West Lothian News with Stewart Meikle

Steven Flemming ( Linlithgow.B.C) West Lothian Champion Of Champion 2009

 (Picture by Gary Clelland)

WEEKENDING 26th November.

West Lothian IBC suffered a shock defeat on their home carpet at the Inveralmond stadium and blew their chance to stay in the front rank of the qualifying race in the highly competitive A section of the indoor bowls Premier League. The top of the table clash with Lanarkshire gave the strong going home side an obvious chance to move ahead of their immediate opposition and stay upsides Prestwick however the visitors prevailed by the nail-biting margin of 3 shots. Lanarkshire triumphed 75-72 having clinched their win with an impressive performance that saw them humble West Lothian on the rinks skipped by Neil Speirs and Joey Strickland and hold Mark Allison to a peel. Thomas Mann did keep the home fires burning with a fine victory but over the piece the home side may have missed the services of their influential icon figure George Sneddon who is away in Hong Kong. West Lothian did make a reasonable start to edge the first 7-end phase of the match, 35-27 and they also managed to bag the last one, 21-17 but the damage was done on the second with Lanarkshire demolishing the home side, 31-16. Mann was immediately on the back foot to trial R Gordon 7-2 but he rallied the troops with a mighty 5 and by the 13^th end had skipped Paul Lynas Des Hagart and Raymond Logan into an 18-12 lead.  The rink then came under pressure at 18-16 but answered the menace with a strong 2, 2, 2, 1 finish to win the battle 25-16 but sadly not quite enough to win the war. Allison and his rink of Bryan Cooper Richard Mark and Calum Logan opened with a magnificent 7 but then registered four blanks before counting a 3 to lead Robert Grant 10-5. The home rink continued to look good at 14-7 up but lost their shine with a costly run of six blanks and in the end had to conjure up a 2, 1 finish to rescue a 17-17 peel. Strickland also brought early excitement to the Inveralmond stadium with a super 6 at the third end to skip Cameron Greer Blair Mackie and Stuart Johnstone into an 8-1 lead over John Simpson. It was battle on at 8-8 however and the outcome remained in the balance at 14-14 before the visitors edged it 18-15 with the more determined finish. Speirs is expected to be as safe as houses on his home carpet in particular but the hero of umpteen previous battles was strangely ineffective as he slumped to a damaging 24-15 defeat from Jim Meiklem And that was after skipping Ewan Wilson James Greenock and James Speirs to an exciting 1, 1, 1, 3, 2 finish that came just too late to tip the match scales. West Lothian slipped to third place in the league some 2 points adrift of Lanarkshire, and Prestwick who triumphed 83-64 at Arbroath while Midlothian moved clear of the relegation zone with a 78-73 win at  Auchinleck. East Lothian’s 83-73 home win over Blantyre in the B section of the Premier League enabled the four-in-a-row champions to join their victims and Coatbridge as joint leaders in the race for a qualifying place.

Balbardie IBC kept themselves well in the hunt for the promotion honours in the B section of Division 1 with the Bathgate based team in great form to crush  their visitors, Stirling, 99-53.  Alloa beat foot of the table Whiteinch 96-57 and continue to top the table by a single point from Bainfield, Balbardie, and Tweedbank. Bainfield were impressive 97-60 away winners over Scottish Cup holders Tweedbabnk.

The ladies of Balbardie IBC continue to fly high and stay top of Division 1D having crushed home team Stirling 111-47 to register their sixth success in seven games.

Leaner times continue to trouble their West Lothian counterparts in the C Division  with the ladies of the Inveralmond stadium suffering a narrow 79-75 defeat at Teviotdale in a bottom of the table clash.

The West Lothian IBC and Balbardie banners will both be in evidence at the joint national championship finals being played at the West of Scotland stadium (Shawfield) over this weekend. Balbardie duo Andrew Chapman and Ewan Shearer have the 2-Bowl Pairs title in their focus and launch their bid against Steven Twynholm and David Gourlay of Glasgow in the semi finals (Sat 11-30am). Colin McBride and Stewart Anderson of Auchinleck contest the other semi final against David McGill and Andrew Furye of Arbroath. Lorraine Malloy bids to add the blue ribbon indoor singles title to her outdoor one won in August and the Balbardie star opens against holder and three times champion Julie Forrest of Teviotdale. (Sat 4pm). Caroline Brown of Blantyre and Kathy Houston of Paisley are the other challengers.

Junior Cap Lisa Barrett carries the West Lothian banner in the Under 25 Singles and opens against Ailsa Robertson of Dundee at 9-30am while Rebecca Campbell of Alloa and Michelle Cooper of Ardrossan are the other semi finalists. Wendy Purdie – the singles champion of 2008- skips teenager Jenifer Richardson in the 2-Bowl Pairs and the West Lothian partnership open against Margaret Craig and Rhona Jarvis of Garioch at 2pm. The other challengers are, Janice Dougal and Michelle Cooper of Ardrossan and Karen Dawson and Ceri Ann Davies of Falkirk.

Lorraine Malloy is back in the national headlines with the 43-year old Scottish outdoor singles champion from Springgrove carrying the Balbardie IBC banner into the semi final stage of the indoor version over last weekend. The playdown action at Midlothian IBC saw Malloy launch her challenge for the title with a 21-9 win over Liz Fraser of Turriff then crush Norma Bauld of East Lothian, 21-4 on the first day of play.  Malloy returned to the Dalkeith stadium the following day (Sunday) to score a runaway success over the luckless Margaret Craig of Garioch then sustained her high pitch form to score a 21-16 win over Sandra McLeish of Midlothian. West Lothian IBC champion Angie Uttley was a 21-16 victim of McLeish on the Sunday morning session having previously defeated Maureen Morrison of Perth, 21-20 and former champion Cathy McIntosh of Stonehaven, 21-17. Malloy’s opposition in the semi finals will come from holder Julie Forrest of Teviotdale who is seeking a fourth title success while Caroline Brown of Blantyre faces Cathy Houston of Paisley.

