Bowls: Cheesetown Boys come to the four yet again in Top Ten

Kirkliston won the Inter County Top Ten Tournament for a record fourth time when the West Lothian champions beat Inverkeithing 6-2 in the final played at Colinton BC.

The star man for The Cheesetown boys was former cap Raymond Logan whose form in the Singles was both phenomenal and inspirational in the Co-operative Funeralcare-sponsored event played on Sunday.

Kirkliston arrived at Colinton as firm favourites as their line-up included three former national singles champions in the shape of John Aitken, Raymond Logan and Neil Speirs, plus full cap Grant Logan and junior cap Calum Logan.

In addition to that, current County players Steven Forrest, Mark Allison, and Greg Logan were joined by junior county ace Andrew Suddon, and former WL star Gordon Logan who is now the Team Manager of Scotland.

Kirkliston’s signalled their intent in the semi-finals when they turned in a fine performance to beat Borders champions Chirnside 8-0.

Raymond Logan sparked that success with a 21-12 win over Robert Paterson while Grant Logan skipped the rink to a 21-11 win in the Fours.

Kirkliston lined up in the final against an Inverkeithing side that had clinched a spectacular last-bowl victory over Castle Douglas, with wins in the Singles (21-1) and the Fours (17-15) supported by a peel (14-14) in the Triples.

The confrontation in the Singles was a cracking affair that kept the large crowd entertained for 27 enthralling ends and Logan was forced to pull out all the stops in order to clinch a 21-17 victory over a bubbly David Junor. It was a vital win for KBC.

Speirs skipped Forrest in the Pairs and the partnership led 9-2 before jolted by the loss of a 6 but they recovered well from that and were never headed in their impressive 18-11 win over Harry and Ryan Cunningham.

Aitken skipped Allison and Calum Logan in the Triples but faced an uphill battle after going 8-0 down to junior cap Ross Junor, and although menacing at 11-13 went down to a 16-11 defeat.

Grant Logan skipped his father Gordon and brother Greg in the Fours with Suddon at lead and a dicey start saw them trail 5-1 but a strong 1, 2, 3, 2 recovery to cross 9-5 set them on the road to a 16-11 win over skip Iain Junor.

John Williamson, national Operations Manager for The Co-operative Funeralcare, presented the winning Kirkliston team with the additional prize of a unique decanter of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Malt Whisky designed and marketed by bowls legend David McGill of Braid BC in the Capital.