Carrick Knowe set stall out with defeat of Slateford

It was a home game for the 2000 and 2002 champions and they made it count with a take-no-prisoners mentality that paid a major dividend with three straight wins chalked up by James Hogg, Colin Mitchell and Richard Tough.

Hogg, in particular, made a sensational start to lead  Andrew Ramsay 9-1 and 18-2 then the Scotland cap went on to crush the 2001 Edinburgh Open Champion, 21-9 in  16 ends.

Mitchell, a legendary 5 times Tait Trophy champion and a currently out-of-favour internationalist, trailed 6-0 to Graham McAdam after three ends but answered the menace to cross 11-9, then having made space to 19 with a run of 1, 3, 4 went on to clinch a 21-13 victory in  18 ends.

Tough made good headway to lead John Ramsay 9-5. He then accelerated to 15 with a run of 1, 2, 3 that set him up to clinch the match with a 21-13 win in 20 ends.

Meanwhile, John Priestley was performing well to lead Slateford icon Robert Marshall, 15-10 while Gordon Ramsay  for the visitors was making an 18-12 impression on Craig Aitken.

Tanfield were in action earlier in the day and tackled keen  rivals Pilrig in a continual downpour of rain that failed to dampen the spirits of the home team who produced an amazing fightback to win a 3-2 thriller.

Pilrig were first off the mark with Darren McKenny giving the visitors a tremendous boost with a spectacular 21-4 win over the luckless Scott Wood in a super-quick 12 ends.

Scott Noble put Pilrig 2-0 up with a 21-15 win over Alex Thompson in 18 ends, having added 1, 3, 1 to lead 14-9 then answering a touch of pressure at 18-15 with a magic count of 3 to 21.

And it looked all over for  Tanfield when Robert White trailed former Fleming Trophy winner Euan Craig 16-9,  having set himself a mountain to climb at 13-1 down.

But White suddenly took flight with an explosive run of 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1 that transformed the score card 17-16 in his  favour then having conceded a 3 to 19 the Tanfield saviour came again to snatch victory with a 2, 1, 1 finish.

“I was in a desperate situation and on track for Tanfield to lose the match so when I got hold of the jack I played it longer and that change of tactic sparked my revival,” explained White later.

David Snodgrass was leading John Geddes 17-8 so in a  position to clutch the straw  offered by White’s great escape, he duly delivered with a 21-14 victory in 24-ends.

It was great news for  Tanfield with the match now level, and with their anchor man Graeme McIntosh holding a 17-14 upper-hand over Graeme Hislop, he led them to a victory when he clinched a  21-14 win in 22 ends.