 West Lothian continued their impressive start to the indoor bowls season with a commanding 91-70 away win over Arbroath that saw them complete a hat trick of wins in the A section of the premier league. Arbroath had icon figure Darren Burnett missing from their line up and that made the home side less of a threat for a strongly formed West Lothian team that welcomed  full cap Thomas Mann back for his seasonal debut. Mann came in at third to former cap Joey Strickland but it wasn’t the happiest of occasions as in company their front end of Richard Mark and Raymond Logan the rink suffered a double figure defeat. West Lothian also saw Neil Speirs pipped at the post but the valuable match points were rescued by good wins for the rinks skipped by Mark Alison and George Sneddon.  The visitors shrugged off a 13-7 deficit for Strickland to edge the first 7-end phase, 34-29 but Arbroath kept the match on a knife-edge with a 29-24 reply on the second then a big step in gear saw West Lothian motor to a 33-12 success on the third. “This is our second away success in three games which is an encouraging sign and an inspiration ahead of a tough looking visit to Prestwick who like ourselves are undefeated”, said a spokesman for West Lothian. Allison emerged the high flyer for West Lothian with the ex-Fifer winning the end count 13-8 and skipping Bryan Cooper Ian Laverie and Calum Logan to a 30-10 victory over Peter Carnegie. The trend of their inspiring success was set by a purple patch spell of 2, 3, 2, (1), 2, 4 that thrust them into a 17-7 lead after 12-ends then they iced the cake from 21-10 with a big 6, 3 finish. Sneddon blazed a 19-5 trail after nine ends as he skipped Cameron Greer David Wilson and Stuart Johnston on two short sharp runs of 5, 4, 1 and 1, 2, 6 then a strong finish of 2, 3, 2, 1 saw them wrap up a 29-15 win over Peter Strachan. Speirs made a strong start to skip Paul Lynas Des Hagart and James Speirs into a 10-5 lead over George Stewart but lean times followed and although their losses weren’t heavy they were edged out 17-16. Strickland and Co conceded a mighty 5 at the first end and trailed 13-6 after six ends then life became even tougher as they were put through the mill and crushed 28-16 by Andrew Furye. Elsewhere in the A section Prestwick enjoyed a 76-60 home triumph over Midlothian while Lanarkshire beat Auchinleck 82-63. East Lothian- the four in a row reigning national champions- suffered  72-61 setback at Aberdeen in the B section while leaders Blantyre triumphed 87-81 at Dundee, and Coatbridge beat Falkirk 88-65.

 West Lothian made a 16-14 exit to Ayr in the prelim round of the national seniors fours at the weekend and were joined on the sidelines by Balbardie who crashed 32-5 against Portobello.

Neil Speirs launched his bid for the inaugural Champion of Champions title with a 1.5 to 0.5 win over Scott Kennedy of East Lothian at Midlothian IBC on Sunday then followed up with a 2-1 success over Colin Walker of Midlothian. However the section final saw the West Lothian ace make a straight sets exit to Darren Burnett of Arbroath who now faces Steven Allan of Alloa for the title.

West Lothian travel to Prestwick this Saturday for a top of the table clash in the A section of the premier league while Balbardie will be the underdogs when they travel to Bainfield to take on the promotion favourites in the B section of Division 1.

 West Lothian ladies entertain Bainfield at the Inveralmond stadium in the C section of the League Cup knockout while Balbardie are at home to Allander in section D.

 The action in Division 1 of the ladies league at WLIBC saw a mighty 5 at the second last tip the scales for the rink of  Muriel Brash Agnes Allan Irene Wright and Lily Sword as they clinched a 15-10 win over Chris McCormack Sandra Purdie Margaret Russell and Ann Clark.

Newbridge bowler Thomas Mann and Iain McLean of Lanarkshire returned from the USA earlier this week having carried the Scotland banner to title success in the Pairs competition of the Michael Ashton-Phillips Challenge played in Southern California. The international field included representation from Canada, China, England, Hong Kong, Israel, Wales and the United States and the McLean/Mann partnership was emulating the success of Darren Burnett and Willie Wood MBE in 2008. Scotland topped the list of qualifiers with 7 wins and 1 peel from their 9 games then they beat Canada in the semi finals and James Talbot and Mark McPeak of Ireland in the final. McLean came closest to emulating the 2006 title success of Midlothian’s David Peacock in the Singles but having reached the semi finals lost out to Charlie Herbert of the USA who went on to beat James Talbot of Ireland in the final. McLean had won 6 and lost 3 in his qualifying section while Mann just missed out on reaching the semis having won 5 and lost 4 in his section play. Mann had flown to the twin Californian venues of Newport Beach and Laguna Beach straight from his honeymoon but in a pure romantic gesture had secretly arranged for his wife to join him on the trip.

There was no joy for leading ladies Wendy Purdie and Mandy O’Donnell when they pit their individual skills against the men in the opening round of the inaugural Champion of Champions indoor bowls event at Arbroath last Sunday. Jointly sponsored by the SIBA and the SWIBA and featuring a select field of 16 players it was hoped that Purdie (West Lothian) and O’Donnell (Bainfield) would make a winning impression to further the cause of mixed competition. But both players had it tough against junior cap Steven Allan of Alloa and full cap Jim McLarrie of Coatbridge respectively, and they lost out in straight sets. Purdie- the ladies No1- did manage to hold Allan to an 8-8 peel in their second set but was under survival pressure from being outgunned 8-3 in the first while O’Donnell became a 12-7, 12-3 victim of McLarrie. The other first round ties saw Robert Grant of Lanarkshire beat Jane Brooksby of Falkirk 11-1, 9-3, and Andrew Barker of Elgin beat his clubmate Graeme Donaldson, 13-4, 7-7. Allan clashed with Grant in the second round and beat his more senior opponent 11-2 , 7-5 while Barker shared his two sets 8-7, 6-10 before beating McLarrie 2-1 on the tie break. The section final also went down to the wire with Allan capturing the first set 10-4 against Barker then losing the second 5-12 before taking the tie break 2-1. The second section is down for decision at Midlothian IBC this Sunday with the grand final taking place at Perth on November 14.

