Kirkliston firm favourites to win dozenth Top Five title

Kirkliston have won the West Lothian BA Top Five Singles title a record 11 times since the event’s inception in 1977 and they are favourites to capture the coveted crown once again when they tackle Armadale in tonight’s BARBQ-sponsored final at Broxburn BC.

Raymond Logan, the 1998 national singles champion, is a high-profile absentee from the Kirkliston line-up. But his holiday commitments allow for the smooth return of his nephew Grant Logan, who missed the semi-final win over Bathgate.

Logan is joined in the 
Kirkliston attack force by fellow cap Neil Speirs, 1988 
national champion John Aitken, international trial player Steven Forrest plus indoor cap Mark Allison.

District singles finalist John Kerr is the spearhead figure for an Armadale line-up that beat Queensferry in their semi-final. It includes Gordon Scott, who won the national Fours title while a member of Kirkliston.

The draw for the final has been announced and it reads as follows: Stuart Sneddon v Grant Logan; John Kerr v Mark Allison; Bob McKay v Neil Speirs; Derek Kerr v Steven Forrest; Gordon Scott v John Aitken.

On the domestic front at 
Kirkliston, 36-year-old Logan has reached the final of the club championship with a 21-13 win over Steven Forrest. He awaits the outcome between his cousin Ross Logan and John Aitken.

More news ahead of this weekend’s Champion of 
Champions event in West 
Lothian is that 45-year old 
Andrew Walker has become the first player to achieve a 
hat-trick (three-in-a-row) of 
title wins at Winchburgh.

Walker beat Alex Watson Jnr 21-12 in his latest final while, at Bo’ness, the scalp of Ewan Shearer, followed by a 21-20 win for Alan Meikle over John Craig, saw him become 
champion for a second time.

• GORDON KAIN of Buchan Park lost his grip on the Weslo Housing-sponsored WLBA Seniors Open with a 21-13 defeat to Fred Dailly of Oakbank in the last-16 action played on Tuesday.

But three-time champion Dick Saunders remains in the thick of the action with the 78-year-old Bathgate challenger serving up a grand display to beat Frank Barker of Oakbank, a former Champion of Champions winner, 21-8.

The quarter-final line-up reads: Gordon Scott (Armadale) v Lawson Trotter (Bathgate); Fred Dailly (Oakbank) v Dick Saunders (Bathgate); Tom Grant (Broxburn) v Ramsay Campbell (Whitburn); Charlie Sturrock (Polbeth) v George Rarity (Pumpherston).

• EDINBURGH star Mal Higgenbotham of Tanfield – a double winner of the Tait Trophy – is supporting the Able and Disabled International Invitation Pairs event with his presence at Bellsburn BC, Linlithgow, on Saturday.

Part-sponsored by Belhaven Brewery, the Able stars on parade also include recent national singles finalists Lorna Smith (Linlithgow) and Angela Uttley (Blackburn), along with Lorraine Malloy, Vicky Turner, Simon Thomson, Ewan Shearer, John Aitken and Gary Smith.

Play starts at 10am, with the final scheduled for 4pm.