West Lothina dump East rivals in Matt Purdie Trophy

Jul 14 2011 West Lothian Courier

WEST Lothian clashed with defending champions East Lothian at Newbridge on Monday in the section play of the Matt Purdie Trophy for Seniors and produced a strong performance to score a 69-52 victory.

Wins on the rinks skipped by Kenny Ferguson of Armadale and Gordon Logan of Kirkliston carried the day with Tommy Turnbull of Broxburn finishing peels and Gordon Kain of Buchan Park, losing.

Ferguson skipped Lawson Trotter (Bathgate), Ian Drysdale (Bathgate), and Gordon Scott of Armadale to a commanding 25-9 win over Tommy Young while Logan skipped John Wynne (Philpstoun), Charlie Houston (Kirkliston) and Jimmy Davidson (Kirkliston) to a 22-8 success over Alister Kennedy.

Turnbull and his rink of John Collins (Middleton Hall), Norrie Engelen (Watson Memorial), and P Young (Queensferry) did well to hold famous name Jacky Greenwood to a 14-14 peel.

But the rink of Brian Holloran (Pumpherston), Frank Barker (Oakbank), and Tommy Grant (Broxburn), and Kain couldn’t get to grips with John Holmes and lost 21-8.

West Lothian, who lost their opening match at Currie against Edinburgh and Leith, 59-51, next play West Fife at Inverkeithing this Monday and the selectors have introduced Joe McLelland of Harrysmuir and former Hamilton Trophy star Denis Crowe of East Calder.

Tommy Grant and John Collins are missing from a reshuffled line up that reads: Rink 1 – B Holloran, J McLelland, F Barker, and G Kain; Rink 2 – J Wynne, C Houston, J Davidson, and G Logan; Rink 3 – L Trotter, I Drysdale, G Scott, and K Ferguson; Rink 4 – N Engelen, D Crowe, P Young, and T Turnbull.

DEANS played host to the quarter-final match of the Cities and Counties championship last Sunday featuring East Lothian and Buchan and the venue won great plaudits from both teams for excellent quality of green, organisation, and hospitality.

Deans president Billy French said: “It was both an honour and pleasure to be awarded this high-profile match and we were rewarded by a first-class match that provided great entertainment and a thrilling climax.”

East Lothian survived yet another dramatic climax in their campaign to land the 2011 Hamilton Trophy with a 116-107 victory over North section challengers Buchan.

Having scrambled a few section wins by the skin of their teeth it looked like another dose of the jitters for the East Lothian support but with the match score balanced on a knife edge Willie Wood emerged the hero figure with a sensational last end count of eight.

It was another exciting storybook chapter in the glorious career of the 73-year-old legend as he also made the major contribution by skipping his rink of Brian Bird, Callum Gordon and Brian Young to a spectacular 33-11 win over Graham Bain.

“We were closing the gap fast and the momentum across the green was in our favour so there is no doubt in our minds that Willie ended our dream of causing a major upset,” said the spokesman for Buchan.

Buchan were indeed the underdogs but belied their long odds with a heroic performance that won them rare respect for a team from the North section.

They had qualified as runners-up in their section but managed to pip the East section winners 37-35 and 42-40 on the first and third seven-end phases of the match. However, the Garden County planted their seeds of victory with a 41-28 domination of the second.

Wood’s 22-shot triumph was supported by wins for the rinks skipped by Derek Oliver (+10), and Alex Marshall (+1) while Scott Dodds finished peels and defeat was inflicted upon Jamie Blair (-10) and Alister Kennedy (-14).

Blair’s 27-17 defeat by David Anderson was softened by a valuable 8-2 finish over the closing five ends.

Deans scored a headline win in the first round of the White Knights-sponsored WLBA Top Ten with their 7-1 away win over Bathgate coming as a surprise win along with the 6-2 home win for Armadale over Broxburn.

Kirkliston, the holders and national champions, marched into round two with an 8-0 home win over Springgrove while Whitburn, Linlithgow and Newbridge also enjoyed maximum wins over Harthill, Middleton Hall and Polbeth, respectively.

Bridgeness (Mid Calder), Bellsburn (Bankton Mains), and Harrysmuir (Philpstoun) all squeezed away wins on shot margin.

Second round: Bo’ness v Deans; Queensferry v Buchan Park; Kirkliston v Bridgeness; Bellsburn v Armadale; Glenmavis v Linlithgow; Newbridge v Blackburn; Harrysmuir v Whitburn; Pumpherston v Stoneyburn.