Club champions Calum Logan (West Lothian) and Ewan Shearer (Balbardie) failed to shine in the playdown action of the national singles championship at Arbroath last weekend with both making their exit in the prelim round West Lothian IBC hopes rested with Logan but the 20-year old couldn’t quite get to grips with Gary Mackie of East Fife and lost a hard fought battle, 21-17.  Mackie then beat Stuart Pagan (Abbeyview) and Darren Pirie of Fraserburgh before losing to Andy Duncan of Garioch. Shearer has excellent outdoor form in singles play and there were high hopes that the 36-year old from Bo’ness would start to make a similar impression on the indoor scene. However such hopes were quickly dashed in the shape of a 21-16 defeat at the hands of K Daly of Castlemilk who then lost out to Mark McLees of Inverclyde. Holder Stewart Anderson of Auchinleck dealt exits of Stuart Hogg (Falkirk) and Brian Irvine (Blantyre) before his reign was ended by a 21-18 defeat from Mike Stepney of Elgin. Portobello champion George Johnstone made his exit in the last 16 stage having defeated Alan Young of East Lothian and David Green of Nithsdale before losing to Ricky Taylor of Glasgow Bainfield champion Jamie Gracie also represented the challenge from the Capital but the 25-year old failed to live up to high expectations and crashed out in the prelim round a 21-16 victim of the aforementioned Taylor. Taylor to be fair went on to show good form in the shape of wins over 21 times capped John Gilmartin of Paisley then George Johnstone before making a 21-14 exit to Gary Johnstone of Auchinleck. Full cap Steven Currie was a strong Midlothian replacement for unavailable champion Colin Walker but there was no joy for the Dalkeith support as they witnessed their man being crushed 21-8 in the prelims by Andrew Furye of Arbroath. Furye was a stand in himself – for title favourite Darren Burnett – and the host club challenger continued to go great guns and wins over Jim Meikle (Lanarkshire), Neil McNally (Tweedbank) and George Lennon (Perth) saw him qualify for the semis. The field was 53 strong and  Furye was joind in the semis by Andy Duncan (Garioch), Gary Johnstone (Auchinleck), and Mike Stepney (Elgin).

The SBA have announced their team for the 2010 Home International Series to be played at Worthing and it contains six players from West Lothian. Ewan Sheare of Bo’ness is stepped up from the reserve bench to play lead in the rink skipped by colleague Grant Logan of Kirkliston while Thomas Mann of Newbridge will line up at second to the recalled Graeme Archer of Uphall Station. Neil Speirs of Kirkliston is named at third to Willie Wood MBE while Gary Smith of Linlithgow lines up at third to team captain Darren Burnett. The other skips are David Peacock and Alex Marshall MBE. George Sneddon of Broxburn continues in his capacity of Team Manager and the only downside for West Lothian is the absence of Kirkliston legend John Aitken .

West Lothian visit Arbroath in Saturday’s premier league fixture while Balbardie travel to Tweedbank in Division 1B.

its is all systems go at the moment for West Lothian IBC in their Premier League campaign and with two wins from two they top the A section on shot margin from Prestwick. The team from the Inveralmond stadium consolidated their encouraging start to the indoor bowls season with a commanding 33 shot victory (81-48) over chief rivals Midlothian when the teams clashed in the match of the day at Livingston last weekend Midlothian welcomed back icon figure David Peacock but fellow cap Colin Walker was a late absentee leading to his brother Graham being stepped up to skip while Kevin McDougall was introduced from the bench. West Lothian continued with former cap Joey Strickland at skip in place of Thomas Mann who is representing Scotland in the USA while an extra dimension to the match was the return of Graeme Archer to the Inveralmond carpet; but as a Midlothian player. “It is very difficult to win here so our expectations were hopeful rather than confident however I am disappointed that we lost by so many shots”, summed up Midlothian spokesman Frank Gray.  West Lothian were well served by wins for the rinks skipped by Mark Allison, George Sneddon, and Neil Speirs while Billy Peacock was successful for Midlothian. The opening 7-end phase was hard fought but edged 25-21 by the home side and that proved a springboard for West Lothian dominating the second, 32-18, and the third, 24-9. The undoubted stars of the show for West Lothian was the rink of Bryan Cooper Ian Laverie Calum Logan and Mark Allison who scored at 16 of the 20 ends completed and contributed a spectacular 29-5 win over the luckless Graham Walker. Walker and his front-three of Steven Currie Scott Matthews and Kevin McDougall showed 3-2 ahead after five ends but a barren spell that lasted 10-ends saw the scoreline transformed into a 24-3 advantage for Allison and Co. Allison was relentless in dishing out the punishment and he answered the loss of a 2 with a 1, 2, 1, 4 finish. The luck of the draw pitched Sneddon against former colleague Archer and the smiles were on the West Lothian faces as the home icon skipped Cameron Greer David Wilson and Stuart Johnston to a 10 shot victory. Archer and his rink of Calum Crawford David Salkeld and Willie Rankin soon faced a mountain to climb as Sneddon made steady progress to lead 17-7 then in an 18-end game the home rink triumphed 20-10. Speirs had things much tougher against Martin Wyllie Robert Trench Lindsay Plenderleith and David Peacock who had the home skip against the collar at 14-11 after 16-ends. The landscape changed over the next three ends however with Speirs skipping Ewan Wilson Paul Lynas and James Speirs to a 1, 3, 2 finish that pinched a 17-14 victory. Billy Peacock made Midlothian’s major impression on the opposition as he skipped Ronnie Duncan Drew Pearson and Sandy Knight into a 15-6 lead over Richard Mark Raymond Logan Des Hagart and Joey Strickland. Strickland though did claw back some of the leeway and restricted Peacock to a 19-15 victory. “This was a good two points for us to win after beating Lanarkshire away from home in our opening match”, said a spokesman for West Lothian. Elsewhere in the A section, Lanarkshire beat Arbroath away, 81-68; and Prestwick beat Auchinleck away, 76-69. The results in the B section were, Falkirk 80 Blantyre 81; Coatbridge 121 Aberdeen 56; East Lothian 85 Dundee 64.

