Sighthill in Saturday’s crunch match of the Cities & Counties championship for the Andrew H Hamilton Trophy and the 136-100 result saw them finish top of the East section.

“We played well and deserved to win as we showed great skill and courage on an away venue against top quality opposition” said a delighted team manager Alec McIntosh who added “and to reach the knockout stage as section winners is a great achievement “.

McIntosh had to cope with the absence of influential skip Billy Peaocock and tinkered boldly with a few line up changes but the 72 year old Scottish Bowls Legend was rewarded by one of the finest results in Midlothian history.

A contrast of emotions however saw the E&L team and camp left down in the dumps with a performance that was disappointing and a result that saw them finish in fifth place.

“The result was a depressing one for us because we had the sniff of a chance to grab one of the two qualifying places and we started with high hopes however the best team one and its back to the drawing board for us”, said spokesman Bill Watson.

E&L did produce three wins on the rinks skipped by Mal Higgenbotham, James Hogg, and Colin Mitchell however heavy double-figure losses were sustained by Robert Donaldson, Robert Marshall, and Andrew Ramsay.

Midlothian being rampant and punishing E&L on the rinks skipped by Colin Walker, David Peacock, and Craig Hodge.

E&L competed well enough on the first 7-end phase but their 41-40 edge was a weak signal in terms of what had to be achieved and a 44-34 loss on the second suggested the home team was in fact struggling.

Sure enough Midlothian was on the up and with icon figure David Peacock playing tremendously well he inspired the visitors to a runaway 52-25 domination of the final phase.

Hodge emerged the executioner in chief as he counted at 16 of the 21 ends and skipped Calum Crawford Aaron Clinkscales and Jim Gibson to a 33-12 win over Craig McCall Scott Roger Paul O’Donnell and Ramsay.

Peacock won 15 of his 21 ends and include three 5’s as he skipped Tom Moffat Jamie Mitchell and Scott Briggs to a 32-12 success over Jamie Gracie Willie Watson Alec Ross and Marshall.

Walker set a hot pace to lead 11-2 and carded shots at 13 of the 21 ends to skip Eddie Adams Lindsay Plenderleith and George Yuill to a 30-13 triumph over Colin Hutchison David Fisher Favid Poole and Donaldson.

Small compensation for E&L saw Higgenbotham skip John McDermott John Priestley and John Storrier to a 26-16 win over Colin McFarlane while Hogg beat Henry Aitchison, 19-11 and Mitchell beat Ian Brown, 19-14.

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Edinburgh & Leith suffered a damaging third defeat when they went down by 12 shots to West Lothian in the Cities & Counties championship match for the Andrew H Hamilton Trophy at the Deans (Livingston) on Saturday.

West Lothian led from start to finish in a match that was played in warm sunshine yet brought to a dramatic conclusion when a sudden downpour of rain flooded the green and caused the Umpires to suspend play for 30 minutes.

But the regulation waiting time brought no improvement to the condition of the surface and the ‘match over’ decision meant that the result was declared on the 18-end aggregate that showed West Lothian ahead by 111 to 99.

“West Lothian led at every stage of the match which meant our only chance of winning was to resume and complete the 21-ends so it was an anxious wait for us and a very frustrating climax”, said E&L president Bill Watson.

All six rinks had completed 18-ends but four had finished and the situation prior to the stoppage was that E&L trailed by 10 shots with the two rinks left having five ends to play between them.

“Ample ends for us to stage a last gasp rescue operation especially as the dramatic change in playing conditions introduced a completely new factor”, explained Watson who continued,

“There is still the chance of a silver lining in our cloud of doom and gloom because we come right back into the picture this weekend if West Lothian beat East Lothian and we beat Midlothian”, summed up Watson.

It was all smiles in the home camp with West Lothian officials happy that they had survived a tough fixture having edged a 44-43 lead on the first 7-end phase then stepping up the pace to take the second, 48-35 to lead by 14shots.

“We peaked at 18 up after sixteen ends and although we felt confident about the outcome it was a fact that E&L were coming back at us on the run in”, said a WL spokesman.

E&L were best served by wins for the rinks skipped by James Hogg and Robert Marshall while Andrew Ramsay and Colin Mitchell finished peels however the visitors lost out more heavily to, Thomas Mann and Graeme Archer.

Mann made a brilliant start to lead 11-0 after four ends then skipped Frazer Muirhead Gerry Duggan and George Sneddon to a 25 -13 win over Colin Hutchison David Fisher Alan Poole and Darren Hush.

Archer, a former E&L icon, punished his former colleagues by skipping Stewart McMaster Bryan Cooper and Alec Allan to a 22-13 win that included a couple of mighty 5’s against John McDermott John Priestley John Storrier and Mal Higgenbotham.
Colin Mitchell carded a 3 at the 18th to finish 16-16 with Grant Logan while Andrew Ramsay came from off the pace to level 18-18 with John Aitken.

James Hogg skipped Andrew Caldwell Gavin Smith and Paul Veitch to a 21-14 win over Ray Logan while Jamie Gracie, Willie Watson Alex Ross and Robert Marshall edged an 18-16 win over Neil Speirs.

