© Gary Bradley 2005- all rights reserved, all trademarks hereby acknowledged |
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Overnight thunderstorms cleared to allow the Rothesay Bowling Club time to give the green a fresh cut for today's District 23 S.B.A. Finals. The Cal-Mac Ferries were well used as they brought over a sizeable contingent of Bowlers and Spectators for the day's event. The crowd was swelled by the numbers present from Grosvenor BC, who even brought the Club Flag to help show their support. Play got underway at around 2.30 and the spectators were then treated to some excellent bowling. Usual enjoyable banter was used throughout the day, among the comments I heard, were " C'Mon Lavvy heid' , " Mon the Undertaker", "Mon the Grosvenor", which was the most heard cry by far!. Throw all this in with the usual " Get em up" and "Gies wan roon here" shouts. The surrounding neighbourhood was certainly not going to enjoy a quiet Sunday afternoon, while this spectacle was in progress!. |
First game to finish was the Junior Singles, Stephen Hendry powered into an early lead which his opponent just could not match on the day. Stephen won by 21 shots to 8 in a match that barely lasted an hour. |
The Singles match between Peter Boyle of Lady Alice and Upper Cowal's Donnie Mc Clure was a tight end to end battle. Peter roared into the lead early on leading by 8 shots to nil before Donny managed to get on the card. The measure was used often as this match got closer and closer and it was all square at 11 all after about an hour played. The Lady Alice bowler then gained a full house at the next and this gave him the boost to race into an 18 v 11 lead just half an hour later. Many would have thought it would soon be game over, but not Donnie Mc Clure. He fought back and over the next three ends he gained 6 shots, including a full house to take him just one shot behind at 18 shots to 17. Peter no doubt not pleased to have lost a 'four', gained 2 shots at the next to get within one shot of glory and time to look out the road map for Ayr. Donnie however had not lost his way and fought back with a double and single to take the tie into a nail biting final end with the game poised at 20 all. Resisting the temptation to give his opponent the jack, he delivered a longish jack and was lying shot after 2 bowls a piece had been delivered. Peter tried in vain to draw the shot or knock one of his own bowls up enough to gain the upperhand, but failed agonisingly each time. Donnie almost gave the shot away, after a tight bowl turned Peter's front bowl over, but fortunately for him, it didnt move close enough and he held out to claim the Singles Crown for Upper Cowal. A title which was well deserved as for long spells in the game he looked dead and buried and even commented to watching spectators that he just could not capture the form that had taken him to the Final, but his head never went down and he was a worthy winner. Peter on the other hand must be kicking himself, after going so close, but yet so far away from victory. Overall this was a great Final to watch and both players deserve a round of applause for their efforts. |
I did not see much of the Pairs game between Ardowan's Father and Son duo, Dougie and Campbell Barr playing against Dennis Lewis and John Burns of Port Glasgow, but what I did see was the Ardgowan men racing into a commanding lead at 16 shots to 2 after just 9 ends played. The Port Men just could find a way past their strong opponents, but never gave up and tried in vain to stage a recovery as they lost by 21 shots to 7 shots. |
The Triples between Upper Cowal and Grosvenor was a close game which could have gone either way. Upper Cowal had the upperhand going into the last end with a two shot lead. Grosvenor, roared on by a large support, tried all they could to take the game, or at least take it to an extra end, but were just unable to gain the required shots needed to keep their hopes alive as Upper Cowal held on to claim victory by 18 shots to 15. |
The Fours Final was a real classic tussle in true David and Goliath terms. The Giants were Port Glasgow's David Tolan, Freddie Kimmins, Sandy Wotherspoon and Ronnie Mc Connachie, who most people would expect to be favourites. However just like the old story, David, or rather Grosvenor's Willie Mc Niece, Tommy Wilson, Alan (Scud) Bradley and Frank Lyne, were not put off by their illustrious opponents and took the game by the scruff of the neck. It was very close in the early ends as the lead switched several times, but neither team building up a sizeable lead. That all changed however, as Grosvenor were roared into a 15 shots to 8 lead after 14 ends. The bowling was a joy to watch as end after end, the precision take out shots, the expertly drawn shots played entertained the crowd. On another day the Port Glasgow Men may have destroyed thier opponents, but not today!. Roared on by a large and loud support, it was clear that Grosvenor were determined to win this one and they deservedly ran out winners by 16 shots to 12, much to the delight of the loyal followers. |
The Senior Fours also went to Grosvenor. They defeated IBM in a very close game that needed an extra end to settle it. The lead switched from Club to Club as they each fought to claim victory. IBM's Harry Gillen mut have thought he had done enough as he trailed the jack almost to the ditch as his bowl settled just about a foot away. Sandy Reddy however played a true champions shot as he came round the pack of bowls to re-gain the lead. A lead which was to remain as IBM's Sam Blaike narrowly just failed to move the 'shot bowl' |
Junior Singles Winner 2005 Stephen Mc Lellan Wellington BC |
Singles Winner 2005 Donnie Mc Clure Upper Cowal BC |
Pairs Winners2005 Dougie & Campbell Barr Ardgowan BC |
Triples Winners2005 Peter Pullen, Keith Campbell & Ian Donaldson Upper Cowal BC |
Fours Winners 2005 Frank Lyne,Tommy Wilson, Alan Bradley & Willie Mc Niece Grosvenor BC |
Senior Fours Winners 2005 William Boffey, Roy Stewart, J McIlmoyle & Sandy Reddy Grosvenor BC |
Scroll down to bottom of page for some video clips of today's event |
Various shots taken during the day |
To view these pictures just click and they will open in Real or Media Player Caution! Some slower PC's may freeze due to the high file size |
Footnote! I write these reports mostly from memory, so please do not take offence if anything I have written is not entirely 100% accurate, ie order of a shot etc. If there any major mistakes I will gladly resolve it asap. My thanks to Bill Knox for keeping me up to date with results and fixtures. |
Congratulations to all the winners and I wish you all good luck at Ayr Northfield. Also congratulations to all at Rothesay BC for an event superbly organised. |