Balbardie registered their first win of their campaign in the B section of Division 1 making home carpet advantage count in their 82 65 win over Whiteinch while Tweedbank beat Stirling 94-77 and Alloa shocked Bainfield 79-75.

 The ladies of West Lothian IBC lost 91-66 at Portobello in the C section of Division 1 in the Inter Club League Cup while the other results were, Teviotdale 77 Tweedbank 97; and Bainfield 86 East Lothian 91.

The Balbardie IBC flag will be represented in the final stages of the Scottish 2-Bowl Pairs Championship with local champions Andrew Chapman and Ewan Shearer making it though to the last four from last Sunday’s playdown action. The Balbardie duo were on familiar territory at the Inveralmond stadium and launched their challenge with a straight sets (2-0) victory over Headwell then added the scalps of Stirling (2-1), East Lothian (2-0), and Midlothian (2-1).

West Lothian IBC held high expectations for their champion duo but the partnership of Calum Logan and Neil Speirs made a disappointing 2-1 exit to Lanakshire in the prelim round.  Balbardie is joined in the semi finals by Glasgow (Steven Twynholm & David Gourlay),  Auchinleck (Colin McBride & Stewart Anderson), and Arbroath (David McGill & Andrew Furye). The semi finals and final takes place at West Of Scotland on the weekend of November 28 and 29.

West Lothian IBC will have lots to shout about in the climax to the Ladies 2-Bowl Pairs Championship with teenager Jenifer Richardson and Wendy Archer also though to WOS on the same weekend as the Gents. The champion duo from WLIBC opened with a 2-0 win over Alloa in the prelim round then followed up with wins over Abbeyview (2-0), East Fife (2-0), and Tweedbank (2-0). Balbardie made a 2-1 exit to Tweedbank in the prelim round. West Lothian is joined in the semi finals by Ardrossan (Janice Dougall & Michelle Cooper); Falkirk (Karen Dawson & Ceri Ann Davies; and Garioch (Rhona Jarvis & Pat Clarke).

The SBA have announced their team for the 2010 Home International Series to be played at Worthing and it contains six players from West Lothian. Ewan Sheare of Bo’ness is stepped up from the reserve bench to play lead in the rink skipped by colleague Grant Logan of Kirkliston while Thomas Mann of Newbridge will line up at second to the recalled Graeme Archer of Uphall Station. Neil Speirs of Kirkliston is named at third to Willie Wood MBE while Gary Smith of Linlithgow lines up at third to team captain Darren Burnett. The other skips are David Peacock and Alex Marshall MBE. George Sneddon of Broxburn continues in his capacity of Team Manager and the only downside for West Lothian is the absence of Kirkliston legend John Aitken .

West Lothian IBC launched their campaign in section A of the Premier League with an 80-69 win over Lanarkshire at Wishaw on Saturday past and that was a great result on an away carpet against difficult opposition. Wins for the rinks skipped by Joey Strickland and George Sneddon proved enough to secure the point’s as setbacks for Neil Speirs and Mark Allison were narrow margin defeats. West Lothian lost the first 7- end phase 29-26, but Strickland was already prominent with a 12-5 contribution, then stepped up the pace to capture the second phase 33-22 and the third, 21-18. Strickland and his rink of Richard Mark Raymond Logan and Des Hagart emerged the headline makers as they made a great start to lead John Simpson 16-5 after eight ends then answered pressure at 17-15 with a strong finish to win 27-16. Sneddon dropped a 5 at the first and trailed 15-5 before getting into gear but he do to great effect as he skipped Cameron Greer David Wilson and Stuart Johnston to a 21-17 win over home icon Robert Grant. Allison and his rink of James Greenock Ian Laverie and Calum Logan had much work to do at 9-3 down after seven ends to R Gordon but they hit back to cross 12-10 before slipping to a 17-15 defeat. Speirs made an encouraging start to skip Ewan Wilson Paul Lynas and James Speirs into a 7-1 lead over John Meikle and they were still in control at 16-10 after 15– ends but were outgunned on the run in and lost 19-17. Elsewhere in the A section Midlothian, with former WL star Graeme Archer in harness, beat Auchinleck, 74-60 at Dalkeith while Prestwick scored 78-67 home win over Arbroath. Blantyre at home are a tall order and they dealt defending champions East Lothian a 73-60 defeat in the B section of the Premier League while Aberdeen beat Falkirk, 85-80 and Dundee beat Coatbridge, 87-76.

West Lothian have home advantage over Midlothian this Saturday and make one change with Bryan Cooper brought in at lead for Mark Allison and James Greenock stood down to join Blair Mackie on the reserve bench.

Balbardie banked an away point from their 82-82 share with Stirling in the B section of Division 1 and step up their action with a home game at Bathgate against Whiteinch this Saturday. The other opening results in the B section were, Whiteinch 71 Alloa 72; and Bainfield 84 Tweedbank 84.

The ladies of West Lothian IBC launched their competitive season with a convincing 91-70 victory over Teviotdale at the Inveralmond stadium in the C section of Divison I of the League Cup. Wins for the rinks skipped by Lily Sword and Wendy Purdie carried the day over a peel for Ann Clark and a defeat for Jennifer Sneddon. Sword had the sharpest cutting edge as she skipped June Thorburn Creena Docherty and Jenifer Richardson into a 14-3 lead after eight ends then onto a 27-12 win over Irene Bennet. Purdie was engaged in a battle royal with Julie Forrest and trailed 17-14 before finding a higher gear to skip Helen Meldrum Jean McPherson and Lisa Barrett to a 24-17 win. Clark and her rink of Irene Taylor Isabel Lindsay and Margaret Oliver finished 2, 1, 1 to rescue a 16-16 peel with Betty Gibson while Lucy Noon Betty Tate Helen Tully and Sneddon conceded 1,2 on the run in to be piped 25-24 by Caroline Hogarth. The other results in the section were, East Lothian 78 Portobello 95; and Tweedbank 77 Bainfield 75. West Lothian visit Portobello this weekend. Meanwhile Balbardie IBC opned in section D with an excellent 90-64 home win over Stirling and this weekend they travel to Whiteinch. The other results were, Fintry 94 Whiteinch 71; Cumbernauld 68 Allander 77.

