Around the bowling greens
BURNSIDE
The JVP Fours competition reached the semi-final stage after being postponed last week due to poor weather conditions.
The fancied four of Neil Coats, Alisdair Neil, Kenny Stirratt and skipper Peter Horne ensured no cup upsets and marched on emphatically to the final after defeating a team skipped by Boots McDonald. The victory was sealed with an end to spare with the margin so great that the evening prizes went to Peter Horne and co.
In the final they will play the other victorious semi-finalist outfit which saw the team skipped by David Lyburn getting through after defeating Ian Cleugh’s squad.
This Saturday sees Burnside hosting the invitation triples tournament which has a full turnout of members and guests and is always a highly competitive and enjoyable day and hopefully the weather will help to this success.
Not a great week for Burnside in external competitions with a number of teams losing out at this stage of various competitions. On the positive side the sponsored fours kept up their winning ways in the GBA competition and Burnside also had success with Boots McDonald who won through in Bowls Scotland senior singles event.
Finally, the Monday night aggregate game saw a full turnout of members with £97 being raised for good causes.
CAMBUSLANG
Once again the club thanked Alex MacFarlane Memorial charity day organisers Glenda Montgomery, the MacFarlane family, director Alan Johnston, directors and all the helpers for their work in raising £1681.39.
MND Scotland received £1381.39 and £300 went to the over-55s Scotland squad to help supply boots and strips for children in Thailand.
The bowls competition final was won by a mixed rink from Carmyle and Halfway bowling clubs. Winners were Ronnie Plunkett, Billy Shepherd, Frank Wilson and David Armstrong, and beaten finalists were a mixed rink from Halfway and Cambuslang BCs, with runners-up Charlie Davie, Gordon Speirs, John Smith and Charlie McIntyre.
A big thanks went to all the people who donated so many prizes for the annual raffle draw, which wouldn’t have been possible without: Asian Tandoori, Black Bull, Cambuslang Masonic 114, Chillies, Christine McNeil, Hoover Scott Crichton, James Coyle motor engineers, John and Sadie MacFarlane, Kirkhill Rangers supporters bus, Lucky Oriental, Mary Brogan florist, Marion’s hairdresser, Maestro, Night Star, Pandora’s box, Ralph Caldwell, Sandra Keary, Spanarama, Tandoori Knights, the Tea Bay and others.
This annual charity day has now raised a massive £53,609 for charities throughout Scotland.
On Saturday, 60 bowlers gathered for the annual Jimmy Hoad Memorial Triples at Cambuslang and were relieved to find the weather rather better than forecasts suggested.
After a round robin and play-offs, the final was played between the McGovern brothers, John, Tom and Hugh, from Strathclyde Park BC, and Alex Hay, vice-president Richard McInall junior and president Richard McInall senior, all of Cambuslang, with the Cambuslang team triumphing in an excellent final.
Many thanks to sponsor Stewart Hoad of Hoad Bulk Transport for his continued support of this popular event. Every year, he goes the extra mile to make this a day to remember for all contestants.
The club’s sincere thanks also go to past president Ian Skillen for organising the bowling tournament and the presentations.
In the Rutherglen District Bowling Association, club champion Brian Page won his singles semi-final against Rutherglen BC’s Garry Kelsie, and the final will be played at Whitefield on June 19.
After five league games the Gilliland League rink had the same seven league points as Rutherglen BC but Rutherglen are through the final with a better shot difference.
The RDBA triples league starts today (June) and Cambuslang are home and away to Templeton BC
In the Cambuslang District Seniors League, last Wednesday the club had two rinks at home against Kirkhill and lost both games which leave Cambuslang at the bottom of the league after six league matches.
Today (Wednesday) the rinks games are at home against Mount Vernon BC.
On Monday, points winners were pairs Billy Cowan and Jim Kirk, 10 shots up.
This Saturday, June 13, the ladies section have their annual ladies fours competition which commences at 10am.
HALFWAY AND DISTRICT
Last Saturday saw the Clyde Refrigeration Invitation rinks take place at Halfway and District, where 20 teams participated and it ended up with an all- Halfway final. Bryan McAllister, Billy Thomson, Jim Torrance and Jacky Fergus emerged victorious after a good final against Alan Barr, George Thomson, Gordon Shanks and Martin McIlree.
This Saturday sees the Fergus Trophy played for when Halfway come up against their old friends from Condorrat. The ladies are at home this year and the gents are away in what is always an enjoyable and sociable day.
The LBA rinks team won through to the district final after a convincing win over Wrangholm Hall last Thursday. They now play Bellshill and Mossend at Wrangholm Hall tonight (Wednesday) as they try and get through to the semi finals and hope to take a step nearer to retaining the trophy.
Charlie McIntyre and John Kerr won through to the final of the RDBA Pairs last Tuesday night after a win over Cambuslang on their home green in the semi-finals. The seniors lost out narrowly in their semi-final against Kingswood. The finals will take place at Whitefield on Friday, June 19, and Halfway will face RDBA newcomers St Leonards in the final.
The Gilliland League team drew their final game at home to Overtoun Park last Tuesday. The triples league started this week and Halfway played Croftfoot in their opening game. Next weeks opponents are St Leonards.
The Millenium Top Five singles lost away to Overtown and Waterloo on Sunday in what was always going to be a tough game.
The ladies LWBA ties begin on Wednesday and Halfway are in action in the singles, pairs and triples. The club will also host six WOSWBA district semi-finals on Monday, June 15.