“We lost the 8th end 13-4 to go 10 shots down and never quite recovered from that” said E&L captain Andrew Ramsay.

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Edinburgh & Leith’s challenge in the East section of the Cities & Counties championship for the Andrew H Hamilton Trophy suffered a second setback in the shape of a 6 shot defeat (113-107) from Border at a sun swept Hawick Buccleuch on Saturday.

Border are a test for the best- home or away- and this is a great result for them but in the grand scheme of things E&L should be up to winning this fixture so defeat is cause for concern.

However there is still an optimistic view being expressed by the E&L camp.

“The match was played out on a tightrope and could have gone either way but Border always produced the big bowl at the right time so I don’t grudge them their victory although it is a damaging defeat for us”, said E&L spokesman Bill Watson.

“However we are just two points off the pace with three matches to play and if we achieve our target of winning them all then there is a strong chance that we will grab one of the two qualifying places”, he added.

E&L were hit by two late withdrawals with Colin Hutchison and John Storrier ruled out by work commitments and replaced by Dougie Martin and John McDermott. The enforced absence of Robert Donaldson allowed the welcome return of John Priestley.

The 7-end phase scoring paints a picture of an intense drama with Border winning all three but having to battle all the way to do so, 39-38; 37-33; and 37-36.

E&L were kept well in the hunt by three winning rinks- skipped by Robert Marshall, Billy Mellors and Andrew Ramsay – but their 11 shot margin couldn’t cover the loss of 17 suffered by Mal Higgenbotham, Colin Mitchell, and James Hogg.

Hogg – the hero figure of the previous weeks win over East Lothian – and his rink of Andrew Caldwell David Poole and Paul Veitch trailed 14-6 after eight ends and crashed to a costly 27-15 defeat from Ian Crawford.

Mitchell and his front three of Craig Aitken Jason Ronaldson and Darren Hush were involved a right ding dong battle with Border legend Norman Amos but slipped from peels at 13 after 15 ends to a 19-15 defeat.

Higgenbotham skipped John McDermott John Priestley and Gavin Smith into a 16-2 lead after nine ends but the potential heroes experienced the pain of anti climax as Stuart White stormed back to pip them 20-19.

Marshall produced a 1, 1, 3, finish to skip Willie Watson Andy Blair and Alex Ross to a 16-11 win over Graeme Forsyth while Dougie Martin David Fisher Alan Poole and Mellors stole a 21-16 win with a 3, 5 finish against Robert Crawford.

Ramsay- team captain- added to the late drama with a 2, 2, finish to skip Craig McCall Scott Rogers and Paul O’Donnell to a 21-20 won over Alistair White.

*************

Edinburgh & Leith bounced back from their opening match defeat to score a 112-101 victory over Fife County in the Scottish Counties Championship match played at Colinton on Saturday.

Fife tend to be the whipping boys of the East section – Midlothian beat them by 44 shots- so an 11 shot margin for E&L on home territory is less than Capital officials had hoped for although they are happy to be off the mark.

E&L could ill afford a second defeat so early in the campaign and against another under dog opposition however their expectant support was kept on tenterhooks with the match fought out on a tightrope across each of the six rinks.

“Whilst the margin of success reflects a tougher than expected assignment it is encouraging that we showed strong battling qualities allied to having five winning rinks out of six”, summed up a spokesman for E&L.

Two enforced changes in the E&L line up saw Willie Watson of Parkside and David Poole of Pilrig drafted in to replace Dougie Martin and Billy Mellors with Alan Poole stepping up to take over from Mellors at skip.

The winning skips for E&L, all by single figure margins, were, James Hogg, Robert Marshall, Andrew Ramsay, Colin Mitchell, and Alan Poole while Mal Higgenbotham was the one to taste defeat.

Fife gave early warning of being in the mood to cause an upset by edging the first 7-end phase 34-32 however E&L answered the wake up call with a 46-32 reply on the second but were unconvincing on the third and lost it 35-34.

But the 2 win points were in the bag.

Hogg skipped Andrew Caldwell David Poole and Paul Veitch to a 21-15 win over James Forbes having enjoyed his best moments with a run of 3,2, 1, 1, that gave him a 12-4 edge after 10-ends.

Marshall also included a first half purple patch run of 2, 3, 1, 3, that stretched him into a 13-5 lead after 11-end and he went on to skip Willie Watson Andy Blair and Alec Ross to a 17-13 win over Alan Pearson.

Ramsay left his main effort late and it came in the shape of a 1, 3, 1, finish as the team captain skipped Craig McCall Scott Rogers and Paul O’Donnell to a 17-14 win over Gary Mackie.

Mitchell also responded to the late pressure of the match and a 3, 2, 2, finish saw him skip Jamie Gracie Jason Ronaldson and Darren Hush to a 23-21 win over Stephen West.

Poole finished with a single to pip Raymond White 15-14 while Higgenbotham lost 24-19 having trailed Alan Hill 12-0 after six ends.