The Seniors team picked to represent WLIBC against Tweedbank earlier this week reads as follows,

Rink 1. W Gorrie R McMahon J Craig and P Ball.

Rink 2. A Lindsay G Clark J Murphy and T Turnbull.

Rink 3. R Purdie J Beresford C Russell and R Martin.

Rink 4. D Anderson J Davidson I Combe and G Rarity.

West Lothian IBC face a tough opening to their campaign in the A section of the gents Premier League when they clash with Lanarkshire at Wishaw this Saturday. Thomas Mann is unavailable and Graeme Archer has switched allegiance suggesting that the paper strength of the starting team is not the strongest however positive mind set and bull dog spirit can often compensate on such occasions. The selectors have given former cap Joey Strickland the chance to skip in a 16 strong team that reads as follows.

 Rink 1. Ewan Wilson Paul Lyness James Speirs and Neil Speirs.

Rink 2. Cameron Greer David Wilson Stuart Johnston and George Sneddon.

Rink 3. Richard Mark Ray Logan Des Hagrat and Joey Strickland.

Rink 4. James Greenock Ian Laverie Calum Logan and Mark Allison.

  Stewart Gibson and Blair Mackie are named reserves while it is understood that former Scottish and British Pairs skip Ricky Forrest has opted to represent Falkirk.

 Balbardie IBC have enjoyed spells in the Premier league but currently carry the West Lothian flag in the B section of Division 1 where the major block to promotion is expected to be Edinburgh club Bainfield. But no games are easy and in particular away from home so it would be a great start to their campaign were Balbardie able to win their opening match at Stirling. Ewan Shearer and David Lawrie miss the first game and Iain Grant has been counted out in a line up that reads as follows.

 Rink 1. Gary Orr Kenny Martin Andy Forrest and Walter McDougall.

Rink 2. Lawson Trotter Alistair Wilson Diz Drysdale and Sandy McDougall.

Rink 3. Mark Bonnar Ritchie Templeton Jim Speirs and Gerry Duggan.

Rink 4. Colin Fraser Davy Ross Ian Drysdale and Graeme Byrne.

The Ladies of West Lothian IBC will campaign in section C of Division 1 in the Scottish League cup and open at the Inveralmond stadium on Saturday against Teviotdale/ The team line up reads as follows,

 Rink 1. Irene Taylor Isobel Lindsay Lily Sword and Ann Clark.

Rink 2. Helen Meldrum Jean McPherson Lisa Barrett and Wendy Purdie.

Rink 3. June Thorburn Betty Tait Jenifer Richardson and angie Uttley.

Rink 4. Lucy Noon Muriel Stickle Helen Tully and Jennifer Sneddon.  

The other team in the section are Tweedbank, Bainfield, East Lothian and Portobello which means there will be no local derby clash with Balbardie IBC.

Balbardie will challenge in the D section of Division 1 and launch their campaign with a home match at Bathgate against Stirling. The opening team reads,

Rink 1. Ali Blagg Margaret Scally Pat Purdie and Margo Duff.

Rink 2. Kim Ross Agnes Thomas Marion Coats and Sharon Leitch.

Rink 3. Marie Adams Margaret Armstrong Sadie McKenzie and Marion Halliday.

Rink 4. Cathy Lochran Margaret Taylor Josie Bachini and Liz Boyle.

The SIBA and SWIBA have joined forces to promote a Champion of Champions event although the criteria announced says the field of 16 will embrace those who have attained high standing in the ranking lists. West Lothian IBC have achieved two representatives in the shape of internationalist figures Neil Speirs and Wendy Purdie. MKD Sportswear are the sponsors. Speirs is one of 8 from the SIBA Ranking list with the others being, Robert Grant, Scott Kennedy, Darren Burnett, Mike Stepney, and Graeme Donaldson. Whilst Stewart Anderson, Andrew Barker and Steven Allan come from the Junior Ranking List. Agnes Melrose, Janette Conlan, and Jane Brooksby join Wendy Purdie from the SWIBA Ranking List while Mandy O’Donnell come from the Junior List. Purdie opens against Steven Allan at Arbroath on Sunday October 18 while Speirs tackles Scott Kennedy at Midlothian IBC on Sunday October 25.

Ricky Forrest retains his membership of WLIBC and perhaps emphasised the miss he will be to the stadium teams by skipping Stewart Gibson Paul Lynas and Stuart Johnston to a whoppinh 15-4 win over Richard Mark billy Arnott Calum Logan and Mark Allison in the Division 1 League programme.

 Lily Sword included three mighty 5’s over the first five ends as she skipped Muriel Brash Agnes Allan and Irene Wright to a 21-10 win over Helen Moore, Isobel Lindsay, Christine MacSwan and Christine Brown in the division 1 of the Ladies League.

West Lothian IBC will compete in the A section of the premier league this winter and are set to launch their title campaign with a challenging away visit to Lanarkshire on Saturday October 3. News is that the team from the Inveralmond stadium have lost the services of ace skip Graeme Archer to Midlothian and it isn’t known how the selectors will cope with that as the line up for the opening match is yet to be announced. The A section is obviously competitive with the league also comprising Prestwick, Arbroath, Midlothian, and Auchinleck. The B section of the league features, Dundee, Coatbridge, Blantyre, East Lothian, Aberdeen, and Falkirk. Meanwhile Balbardie continue top operate in the B section of Division1 where the former premier league outfit will find their bid to regain top status put to the test by the presence of a strongly formed Bainfield. Balbardie and Bainfield are joined in the league by Tweedbank, Whiteinch, Alloa, and Stirling. The Bathgate based side open against Stirling away on October 3.

