Alexander wins the West Edinburgh knockout crown

Sean Alexander just missed out on landing a major bowls title when losing the final of the Edinburgh & Leith 
Under-25 Singles in June however the rising star from Colinton Mains has gained consolation in the finals of the Knockout Championships of the West Edinburgh Bowling Association.

Alexander beat James Watson Jnr of Slateford 21-16 in 23 ends at Bainfield bowling club.

It was a fascinating confrontation for the spectators over the first ten ends resulting in a 10-9 lead for Alexander who then produced a dynamic next four ends to card 2, 1, 2, 3 and gain command at 18-9.

Watson fought back with a run of 3, (1), 2, 1, 1 to stand 
16-19 after 22 ends but Alexander then hit a double to 21. The main drama of the finals was acted out in the Pairs with Bill Tait and Steven Raynor of Stenhouse turning in a winning performance at the expense of Jamie Ronaldson and Martin Loftus of Sighthill.

Sighthill shaped up as the likely winners when capturing seven of the first nine ends to lead 13-6 but an amazing transformation saw Stenhouse produce a run of 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1 to cross 15-13 then win 15-14.

The final of the Triples produced more drama with Ian Stewart, David Wishart and Colin Brown turning the tables from 12-6 down to beat Alan Cairns, Graham Easton and Andy Goodall of Currie. The key moment came as Gorgie Mills produced a scorching run of 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 1 over the final six ends to win 16-12.

The Fours final saw Paul Sinclair, Rab McGrouther, Adam Watson and Alan Sinclair of Merchiston on fire over the first seven ends to lead Carrick Knowe 10-1. But the Merchiston flame was extinguished by Stuart Calder, Alex Scott, George Watson and Allan McKenna who sparked their revival with a big 3, 4 response then whizzed Carrick Knowe to an exciting 17-14 victory.

“We couldn’t have wished for a more spectacular and memorable end to our season plus we achieved a good spread of the titles,” summed up Keith Braithwaite, President of the WEBA.