THE EDINBURGH BOWLING LEAGUE  

  1st XV1 Division 1 & 2  
FIXTURES & RESULTS 2004

 

Edinburgh Bowling League Championships :  Colin Hutchison is the 2004 king pin of the Edinburgh Bowling League having captured the Singles crown in finals day of the Knockout Championships at Willowbrae last Saturday. The 19-year old sports management student clinched the title with a nail biting 21-20 victory over Willie Watson of Parkside after a 25-end battle that could have gone either way. Watson held shots for the title on two successive ends but was denied the celebrations when the young Goldenacre hat trick champion blasted the jack out of play with fierce strikes. The power delivered the glory for Hutchison who grasped the lifeline to escape from the jaws of defeat at 18-20 with a dramatic 1,2, finish. Described as a final that no one deserved to lose the banking was kept on tenterhooks as the scales kept tipping one way then the other. Hutchison led 11-8 then Watson crossed 15-11; but the Parkside hope soon trailed 17-15 before shaping up as the likely winner with a run of 2,1,1 that gave him close sight of the title at 19-17. “News of my selection for the junior Scotland squad perked me up ahead of the final and winning the title has iced the cake for me”, said Hutchison. Dean machine Robert White stamped his authority on the Junior singles final with a 21-9 victory over Alister Henzell of Postal that was highlighted by a strong 2,2,2, finish. But Dean were denied a title double when their partnership of Roddy Watson and John Underwood suffered a 19-12 defeat from Brian Larkin and Frank O’Reilly of Queensberry in the Pairs. The champagne corks were double popping at Corstorphine however with news that the suburb club had ruled the roost in the Triples and the Senior Fours. It looked a tough task in the Triples against the host club trio skipped by Colin Hairs; but the high-flying Andrew Blair, Joe Blair and Stevie Ritchie winged their way to a 15-6 triumph. And the danger signals never flashed as Ian Ferrier skipped Dave Wilson, Sandy McNiven and Alex Fisher to 17-7 win over Pilrig in the Senior Fours. Parkside launched the Fours with a super 6 and Brian Salvona went on to skip his rink to a 15-13 success over Niddrie.

2003 - 2002

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2003

2003

Knockout Championships : Keith Mitchell, a budding 21-year old star from Blackhall, captured the centre-stage spotlight in the climax to the finals played at Wardie and sponsored by A &D Building Services. Mitchell punched the victory salute in the Singles having landed the championships ‘blue riband title’ at the 21-14 expense of Bruce Young who is the 2003 club champion at Brunstane. Young edged the first have exchanges to lead 11-10; but Mitchell transformed the picture with a super 4 at the next then after advancing to 17-14 he hit the 21 mark with a 1,2,1, finish. “I had an extra incentive to capture the Singles crown as I won the Under 18 edition back in 1999 and this means I enter the EBL record book as the first player to achieve the junior-senior double”, said Mitchell later. Then the crowded banking hailed a second title double when Hillside starlet Gary Muir staged a successful defence of the Junior crown, last years champion cashing in on a 9-0 lead to defeat Grant Fraser of Dudley 21-9. A third variation of a ‘title double’ was achieved when John Simpson and Keith Gallager of St Andrew Steel emulated a previous success in the Pairs, dishing out a 21-11 defeat to host club partnership Alan Ward and Chris Peace. But the Blackhall club was denied a double on the day when the rink skipped by Gordon Hamilton crashed to an 18-14 defeat, from 9-4 up, against Gary Swain, Bob Nicolson, Davie Scott, and Ronnie McCardle of Niddrie in the Fours. Northern ruled the roost in the Triples with their super-star trio of Stan Christie, Davie Scott, and Kevin Rice, crushing James Ebbs, Paul Dickson, and Max Scott, of Civil Service, 18-5. Willowbrae’s purple patch spell of 1,2,4,4,1, to gain an 18-4 command in the Seniors Fours saw George Stevenson, Vernon McKay, Iain Pryde, and Stewart Munro, go on and clinch the title with a 23-8 win over Stan McBain of Ferranti.

Edinburgh Cup : St Andrews Steel showed their mettle when the going got tough in the final of the Tennents Edinburgh Cup and in a thrilling climax they got up at the post to pip Pilrig for the six rink glamour trophy of the Edinburgh Bowling League. The main hero of the 7-5 points victory was John Simpson who tipped the scales in dramatic fashion when he conjured up a magic last-bowl-last-end trail that yielded 4 shots and a 17-16 victory over John Geddes. Simpson’s last gasp heroics was fairy–tale stuff as the three times club champion had skipped Ray Robertson, Alan Ross, and Darren Grant, back into contention from a 10-1 deficit having sparked the revival with a super six. Current club champion Mark Robertson inflicted punishment on his former club when skipping Willie Davis (captain), Ryan Morris, and Davy Morris, to a 19-11 win over Rab Farquhar, having led 10-2 after six ends. Pilrig, the inaugural champions back in 1998, were also rocked by former junior cap Gavin Smith who skipped his rink to a 21-16 success over Tam Wilson. The tightrope climax was given extra tension on the battle between Keith Gallacher and Scott Rogers (Pilrig) with the St Andrews Steel skip carding a double at the second last to cross 14-13 then relieved to settle for a peel. Pilrig were always in the picture thanks to the rinks skipped by Alan Russell and Graeme Gow who defeated George Hutchison (23-16) and Darren McKenny (15-9) respectively. “We only had one shot to spare in the shot margin bank (96-95) so the win for John (Simpson) and the peel for Keith (Gallacher) were crucial results for us”, said St Andrews spokesman Bob Buchanan. A delighted club President, Ray Robertson, added “Our main objective at the start of this season was to retain our Division 1 status in the EBL and we achieved that but this is a major bonus and I can tell you our 75 year old team captain Willie Davis is thrilled to bits”.