Outdoor ‘man of the moment’ Brian Holloran was in fine form at WLIBC last week with the two in a row Weslo Seniors Open Champion recovering from 2-6 to skip George Rarity, Jimmy Logan, and Rab McCulloch to victory in the Division1 programme. Holloran and Co captured all six of the remaining six ends to score a 9-6 win over Craig Ramsay Sandy Grant, Greg Baldry, and Kenny Black. Martin Black – a former WL Master- skipped Stuart Affleck, James Greenock, and Davy Smith to a blitz start of 4, 2, 4, (1), 4 then converted the 14-1 lead into a 21-9 win over the luckless Kenny Ferguson, John McLeod, and John Ellis. Grant Knox led from start to finish as he skipped Calum Black, Frazer Muirhead, and Ian Drysdale to an 11-5 success over Colin Russell, Ian Munro, Frank Weir, and Ronnie Martin. Ricky Forrest helped his cause with a mighty 5 at the fourth end to lead 9-1 then he skipped Stewart Gibson, Ewan Wilson, and Stuart Johnston to a 22-6 triumph over John Black, Ian Thorburn, Lee Fairley and Raymond Logan. Mark Allison came out on top of a cracking encounter when the Broxburn outdoor champion skipped Richard mark and Calum Logan to a 12-10 win over Cameron Greer, Jim McLarrie and Joey Strickland. David Wilson clicked for a super six at the third end to lead 11-2 and went on to skip Burnett Rose and Jim Speirs to an 18-9 win over Brian Walker David Anderson Sen, George Marshall, and David Anderson jun. Neil Speirs picked up the pace from 3-5 to skip Bryan cooper, Dougie Mitchell, and James Speirs to an 11-5 win over Scott McMaster, Tommy Turnbull, Stewart McMaster and Ian Laverie.

A major drama in Division 1 of the Ladies Leagues at WLIBC saw Catherine Howie, Jean McPherson, Margaret Russell, and Ann Clark recover from 8-1 down to beat Irene Taylor, Barbara Robertson, June Thorburn, and Helen Macdonald, 10-9. MacDonald and Co still led 9-6 with two ends to play but Clark stole the show, and the points with a magic, 2, 2 finish. Rosemary Maitland stole a 16-5 march on Annette Lynch, Margaret Murray, Christine MacSwan and Christine Brown after eight ends and went on to skip Kelen Orr, Margaret Alexander, and Isabel Walker to a 22-9 win.

Steven Fleming of Linlithgow Bowling Club battled his way through a 28 strong field at a sun swept Blackburn over the weekend to capture the Matt Purdie & Sons sponsored 2009 WLBA Champion of Champions title. The 37-year old Linlithgow champion etched his name on the prestigious crown at the 21-11 expense of Pumpherston challenger Derek Wardrop in a final that lasted 21-ends.  “I am chuffed to bits” was the brief response of Fleming who is a prominent player in West Lothian circles having reached the final of the WL Masters in 2006 and a regular member of the Hamilton Trophy team. It was the third time the Burnside Trophy – donated by Broxburn BC in 1975- has ended up in the trophy cabinet at Linlithgow with Stewart Getty successful in 1987 and Graham Laurie in 1992. Wardrop, a national pairs runner up in 1998, was tasting defeat in the final for a second time having lost to Laurie in that final of 1992. The end of season showcase event was held over one week due to adverse weather thereby knocking out the challenge of Thomas Mann (Newbridge), Ross Agnew (Letham), Kenny Miller (Buchan Park), G Sheridan (West Calder) and Peter Harrison of Kinneil. The Management Committee of the West Lothian Bowling Association did allow the previously unavailable Derek Wardrop of Pumpherston and Brian Campbell of Ratho to come in as replacements. Fleming launched his bid for the title with a commanding 21-8 win over W McElhinney of Oakbank and followed up with a 21-7 success over W Smith of Harrysmuir to reach the quarterfinals. Wardrop found himself 13-4 adrift to Colin Fraser of Whitburn in the first round but engaged higher gears to accelerate to a 21-17 win then booked his place in the last 8 line up at the 21-9 expense of Mid Calder champion J Gow. Frazer Muirhead of Uphall Station, the national champion of 1981, was a shock first round casualty losing 21-19 to C Sturrock of Polbeth while a 21-20 thriller saw Brian Saunders of Bathgate make a second round exit to Walter McDougall of Glenmavis. Messrs Fleming, Wardrop, and McDougall were joined in Sunday mornings quarterfinals line up by Kenny Black (East Calder), Brian Campbell (Ratho), Raymond Logan (Kirkliston), Tommy Johnston (Winchburgh) and Mark Graham of Queensferry. Fleming was in dire straits at 14-4 down to the aggressive play of Logan but battled back into to contention at 14-16 then hit 21 with a 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, finish while Wardrop was a good 21-12 winner over Campbell. McDougall dominated from 5-5 to beat Black 21-11 while Graham escaped from jail with a 3, 2 finish to edge a 21-20 humdinger against Johnston. The semi final action saw Fleming pick up from 7-10 to lead Graham 18-14 but come under sever pressure at 18-18 before tipping the scales with a 1, 2 finish while Wardrop was the stronger finisher from 9-10 to beat McDougall, 21-12.. The early ends of the final were cat and mouse with Wardrop gaining a 9-6 edge from his consistent drawing skills although Fleming was competing well and showing some decent conversion touches. Peels were called at 10-10 then a significant moment saw Wardrop hold a close clustered 4 at the next; but restricted to a single by a superb last bowl killer from his opponent. End 16 brought the first signs of a tidal change with Wardope badly short when the head screamed for him to ditch an inviting jack for 3 and the punishment was severe in the shape of Fleming carding a good 3 to cross 13-11. Fleming then came into his own, carding a 2 to 15 with a neat trail then producing a perfectly weighted punch out for a single to 16 followed by a brilliantly judged two-bowl split off the nose of the jack to card another single to 17. Wardrop was still playing well to the jack but his lack of aggression was costing him dear and Fleming piled on the pressure with an excellent head at the 20^th end that yielded him a 2 to 19. Fleming’s selection and execution of ‘yard on’ stroke play had been an exciting feature of his play and yet another perfect example came at end 21 with a  stronger runner that punched his own bowl onto the jack and through the head for a glorious double to 21. “The best man won and although I know I missed some opportunities due to short play I think the moment that changed things was when Stevie reduced my four to a single when standing peels at 10”, summed up Wardrop. Results.

