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.

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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.