Bowls: Slateford capture a nailbiting Top Five title

"It was a blot on our honours board that the Slateford name wasn't etched on such a high prestige trophy so it is an absolute thrill that we have put that to rights," said spokesman Gordon Ramsay.

A feature of the final was the presence of five members of the Ramsay clan with brothers John, Gavin and Craig lining up for Leith while an entirely different branch saw the unrelated Gordon and John forming part of the opposition.

Both finalists were bidding to achieve a Top Five first and they produced a super display of entertaining bowling on a green that was in superb condition for the occasion.

And it did the final justice that the outcome was finely balanced at 2-2 before Slateford tipped the scales. The chances were that one of the Ramsay's would emerge the hero of the day and it turned out to be Gordon with the recently crowned club champion carding the title-clinching third win.

Dougie Martin and the celebrated Robert Marshall built the foundations for victory although their wins were matched by the efforts of Craig Ramsay and Robert Wood for Leith. Martin found the swinging hands of his rink much to his liking and quickly mastered the pace and roads to blaze a 10-0 trail that he converted into a commanding 21-6 victory over Gavin Ramsay.

Marshall was expected to deliver and the 2010 National Singles runnerup didn't disappoint with a top-class performance to beat John Ramsay 21-12.

The score gives a bit of a false impression, as it was close at 15-12 after which Ramsay was unlucky with two yard-on efforts as Marshall put Slateford 2-0 up with a 2, 2, 1, 1 finish.

Craig Ramsay got Leith off the mark with a battling 21-18 win over Scott Brunton having trailed 12-6 before coming strongly off the pace with a run of 2, 1, 1, 3, 1 to cross to 14. Peels were called at 15 then 18 before the Leither landed a 1, 2 knockout blow.

Wood made it 2-2 with a 21-10 win over John Ramsay (SL) having stamped his authority with a purple patch that thrust him from 10-9 to 18-9.

"It was all down to the last game and although hoping for a miracle we knew our goose was cooked as Drew Dodds was standing 19-7 down to Gordon Ramsay," said Wood.

Ramsay has the killer instinct in his play and four ends later he triumphed 21-9 for game, match and title.