Stewart Meikle’s Bowls

Feb 18 2010 by Mairon Laird, West Lothian Courier

SCOTTISH Cup action returns to the indoor bowls calendar this weekend.

And there are a couple of cracking encounters on the local scene involving West Lothian Indoor Bowling Club against Midlothian at East Lothian while Balbardie will be travelling to Alloa to face Bainfield.

It is the first round proper on Saturday and West Lothian’s campaign to step up their bid for a record extending sixth cup success stands blocked by a Midlothian team that have had their own agenda in trying to match the West Lothian record of five wins to date.

West Lothian come into the confrontation with the better form figures.

They have defeated Midlothian both home and away in the recent premier league campaign and they finished six points ahead of their cup rivals in the league table.

Midlothian spokesman Frank Gray said, however, that he does not believe the league form will count for anything in the clash this coming weekend.

He told the Courier sports desk: “We are undoubtedly the underdogs as far as league form is concerned but neutral territory is a fresh dimension for the side.

“There is no doubt that we have a team formation that is capable of reaching the heights on their day so there is all is to play for as far as the Midlothian lads are concerned.”

West Lothian will also enter the fray without the services of stalwart figure David Wilson who is sidelined by leg problems.

The player introduced into the side is the Blair Mackie who is an experienced indoor bowler and he lines up at second to Mark Allison.

That move pushes Richard Mark over to play lead to Neil Speirs and switches Cameron Greer to lead for George Sneddon.

The full West Lothian line up for the eagerly awaited clash reads as follows:

Rink One– Bryan Cooper Blair Mackie Calum Logan and Mark Allison.

Rink Two – Paul Lynas Des Haggart Ray Logan and Thomas Mann.

Rink Three – Cameron Greer Joey Strickland Stuart Johnston and George Sneddon.

Rink Four – Richard Mark James Greenock James Speirs and Neil Speirs.

Midlothian have announced their line up which includes former West Lothian stars Graeme Archer and Ian Brown and reads as follows:

Rink One – Ronnie Duncan Martin Wylie Graham Walker and Billy Peacock.

Rink Two – Steven Currie Robert Trench Lindsay Plenderleith and Colin Walker.

Rink Three – Robert Campbell Sandy Knight Willie Rankin and David Peacock.

Rink Four – Calum Crawford Andrew Kelly Ian Brown and Graeme Archer.

Balbardie blew their chances of promotion to the premier league and were pipped on shot margin by Bainfield so the sparks should fly when the two teams renew rivalry at Alloa in what will be another cracking match for bowling fans.

The home and away honours in their Division 1B conflict was an even split .

Neither of the two teams away form was inspiring in that league campaign so a neutral carpet suggests a knife-edge encounter is in store and it will be a hard one to call.

Bainfield seem to have the edge on individual skill and personality so the gauntlet is down for Balbardie to rise to the challenge and prove earlier indications of ‘true grit’ being in their favour is again the case.

Balbardie, however, enter the battle without the services of ace skip Sandy McDougall.

As a result the selectors have chosen David Lawrie as the player who is stepped from third to fill his shoes.

Ewan Shearer, Graeme Byrne, and Walter McDougall are the other three skips while Colin Fraser makes a return to the ranks and Kenny Martin stepped up from second to play third to Lawrie.

LAWSON Trotter – a former champion of outdoor club Bathgate - is the new Seniors Champion of West Lothian Indoor Bowling Club.

Lawson captured the singles crown with an excellent performance to beat John Kenneway 21-9 in an 18-end final at the Inveralmond stadium.

Kenneway failed to find his form in the early stages of the final and Trotter exploded into a daunting 13-1 lead having dominated and excited with the consistency of his precision drawing skills.

Kenneway did demonstrate his true potential with a full house four to stand 15-6 down.

However, Trotter was in no mood to be denied and restricted his opponent to just three more singles as he raced his way to the title.

The final of the ladies National Fours at West Lothian Indoor Bowling Club was a hard fought encounter that eventually went the way of the pre-match favourites in the shape of Irene Taylor Jennifer Sneddon Angie Uttley and Wendy Purdie.

Purdie and company still had it all to do with the outcome on a knife-edge at 15-15 against Jean McPherson Lisa Barret Jenifer Richardson and Carole Clarkson.

However, the tightrope situation was about to broken.

It was Purdie who was to break the deadlock by skipping her rink to a blistering 1, 2, 1 finish for a hard fought 19-15 victory and the right to represent West Lothian in next seasons national event.

LANARKSHIRE captured the Premier League title with an 86-72 win over Blantyre in the final at Prestwick .

In a first class final there were wins for the rinks skipped by R Gordon, R Grant, and J Meikle making the difference.

The final rink scores reading was as follows: R Gordon 29 I McLean 10; R Grant 25 B Irvine 18; J Meikle 20 A Kelly 18; J Simpson 12 J McCann 26.

The two finalists had just pipped West Lothian and East Lothian respectively in the qualifying campaigns so the Lanarkshire win is a boost to the West Lothian form lines.