Gents round off indoors with Finest Fours Trophy

Apr 16 2009 by Our Correspondent, West Lothian Courier

WEST Lothian gents signed off their indoor season with a gleaming piece of silverware, having captured the Finest Fours Trophy at Falkirk for an impressive eighth time with a 5-3 points victory over Headwell last Sunday.

Wins for the rinks skipped by Mark Allison and George Sneddon, plus a last-gasp peel for Raymond Logan, triggered the victory salute for a West Lothian team that gave best by two shots on their remaining rink skipped by Ricky Forrest.

Allison and his rink of Derek Mairs, David Smith and Calum Logan emerged the day’s highest flyers with a massive 31-12 win over C Watson, having soared the heights from 11-6 to 30-6 with a spectacular spell of 3, 1, 4, 7, 4.

Sneddon ensured the shot margin bank was going to be healthy by skipping George Marshall, Andrew Cavanagh and Bryan Cooper to a 26-15 success that included a mighty five at the 16th end and magnificent seven at the 21st against C Ferguson.

Logan looked another winner when skipping Richard Mark, Stephen Pettigrew and David Brown into a 17-6 lead over Jim Roxburgh but suffered an alarming collapse to go 22-21 down before peeling with a single at the last.

Forrest made a great start to skip Stewart Gibson, David Ledgerwood and David Wilson into a 14-4 lead over JJ Watson but a long barren spell that lasted 10 ends saw them trail 23-14 and suffer a 23-21 defeat.

TEENAGER Calum Logan pulled off a tremendous result in the semi final of the Singles championship at WLIBC when in a clash of former title-holders he beat international star Neil Speirs, 18-15.

Logan made the best start to lead 9-3 then fell behind at 9-10 but hit back to cross 13-10 then answered intense pressure at 15-13 down with a grandstand finish of 2, 2, 1.

Play in the second semi final saw former Player of the Year Des Hagart hold all the aces in his battle against Bryan Cooper, leading 9-3 and 16-7 before clinching his place in the final with a 21-13 win.

Finals week at WLIBC gets underway on Monday night with the headline match featuring Logan against Hagart for the singles title while teenagers Jodie Nicol of Deans and Nathan McKendrick of East Calder go head to head for the under-16’s crown.

The highlight on Tuesday nights is the four-bowl pairs final, pitching Cameron Greer and Calum Logan against former champions Joey Strickland and George Sneddon.

Greer and Logan come in the final on a spectacular high, having dumped holders Thomas Mann and Neil Speirs 14-10 in last week’s semi final action.

Their twin highlight came with a sizzling six at the fourth end and a mighty five at the eighth.

There is also a battle for the under-25 singles title featuring Blair Mackie and Kenny Black, while the mixed fours is also down for decision.

Wednesday night heralds the final of the club knockout featuring the Thomas Mann and George Sneddon combines in a battle of the giants.

There is also a repeat on Thursday night when they clash in the Scottish Brewers Fours.

LAST week was a productive one for John Murphy in morning league circles at WLIBC as he skipped Ron Scott to a nailbiting 9-8 win over Lawson Trotter and Robert McIvor in the final of the Pairs.

There is more with Murphy at the helm for Alistair Lindsay, Stewart Orr and Ron Scott in the fours final, and including a magnificent seven as he skipped them to a thrilling 12-11 win over Bill brown, Ian MacLean, Fraser Graham and Alex Murray.

The final of the triples produced another engrossing battle with Jim Beresford skipping Bob Broadly and Jim Tully to a 16-14 success over Bill Newbigging, John Watson and John Scott.

Alistair Lindsay played the hero role in Bankton A’s shot margin win over Mid Calder A after a 3-3 share of the points in the final of the Seniors Club Six tournament.

Lindsay picked up from 6-7 to 16-7 with a run of 2, 3, 3, 2 and went on to clinch a 21-14 win over Ron Purdie in the singles, while Bob Broadley, Charlie Snape and Bill Bryans shared the spoils, 10-10, with Robert Davidson, Jimmy Trench and Bob Tripney.

Eddie West and Bill Gorrie went close in the triples but were pipped at the post by Jim McKiinna and Ian Hill who carded a two at the last to win 13-12.

GRAHAM Archer’s name was omitted from the list of Hamilton Trophy players published last week but the international star is in there and hoping to play a major role in West Lothian’s challenge for the Scottish Counties title.

WLIBC crowned their Morning League Division One champions in the shape of Lawson Trotter, Bill Leckie, Jimmy Clark and Bobby McIvor who finished two points clear of Alistair Lindsay, Ronnie Scott, John Murphy and Jim Fraser.

McIvor and Co signalled that no slip-ups were on the agenda when opening their final match with a mighty five at the first and going on to score a 16-8 success over Gordon Cairns, Dick Douglas, Billy Tait and Alex Buchan.