2002

Knockout Championships : The 5^th anniversary season of the Edinburgh Bowling League sponsored by Alpha Trophies saw President Brian Irving and his club Hillside play host to the finals where the showpiece climax to the season attracted a large support to the historic 132 –year old venue with a spread of 9 clubs represented in the battle for glory in the Singles, Under 18 Junior Singles, Pairs, Triples, Fours, and Seniors Fours. Wardie, St Andrew Steel and Hillside enjoyed double representation while Tramways and Parkside held hopes of adding extra icing to their centenary celebration cake. The occasion was a testing time for 17-year old starlet Gary Muir and seasoned campaigners Kevin Moncur and John Kennedy who would become local heroes or villains of the piece if winning or losing on their home patch. Muir had the heat of the spotlight on his shoulders in the Under 18 junior singles final where his opposition came in the shape of Derek Smith who carried the title hopes of Parkside. “I felt a little pressure from being expected to win in front of the home support and a bit more from the fact that I wasn’t really a fan of the rink my final was being played on”, said Muir later. The young Hillside ‘Gazza’ is no stranger to coping with the big occasion however having proved himself at the start of the season by capturing the Edinburgh Juniors ‘Champion of Champions’ title at Sighthill back in April. It was Derek Smith who produced the first piece of magic with a 3 at the second end to lead 3-1 but Muir conjured up counts at the next five ends and his run of 1,2,2,1,2, set up a 9-3 advantage. Muir kept Smith against the collar at 14-9 then the Hillside support raised the first cheer of the finals when their man stormed to 21 with a 2,2,3 finish. Meanwhile the prospects of a second Hillside success looked bleak when Moncur & Kennedy trailed 12-5 against the Wardie father and son partnership of Frank and Calum Cleland. “My brothers Colin and Alister had suffered a big defeat in the final of the East Lothian Pairs the previous week and I thought I was about to join them in Heartbreak Hotel”, said John Kennedy later. However, a sensational transformation sent the local support into raptures as Moncur & Kennedy suddenly got their act together with a five end run that yielded 2,3,2,2, and a title winning 14-13 victory. “We were dead and buried so it’s a fantastic feeling to find ourselves on the winners rostrum”, said Kennedy. The centre stage attraction of the finals is the Singles and the figures topping the bill were Dave Morris of St Andrew Steel and John Duncan of Wardie. A ding dong battle looked to have swung in Duncan’s favour when he added a couple of singles to lead 17-14 but it was Morris who was dancing at the end, having rocked his opponent with a stomping 2,3,2, finish. “The game just turned in a flash and I am not sure why”, said the champion later. Northern denied St Andrew a double with Bob Linton skipping Phil Rae Andy Irving and Ian Miller to a 22-15 win over Darren McKenna (skip) in the Fours. Tramways captured the Triples with Iain Duffus, Tam Hay and Brian Duffus getting on the winning track from peels at 4 to beat Dudley 16-5. Craigentinny’s Eddie Tomany, Frank Craig, Stuart Shaw and Tony McLaren cashed in on an 11-0 lead to beat Blackhall 21-12 in the Seniors Fours. “The week to week programme of the EBL has a cast that is over 1000 strong but today the stars of the show were the 28 performers who have entertained us in these finals”, were the concluding comments of Brian Irving. 

League : Tanfield's claim to be the strongest club in the City is based on hard fact having captured the competitive Division 1 title of the Alpha Trophies Edinburgh Bowling Leagues for the third time in a row. The hat trick celebrations were sparked on Wednesday night by A 5-4 defeat at Craigentinny, a result that delivered the title with 4 points to spare over Parkside who finished with a 5-4 win at Pilrig. The champions record of 12 wins from 14 games left arch rivals Pilrig and Craigentinny trailing in their wake and it was surprise packages Parkside and Queensberry who kept the title race interesting. Derek McLean, the 1986 Tait Trophy champion when with Postal, broke away from Tanfield's traditional 'free bar'celebrations to say, "We enter the record book as the first club to land the Division 1 hat trick and the feeling here is that we can add to that as we have great strength in depth". "I think Parkside were stoked up by their centenary year high spirits and their bold quest for League glory certainly kept us on our toes going into the final stages". "With Pilrig and Craigentinny well out of the picture we could easily have become complacent, as it was it went right down to the wire". Queensberry ended on a low note with a 5-4 defeat at Willowbrae but a good campaign saw them finish in third place. The relegation zone claimed Willowbrae and Niddrie as victims. 

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