Bowls: Queensberry make it three wins in a row

Queensberry consolidated their encouraging start to the Division 1 campaign of the Alpha Trophies-sponsored Edinburgh Bowling League with a 5-4 win at home to Pilrig in last night’s third round of fixtures.

“We are thrilled to bits at winning three in a row and it is working wonders for clubhouse morale” said spokesman Brian Pollard. Pollard was a winning skip along with Alan Watson and their combined winning margin of 22 shots was good enough to capture the bonus point that tipped the scales in favour of Queensberry.

Watson made a whiz, bang, wallop start over the opening eight ends that included an exciting run of 1, 1, 3, 3 – then enjoyed purple patch moments of 4 and 2 to lead 14-2 as he skipped Mick Imrie Jnr, Brian Larkin, and Scott Walker to a 19-8 win over Chris Steven.

Pollard opened his scoring with a mighty count of 5, but collapsed to 15-6 down before bouncing back with a run of 3, 1, 4, 2, 6 to cross to 22 then skip Colin McKenzie, Donald Lawson and Jim McDougall to a 29-18 win over Darren McKenny.

Pilrig were kept alive by Scott Rogers, who made a magnificent count of 7 at the 13th end to lead 17-9, then he skipped John Craig, Keith Mitchell and John Geddes to a 23-12 win over Frank O’Reilly.

Euan Craig also brightened the Pilrig picture as he picked up from 8-6 down to skip Ryan Gow, Paul Barclay and Gavin Smith to an 18-11 win over Tam Ebbs.

Craigentinny’s bid to capture the league title for the fourth time in a row received a boost with a 9-0 away win over Wardie with good wins on all four rinks, skipped by Andy Caldwell, Kevin McFarlane, Willie McDonald and Ian Paterson.

Caldwell skipped Derek Smith, Grant McLaren and Kevin Hunter as he blitzed Larry Sorrell 27-6. McFarlane skipped Josh Spalding, Stuart Betts and Gordon Bold to a 24-10 win over Chris Peace, while McDonald achieved a 25-16 win over Ross Wylie.

Paterson lit up his match with a magnificent 7 that doubled his score and, from 14-9, he skipped Craig McCall, John Shields and David Brown to a 21-12 win over John Duncan.

Craigentinny continue in the slipstream of Parkside, however, and remain two points adrift of their title rivals who highlighted their credentials with a 9-0 home win over Hillside, who hold up the table.

Tanfield edged a 7-2 away win over Northern.

EBL Results:

Div 1: Northern 2 Tanfield 7; Wardie 0 Craigentinny 9; Parkside 9 Hillside 0; Queensberry 5 Pilrig 4.

Div 2: Blackhall 2 Leith 7; Maitland 4 Dean 5; Goldenacre 7 Willowbrae 2; Mayfield 7 Corstorphine 2.

Div 3: LRF 4½ Dudley 4½; Whitehouse & Grange 9 West End 0; Postal 7 Tramways 2; Summerside 7 Merchiston 2.