Bowls: Bainfield trio ready to fly the flag for Scotland

BAINFIELD trio Craig Paterson, Craig Moss and Paul O'Donnell, the reigning national indoor bowls triples champions, are preparing to carry the Scotland banner into the British Isles Championships at Perth.

O'Donnell, 24, and Moss, 26, are both players of Junior Scotland status, while Paterson is a stalwart in the Bainfield team that has just gained promotion to the Premier League.

The individual championships for both men and women get underway at the Dewars Centre on Sunday as a follow on from the Men's Home International Series but it is Monday before the Bainfield trio take to the carpet.

"The chance to win a British Isles title doesn't come along too often in a player's career so we hope to do ourselves justice and grab the opportunity," said O'Donnell.

The Bainfield trio face Channel Island champions Cyril Renouf, Lee Nixon and John Lowery in the semi-final stage of the championships that conclude on Tuesday and are followed by the Ladies' International Series.

West Lothian IBC is double-handed in the women's individual championships as they provide the national champions in the Pairs and Fours with international stars Wendy Purdie and Angela Uttley challenging for both titles.

Purdie skips Uttley in the Pairs and open in Sunday evening's semi-final against Rebecca Field and Carol Pollington of England.

Sunday is a hectic day for the West Lothian partnership as they start the day on the morning session, forming the back end for colleagues Irene Taylor and Jennifer Sneddon in the Fours and opening against Ireland in the preliminary round.

At the Men's Home International Series, Lothian bowlers were instrumental in Scotland's crushing 151-82 opening victory over Wales, with 11 representatives from various clubs in the 24-player team.

East Lothian's Alex Marshall, Paul Foster, Willie Wood and Graham Robertson led the charge, aided and abetted by West Lothian's Graeme Archer, with Arbroath's Darren Burnett the only skip to taste defeat.

In yesterday's other opening match, England beat Ireland 149-91, leaving them in second place with 58 shots in their account while the Scots , who won the title last year in Belfast, who won the title last year in Belfast, are in pole position with 69.

Today, Scotland were due to take on Ireland after England's clash with Wales.

• BAINFIELD'S under-35 team beat West Lothian 6-2 in the semi-finals of the New Hall Farm Friendship League Cup at Auchinleck with skips Paul O'Donnell, Jamie Gracie and Gavin Smith all recording wins.