Bowls: Favourites Maitland reach semis

Maitland were favourites to beat Dean in last night’s Edinburgh Bowling League Top-Ten clash but the Division 1 club had to dig deep to clinch a 5-3 win to reach the semi-finals.

Alan Trotter starred for Maitland in the Singles, winning 21-11 against George McNab to bank the first set of points.

McNab was on away territory and led 4-2 but Trotter quickly caught up with significant counts of 3 and 4 to cross 9-4 then stayed firmly in the driving seat to lead 15-8. Trotter conceded a double and single to feel a touch of pressure at 15-11 but a 3, 3 finish clinched victory in 19 ends.

The home leg for Maitland became even more productive with Gordon Clark skipping Falconer Mitchell, Jim Duncan and Ross Barclay to a 19-16 win over Roddy Watson, Jim Moffat, Bob Cranston and Kevin McNab in the Fours. This was after a strong start to lead 12-5 before Dean accelerated into a 16-12 lead with a run of 2, 4, 4, 1. But Clark and Co whipped up a whirlwind finish of 3, 3, 1 to clinch a second home victory.

The Dean Triple of Jim Wallace, Charlie Skellett and Bob Linton took a 13-0 lead over George Trotter, Ian Gardiner and Alan Flockhart before winning 20-13.

The spotlight then turned to John Underwood and Andy McNab, who were tied at 13-13 with Ross Parker Knowles and Gary Stout in the Pairs.

Dean edged two singles to 15 and desperately needed to win but Maitland carded a double to steal a share of the points.

“We wish Maitland well but there is frustration at Dean as we were in a position to pull off a surprise 6-2 victory but failed to land the killer blows,” said spokesman Andy McNab.

Parkside have away wins in the Pairs and Triples to thank for a 4-4 share of the points and winning with a superior shot margin against Colinton.

Carrick Knowe beat Pilrig 5-3, while Postal enjoyed a shock 6-2 win over Sighthill.