West Lothian IBC rediscover form in the nick of time as they edge Premier League relegation play-off

Feb 24 2011 West Lothian Courier

THE last chance saloon was the last place you would expect to see a star studded West Lothian indoor bowls team frequent especially flirting with the dangers of relegation but having smelt the coffee they escaped to safety with a 74-66 win over Coatbridge.

Stirling IBC was the venue last Sunday for the do-or-die head to head confrontation with both teams battling to retain Premier League status.

Coatbridge themselves weren't short of class so were no pushovers but wins for the rinks skipped by Thomas Mann and Neil Speirs plus a peel for George Sneddon was good enough for West Lothian to cover the defeat of Mark Allison.

Having sleepwalked into the danger zone of their Premier League section it was vital that WL came into the playoff shoot-out with all guns blazing and to their credit they did just that to dominate the first 7-end phase, 33-15.

West Lothian consolidated their position with a 25-17 return on the second phase but alarmingly found themselves running out of ammunition on the third and with their back to the wall lost it 34-16.

Thomas Mann being the only skip to mount a successful defence of the WL fort (8-7) as Coatbridge turned up the heat on Allison (4-11), Sneddon ( 1-8), and Speirs (3-8).

Mann played the chief inspirational role for WL with the Scotland cap rampant over the first nine ends to skip Bryan Cooper Scott Logan and James Speirs into a 13-2 lead over fellow internationalist Jim McLarrie.

Mann and company kept their iconic opposition under pressure and with the help of two 4's were commanding 24-12 winners.

Speirs was in sharp form for most of the match and was rewarded by skipping Richard Mark Raymond Logan and Calum Logan into a healthy 19-10 lead but the overall shine was dulled by the late loss of 1, and 5 to finish 19-16 up on Scott Bishop.

Sneddon was another to show strong focus for a lengthy spell but having skipped Ewan Wilson Des Hagart and Paul Lynas into a 15-8 lead was reeled in to finish all square at 16-16 with Dougie Blades.

Allison fired well enough over the first 10-ends to skip Cameron Greer Ian Drysdale and team captain Stuart Johnston into a 10-5 lead over Robert Murphy but their effort fizzled out to be punished with a 22-15 defeat.

West Lothian's step up in form is a timely one with the first round of the Scottish Cup taking place this weekend and Saturday finds the elite of the Inveralmond Stadium facing a challenging game against Bainfield at Abbeyview (Dunfermline).

West Lothian are record five-times winners of the cup and with this years final due to be played on their carpet in Livingston have great incentive to hunt title number six.

The final of the Premier League playoff for the title last Saturday was hosted by West Lothian IBC on behalf of neighbour club Balbardie.

Midlothian produced a magnificent 21-end effort to capture the coveted crown at the expense of Lanarkshire but the 82-80 decision in their favour went right down to the wire.

The Inveralmond Stadium became a cauldron of excitement as the closing ends of an action packed final saw Midlothian defending a 16-shot lead that began to evaporate as Lanarkshire staged a powerful fight back.

The developing Lanarkshire roar took on a menace that seemed likely to carry them to what would be a glorious grandstand style victory but the defending champions were denied in a pulsating climax.

When Midlothian icon David Peacock suffered the last end loss of a 4 from an opposition conversion it left his older brother Billy defending a match lead of 81-80 with international skip Robert Grant in opposition.

Both skips were left playing to a jack that had been ditched earlier in Midlothian's favour but Grant sparked eruptions on the Lanarkshire side when apparently drawing the first shot with a brilliant first bowl.

Peacock — who had added a second shot with his first bowl to increase the pressure on Grant — then made a bold decision to try and run Grant's bowl out of the head but missed by a whisker.

Doubts that Lanarkshire were indeed holding the shot for peels added to the nervous tensions that held the stadium spellbound so Grant elected to strike the head with his final delivery in an effort to count one for an extra end or two for the title.

Grant's effort failed to alter the head and in the ensuing measure the shot was declared in favour of a Midlothian team that was by now totally drained but found new energies to celebrate their traumatic victory.

Lanarkshire blazed a 23-6 trail over the first four ends but Midlothian steadied their ship with a credible 21-8 reply over the next three thereby reducing the opposition's advantage over the first 7-end phase to a manageable 31-27.

Midlothian sustained their momentum to dominate the second phase, 39-19, but had sweat on their brows as Lanarkshire shook them up with a tremendous 30-16 rally on the third.

Hard earned wins for the rinks skipped by Graeme Archer and David Peacock plus a peel for Colin Walker was just enough to cover the narrow defeat of Billy Peacock.

Archer inspired the Midlothian effort as he skipped Martin Wyllie Rob Crawford and AJ Knight into a 20-5 lead after 15-ends but came under late pressure to hold on and beat Robert Gordon, 20-14.

Peacock (David) edged a 19-18 win over Gary Neilson while Walker rescued a 23-23 peel with Jim Meikle and Peacock (Billy) lost 25-20 to Grant.

The nature of the final provided SIBA President Willie Duff of Balbardie a memorable highlight of his year in national office and he and his club president Bill Black were strong in their praise of West Lothian IBC as a great venue for the occasion.