Round 1. W McDougall (Glenmvais) 21 K Martin Jun (Armadale) 7; B Saunders (Bathgate) 21 D Miller (Springgrove) 16; K Black (East Calder) 21 R West (Philpstoun) 15; R Rankine (Watson Memorial) W/0 R Agnew (Letham) Scr; J Gow (Mid Calder) 21 R Hilson Sen (Blackburn) 16; D Wardrop (Pumpherston) 21 C Fraser (Whitburn) 17;  A Meikle (Bo’ness) 21 G Linton (Bridgeness) 12; B Campbell (Ratho) 21 D McQueen (Bellsburn) 3; R Logan (Kirkliston) 21 R Gilmour (Harthill) 14; A Aitken (Deans) W/) K Miller (Buchan Park ) Scr; S Fleming (Linlithgow) 21 W McElhinney (Oakbank) 8; W Smith (Harrysmuir) 21 P Boyle (Middleton Hall) 9. T Johnston (Winchburgh ) 21 A Baird (Seafield0 9; C Sturrock (Polbeth) 21 F Muirhead (Uphall Station) 19; M Graham (Queensferry) 21 W Gorrie (Bankton Mains ) 18. Round 2. W McDougall 21 B Saunders 20; K Black 21 P Rankine 14; D Wardrop 21 J Gow 9; B Campbell 21 A Meikle 10; R Logan 21 A Aitken 8; S Fleming 21 W Smith 7; T Johnston 21 C Sturrock 16; M Graham W/O P Harrison (Kinneil) Scr. Round 3. W McDougall 21 K Black 11; D Wardrop 21 B Campbell 12; S Fleming 21 R Logan 16; M Graham 21 T Johnston 20. Semi finals. D Wardrop 21 W McDougall 12; S Fleming 21 M Graham 18. Final S Fleming (Linlithgow) 21 D Wardrop (Pumpherston) 11

The final days play in the WLBA Seniors Open sponsored by Weslo Housing Management takes place at Glenmavis today with the semi finals at 11-30am and the final at 2pm. The line up reads, Alan Chester of Mid Calder against Brian Holloran of Pumpherston; and Davy Clelland of Kinneil versus Ronnie Martin of Bellsburn. The quarterfinals report is hot off the press from Broxburn on Tuesday afternoon and the star show came from Bruce Holloran with the defending champion continuing his strong defence of the £200 title, storming to a 21-6 win over Sam Gray of Bellsburn in 15-ends. Alan Chester continued to enhance his profile with a 21-14 win over Jack Ramsay of Harthill having been more than hard held at 14-12 down but thrilling the watching crowd with an explosive run of 3, 1, 4, 1 to win in 19-ends. Davy Clelland picked up from 4-4 to lead Jimmy Davidson of Kirkliston, 13-8 and he remained in command to triumph 21-12 in 23-ends. Ronnie Martin had the early measure of Davy Gracie of Whitburn to lead 10-4 and 16-9 but had sweat forming on his brow at 18-17 before adding a hat trick of singles to clinch his place in the semis.

 Dick Saunders of Bathgate is the 2009 Seniors Champion of Champion of West Lothian having etched his name on the coveted trophy with a nail biting 21-20 win over Mike Ford of Kinneil in the final at Winchburgh. The Seniors version of the C of C’s is run by Winchburgh BC and sponsored by local businesses so the organisers were delighted to attract an entry of 29 from the 35 member clubs of the WLBA. The final was an epic 26-end affair that lasted a stamina testing 2 hours 20 minutes and was full of incident, drama, and suspense with several twists and turns keeping the watching banking on tenterhooks as to the outcome. Ford was the first to show with last season’s runner-up in the Weslo Seniors Open in good form to lead 7-0 after four ends and although Saunders eventually made an impression to close to 8-5 his rival answered with a 3 to 11.  Saunders still competes successfully in a wider circle of West Lothian bowls and showed typical bite with a six end fight back that yielded counts of 3, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1 that thrust him into a 15-11 lead. But Ford’s spirit was far from broken and the Kinneil challenger produced a purple patch spell of 2, 3, (1), 1, 1 to cross 18-16 then he battled on to stand on the brink of victory at 20-18.  Saunders new he now had no margin of error and the two times Open champion produced a grandstand finish by conjuring up a magic 3 to pull a 21-20 victory out of the hat. “I lost the 2007 final in a close finish so am delighted to be a winner on this occasion but it was a real yo yo of a game and it could have gone either way”, summed up the newly crowned champion. Quarterfinal results, Dick Saunders 21 Charlie Scott (Ratho) 10; Mike Ford 21 Jim Gullane (Buchan Park) 11; Frank Barker (Oakbank) 21 Dan Miller (Springgrove) 12; Drew Reid (Winchburgh ) 21 Robert McIvor (Glenmavis) 13.

 Kirkliston came from 13-6 down to pip Buchan Park 14-13 in Monday’s final of the Dickson Trophy at Bathgate High. Kinneil and Armadale were the losing semi finalists.

Angie Uttley completed a successful defence of the West Lothian Ladies Classic Singles title when she made home green knowledge count at the expense of former champion Margaret Kain of Buchan Park in the final at Blackburn.

The change of bowling season is set to get underway with the West Lothian Indoor announcing that all their leagues swing into action on the week commencing Monday September 7.

