West Lothian favourites for Scottish Cup prelim

Feb 10 2011 West Lothian Courier

THE prelim round action of the Scottish Cup takes place this weekend with Premier League club West Lothian firm favourites to beat Clydebank at Lanarkshire IBC.

West Lothian have captured the Cup title a record five times and, with the final due to be held at the Inveralmond Stadium on Saturday, April 16, there is great incentive for them to hunt win No6.

It has been six years since WL last etched their name on the trophy, although they came close when reaching the 2007 final and their current league form is disappointing however the following team should be strong enough to make progress in the Cup.

Rink 1 — Cameron Greer Ian Drysdale David Wilson and Mark Allison.

Rink 2 — Bryan Cooper Scott Logan James Speirs and Thomas Mann.

Rink 3 — Stewart McMaster Raymond Logan Calum Logan and Neil Speirs.

Rink 4 — Ewan Wilson Des Hagart Paul Lynas and George Sneddon.

Blair Mackie is the reserve to travel.

Balbardie have premier league ambitions and on occasions show they are worthy of that but do blow hot and cold and it will take a good day for them to spring a surprise on a Blantyre team that competes strongly in the top division.

Rink 1 — Alistair Wilson Davie Ross Jim Speirs and Graeme Byrne.

Rink 2 — Lawson Trotter Davy Coats Ian Robertson and Sandy McDougall.

Rink 3 — Ian Drysdale John Gillogley Alan McCormick and Ewan Shearer.

Rink 4 — Kenny Martin Mark Bonar Gary Orr and Andy Forrest.

Balbardie come in to their cup tie on the back of a strong performance in the Division 1B league having scored an impressive 84-68 away win over Tweedbank in a catch up fixture.

Meanwhile, Portobello are heading back to Division Two after losing a vital head to head 76-67 away to Abbeyview.

The Seniors Pairs title at WLIBC has been won by the partnership of Gordon Scott and Jack Morton who opened with a scintillating run of 4, 3 1 then converted their 8-0 lead into a commanding 16-5 win over Colin Russell and Ronnie Scott.