Bowling: West Lothian victorious in tense final

Jul 23 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

WEST Lothian captured the coveted Scottish Cities and Counties Championship crown with a nail biting five shot victory over East Lothian in an epic final played at the Mount Vernon club in Glasgow on Sunday.

The success for the Colin Stein managed team was extra sweet as it is the first time the West Lothian name has been etched on the famous Andrew Hamilton Trophy since the association’s change of identity from Linlithgowshire in 1999.

The final was played on a knife-edge and the outcome remained in doubt as both teams battled right down to the wire and credit for the vital scales tipper goes to 54-year-old John Aitken as he emerged the hero figure.

Aitken was landed the task of coping with East Lothian icon Alex Marshall and did crucially well to skip Bryan Cooper Gerry Duggan and Calum Logan to a 19-14 victory.

The latest moment of fame however for the record three times West Lothian Master came at the penultimate end when the only rink left on the green and defending a very vulnerable five shot lead.

Marshall and his rink exerted immense pressure with a hold of 4 and a chance of a 5 but Aitken destroyed East Lothian dreams with a brilliant strike conversion that yielded two shots

Wins for the rinks skipped by Aitken, Graeme Archer and Grant Logan plus Neil Speirs holding Willie Wood to a peel just gave WL the edge over an East Lothian team that enjoyed success under Derek Oliver and Jamie Higgins.

The phase scoring illustrates the drama of the final with WL capturing the first 40-31 but kept in check by EL’s 47-39 success on the second then just nosing the third 40-36.

Archer had a good day and made the major contribution to the WL success by skipping Ewan Shearer Kenny Miller and Raymond Logan to a 14 shot win over David Sked Chris Fallen David Oliver and Struan Robeertson.

West Lothian spirits were immediately boosted by Archer’s opening run of 2, 1, 3, 3, 2, 3 to lead 14-0 then a second wind at 19-14 saw him capture six of the remaining seven ends to triumph 29-15.

Logan benefited from a six at the ninth end to lead 11-5 but was crossed 15-13 before battling to a 19-18 win over Alister Kennedy while Speirs included a purple patch spell of 4, 2, 1, 3 (2), 5 as he recovered from 12-2 down to share peels at 21 with Wood.

Higgins was always a good 24-13 winner for EL over George Sneddon while Oliver edged Thomas Mann, 22-18.

“This was a day when boys became men and men became legends,” was the tribute paid to his team by WL President Gary Clelland.

Whitburn dark horse John Cooper Junior sprung the first major surprise of the 11th £4000 West Lothian Masters, sponsored by the brigade of White Nights, claiming No.9 seed Alec Allan as his first round victim on Monday night at West Calder.

Cooper does have Masters form having reached the quarterfinals in 2004 and he reproduced that kind of quality against 47-year old Allan who was last seasons County Singles champion and a British Isles Pairs champion from the 1995 era.

Cooper made a confident start to lead 8-0 but was peeled at 10 then faced the exit door at 19-12 down and again at 20-17 but escaped to a thrilling 21-20 victory with a magic count of 4 on the 22nd end.

There were no more opening day exits for the 16 seeds however former Edinburgh hero Graeme Archer flirted with a shock early departure before the No.7 seed from Uphall Station escaped to a dramatic 21-20 victory.

Archer (42) won the national singles title and Edinburgh Open under the Sighthill banner in 1995 and 1999 respectively but has failed to hit the heights expected of him since switching to West Lothian

He did come close to winning the Masters title when reaching the final at his first attempt in 2004 and probably vies with 1991 national singles champion George Sneddon as the best player in this year’s field not to have adorned the Green Jacket.

Archer went 6-0 up against Charlie Williams Junior of Bankton Mains at Ratho on Monday night but soon trailed 8-6 then went ding dong to 13-11 up before getting trapped in the bowlers graveyard for the next three ends.

Allowing Williams to race into a 17-13 lead with a 2, 3, 1 fight back and it became even bleaker for the seed at 20-16 down however Archer has performed Houdini acts in the past and he served up another to hit 21 with a big 2, 3 finish.

Grant Logan of Kirkliston was another top contender operating outside the comfort zone with the 2005 Master and the No.5 seed slipping from 10-9 up to 17-13 down against noted junior Steven Fleming of Buchan Park at Deans.

But the 33-year old Scotland skip crossed to 18 with a 1, 3, 1 rally then back under pressure at 19-18 down he hit 21 with a 2, 1 finish.

Colin Cruickshanks was a quarterfinalist in 2007 but the Pumpherston challenger was heading for a first round exit this year when trailing Andy Forrest of Glenmaviis, 13-1 at Buchan Park.

But Cruickshanks staged a remarkable recovery to lead 17-14 then having burnt the next end to further dampen the spirits of Forrest he answered the loss of a 2 with a 1, 2,1 finish to triumph 21-16.

The knife-edged band of 21-20 winners included, Alan Ure of Kinneil over Scott McMaster of Broxburn, Charlie Williams of Whitburn over Lawson Trotter of Bathgate, and Alan Jenkins of Glenmavis over Morris Cavanagh of Uphall Station.

Also, Walter McDougall of Glenmavis over Ally Greer of Pumpherston; Blair O’Hanlon of Winchburgh over Scott Marr of Armadale, and Jim Glen of Bo’ness over J Paxton of Stoneyburn.

The surprises included Kenny Black (East Calder) losing to Gordon Hill (Ratho), and Kenny Miller (Buchan Park) losing to Ross Millar (East Calder).

The fourth round action tonight (Thurs) takes place at Queensferry, Armadale, Bellsburn, and Kirkliston, while Broxburn and Whitburn host the section finals on Friday night.

The final days play in the Masters is at Bo’ness on Sunday from 11am.