A sizzling climax to the BARBQ sponsored WLBA Top Five Singles final at a rain swept Bankton Mains last Thursday night saw defending champions Kirkliston celebrate title victory, at the expense of Newbridge. The sponsoring clubs of the BARBQ are, Bankton Mains, Armadale, Ratho, Broxburn, and Queensferry. Conditions were of a drizzly nature and with two games finished, and the match score standing 1-1, the destination of the title was in a melting pot situation. And a melting pot that was about to boil over as the remaining three games ended in an amazing blanket finish, making it a dramatic climax to the final. “One second we were set to celebrate a victory then in a flash it was all over and we trying to come to terms with a 3-2 defeat”, summed up a spokesman for Newbridge.  Grant Logan, Steven Forrest, and Raymond Logan carried the KBC banner to glory while Thomas Mann and Alec Allan kept Newbridge bang in contention for would have been a fifth title win. The scores in sequence were, Grant Logan 21 Blair Mackie 2; John Aitken 10 Thomas Mann 21; Steven Forrest 21 Ian Robertson 19; Neil Speirs 17 Alec Allan 21; Ray Logan 21 Paul Sweeney 17.

  Brian Saunders has won the championship title at Bathgate High and takes his place in the Matt Purdie & Sons sponsored WLBA Champion of Champions event being played at Blackburn this weekend The session times are 10am, 12noon, 2pm, and 4pm on Saturday then 11am, 1-30pm and 4pm on Sunday.

  The Roofline Scotland sponsored £1000 Inter County Under 25 Round Robin challenge for the Calder Cup staged at Sighthill last Sunday saw national champions Edinburgh & Leith retain the title. West Lothian had to settle for the runners up spot, ahead of Midlothian and Border, despite making a great start to the campaign with a first session 87-80 win over E&L. WL finished the day with an 84-77 win over Midlothian but a middle session setback saw them lose 81-74 to Border and in the final analysis they finished 52 shots behind an E&L team that beat Midlothian 85-74 and Border 121-66

Tuesday’s second round action in the Weslo Housing Management sponsored WLBA Seniors Open saw defending champion Brian Holloran of Pumpherston step up his defence of the £200 title with a 21-18 win over John Smith of Armadale. Holloran came from 9-7 down to lead 19-10 but found himself coming under severe pressure at 19-17 before clinching victory after 26 ends. Dick Saunders hopes of capturing the title for a third time came to grief with a 21-7 defeat from Jim Fordyce of Whitburn and in horse racing parlance the former champion was never travelling well at any stage of the 19-end race. Dave Moug of Polbeth was another former titleholder to feel the pain of defeat but it was after a 23-end battle that saw him give 21-15 best to Alex Murray of Seafield who is a serious challenger for the mantle of champion. Kenny Ferguson of Armadale was involved in a thrilling 20-end encounter with Lennie Dowling of Ratho and a real ding-dong affair saw the Dale challenger finish on a double to clinch a 21-18 victory. Frank Barker of Oakbank is a WLBA ‘champion of champions’ as recently as 2004 but this years Seniors Open is now beyond his reach following a 21-15 exit to Alan Chester of Mid Calder. Jim Boyle of Whitburn is the most distinguished challenger in the 141 strong field and the former multi-capped internationalist moved through to the second round at the 21-16 expense of Broxburn’s Jim Wishart. Ian Sword of Buchan Park broke best from 13-13 to steal an 18-13 march on J Hamilton of Linlithgow and won 21-17 while his clubmate J Little finished 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 to beat T Johnstone of Bo’ness , 21-13. Alex Wark of Armadale beat Jack Gray of Kinneil 21-7 in 15-ends and Ronnie Martin of Bellsburn was a good 21-12 winner over Benny McCann of Glenmvais in 25-ends while Willie Black of Springgrove beat Ritchie Templeton of Bathgate, 21-16. Queensferry’s Raymond McMahon dealt a 21-11 blow to the hopes of Glenmavis ace Robert McIvor and 93-year old Bo’ness personality Angus McKenzie made a 21-8 exit to Bill Pollock of Kirkliston. Play continues this week and into next with the quarterfinals being staged at Broxburn on Tuesday leading to the semi finals and final at Glenmavis a week today.

Bankton Mains play host to one of the WLBA ‘majors’ tonight with the Livingston club staging the final of the BARBQ sponsored Top Five Singles involving Kirkliston against Newbridge. It promises to be a cracking encounter (6pm) with the draw already announced and reading as follows, Raymond Logan v Paul Sweeney; Steven Forrest v Ian Robertson; John Aitken v Thomas Mann; Neil Speirs v Alec Allan; and Grant Logan v Blair Mackie.

Newbridge made it through to the final with a 3-2 win over Queensferry at Broxburn with winning points delivered by Alec Allan, Blair Mackie, and Thomas Mann. Allan made a slow start to trail Ally Harper 8-0 but lit the fuse with a single then exploded to a 21-9 win in 17-ends while Mackie did the opposite by blazing a 13-4 trail that he converted into a 21-6 win over Andrew Dunnett in 20-ends. Mann made space from 5-5 to  11-5 then breezed to a 21-6 success in 21-ends against Neil McLean. Paul Sweeney lost 21-13 to Alan Atkinson in 15-ends while Ian Robertson gave 21-14 best to Ian McLean after 22-ends. The Kirkliston v Bridgeness semi final was rained off at Armadale last Thursday and The Cheesetown Boys won the rescheduled match on Monday night. 

Local Bowler Anne Troup of Broxburn is a member of the West Lothian Community Inclusive Team and she does a great job as coach to a group of disabled bowlers that benefited from the facilities of the WL Indoor Bowling Club during the Summer recess. “The Inveralmond Stadium served us as a first class training facility in preparation for the Special Olympics held in Leicester recently and we came back with a Gold in the Pairs and Bronze in the Singles.  The stadium is usually closed so a special thanks is due to the WLIBC and their attendants Fraser Graham and Davy Taylor for the time and service they gave us over that period of time”, said Anne.

Blackburn is set to play host once again to the WLBA’s end of season showcase event, The Champion of Champions that takes place on the 4/5/6 of September and for which the long-term sponsorship support from Matt Purdie & Sons of Blackburn, continues.