West Lothian cross the Borders

Jun 7 2012 by Kieran Westbrook, West Lothian Courier

WEST Lothian faced a stiff test against Borders at Coldstream last weekend but passed with flying colours in the shape of a battling 117-92 victory.

And wins on five of the six rinks – skipped by Thomas Mann, Neil Speirs, Raymond Logan, Grant Logan, and Steven Fleming – reflected a strong team performance.

West Lothian tackled Borders without the services of former international skip John Aitken who was unavailable but Mallon's slightly restructured line up included the return of stalwart cap figure George Sneddon.

Mallon demands high-octane energy from his team and they certainly responded in the image of their manager with a furious start that was rewarded with a 52-24 domination of the first seven-end phase.

Borders is always a competitive outfit and they rode the storm and roared back with a thrilling 41-21 response on the second phase before West Lothian re-asserted their authority by capturing the third, 44-27.

Mann started steadily to lead 12-6 after 12-ends then captured seven of the remaining nine to skip Paul Lynas, David McCormick, and George Sneddon to a 22-12 win over Ian Crawford.

Speirs blazed a 14-4 trail over the first eight ends then traded well on that cushion to skip Andrew Semple, Ian Drysdale, and Alec Allan to a 24-15 win over Alan Brady.

Raymond Logan made a whirlwind start on his opening eight ends to storm into a 13-0 lead but from 15-three up after 12 was restricted to three singles as he skipped Frazer Muirhead, Bryan Cooper, and Gary Smith to an 18-11 win over Graeme Forsythe.

Grant Logan finished strong from 14-12 to skip Steven Forrest, Greg Logan, and Mark Allison to a 19-15 win over R Nichol while Diz Drysdale, Walter McDougall, James Speirs and Fleming edged a 19-18 win over R.Kerr.

Davy Miller Junior gave Borders something to shout about with a 21-15 win over Calum Logan.

On Tuesday night, West Lothian staged their District 14 semi-finals at Queensferry and Bathgate with the highlight match featuring a clash between international colleagues Grant Logan of Kirkliston and Ewan Shearer of Bo'ness in the Singles at the Ferry venue.

Logan's young cousin Calum added extra interest for the Kirkliston support at Queensferry as he faced Ryan Miller of Buchan Park in the Junior Singles.

The Logan clan, and Kirkliston, were a split force though with Raymond skipping Davy Masterton against Glenmavis in the Pairs at Bathgate and the rink of Steven Forrest Greg Logan Mark Allison and Neil Speirs facing Newbridge in the Fours.

The District Finals are down for decision at Broxburn BC on Tuesday night.

The under-25 brigade of West Lothian lost by the narrow margin of 135-131 against Dumbartonshire at Buchan Park on Sunday.

Mark McCullagh was a high-flyer for WL, skipping W.McKendrick, P.Barrett, and C.Black to a 29-16 win that was supported by 24-22, and 24-23 wins for Calum Logan and Greg Baldry respectively.

Andrew Semple was held to a 20-20 peel but Grant Ramsay suffered a heavy 30-13 defeat and Alan Ure lost 24-21.

WL continue against Renfrewshire this weekend.

Elsewhere, week five of West Lothian's seven-match campaign in the East section of the Cities and Counties Championship finds them engaged in a top of the table encounter against Midlothian at Kirkliston on Saturday.