The seniors only managed one win on Monday morning and that was in the home game against Quarter. The knockout singles and pairs started on Tuesday and Halfway had two entries in each discipline, results to follow next week. The top 10 also begins next week and Halfway are at home to Dalserf.
David Fergus’ Lanarkshire South team made it five wins in a row in the Andrew Hamilton Trophy and they secured qualificiation for the knockout stages with two games to go. On Saturday they beat Renfrewshire South at Ralston. This Saturday is a top of the table clash against Wigtonshire at Thankerton. Both counties have a 100 per cent record so far.
The sheets are on the board for the Cadburys Fingers Invitation Pairs ( June 21) and the friendly game away to Cambuslang ( July 11). The Lanarkshire League starts on Friday June 26, the teams will be picked next week.
KIRKHILL
There were first class performances from the seniors in the Wednesday league with both teams winning. This was matched by Rennie Dobinson’s teams success in the Gilliland League on Tuesday evening and by a good individual performance from Campbell McCulloch in a single-handed seniors competition.
First week as a member, first ever competitive game of bowls and new member Dave Young partnered by Robert Conway won Monday night’s round of the George Adam’s Trophy winning 18 shots up against experienced opponents.
On Friday night Sam Guthrie and Rennie Dobinson won the latest round of the Harry Noble competition being 23 shots up.
For the first time all five rinks teams lost in their representative games on Friday, the under-45s and four North Eastern teams coming close, playing well, but failing to be ahead after 15 ends.
Members should look out for and make welcome another new member, Neil Ferguson, who joined Kirkhill this week.
The charity group CHAS had a day of bowling and lunch in the club on Thursday, leaving a lovely pennant for the club to commemorate the day.
Another first for the club was the success achieved by new rookie member Martin Robertson in an external competition for deaf bowlers. Playing for the West Lothian deaf bowls club Martin’s rink won four out of five group games then knocked out two time previous winners in the semi-final before losing a close fought match in the final.
OVERTOUN PARK
Overton Park members are hoping for better weather and better results this week. Last week’s Corporation Cup ties and Saturday’s sweep were cancelled because of torrential rain but as usual this did not dampen the spirits or the camaraderie in the clubhouse.
The men’s senior fours suffered a defeat to Kingswood in the League on Wednesday and although the rinks drew with Halfway in their last game in the Gilliland League, they are not in contention for a win overall. A mixup with times put Barbara Drummond out of the Scottish Singles allowing Margaret McCracken to go through by default so altogether not much success in the competitions.
This week, the Gala Two Bowl takes place on Friday evening while on Sunday the men look forward to entertaining guests for their annual Men’s Day fixture beginning at 11.30am.
RUTHERGLEN
The triples and senior fours both won through to the quarter- final stage in the Glasgow Bowling Association championships last Wednesday. This Wednesday evening the triples are at North British and in the afternoon the senior fours play at Cardonald BC.
In the Bowls Scotland district games the singles, senior singles ‘A’ and the senior fours ‘D’ team all won through to the semi-finals. The venues and dates are Cambuslang for the singles on June 18 and Cambuslang on June 11 for the senior fours. The senior singles play at Castlemilk on Friday, June 12.
In addition, there was a win for the Rutherglen mixed pairs last Sunday afternoon at Rutherglen. They now play at Clarkston BC on Sunday.
In the R and D championships the triples, senior fours and Gilliland fours all won through to the finals which are being played at Whitefield BC on Friday, June 19.
The R and D triples league gets underway this Wednesday evening when the opponents are Whitefield BC. The poor run in the North Eastern League goes on with the club losing all four games last Friday evening. This week’s game is against Mount Vernon BC.
In the Cambuslang and District Senior’s League Rutherglen won both games last week against Mount Florida BC and are sitting nicely at the top of the league.
This week’s game is at home against Kingswood BC.
Rutherglen hosted Milton of Campsie BC last Saturday in their annual friendly match. Everyone had a great day in not so good weather. So much so, it was agreed that the result was a draw.
The Monday evening aggregate game was won by Neil McAllister, George Bell and Alasdair Campbell.
WHITEFIELD
Congratulations to the ladies triples team of Sheila Gallagher, Heather Blair and Barbara Morris who won the Lanarkshire district final of the Scottish Championships and now head on to Northfield.
There was further success as Claire Walker and Michael O’Hagan progressed to the final of the mixed pairs.
Unfortunately, Claire lost in her final of the under-25s ladies championship but gave a great account of herself throughout the tournament.
Mark O’Hagan lost his tie in the Scottish under-25s district competition against Dalserf.
In the LBA championships, the remaining teams in the pairs, triples and fours all lost their ties.
The Rutherglen triples representatives, Jim McGuire, Jim Molloy and Michael Irvine continued their title defence at Kingswood with a victory against Tollcross.
Their next tie is away Cambuslang.
The seniors gents had two wins against Templeton in the Cambuslang and District League and continued their good form into the Lanarkshire District 26 with two wins against Larkhall D. This week’s senior gents Wednesday fixture is postponed with a rearranged date to be announced later. The seniors play in the singles and doubles tournaments in Lanarkshire District 26.
The ladies had a busy day on Sunday with the invitational pairs with Templeton Bowling Club emerging victorious in the final against the home team of Agnes Fitzpatrick, Georgie O’Hagan and Joyce Kelly. Thanks go to all the visiting teams for contributing to a great day.
Saturday sees the gents host the invitational pairs and the following day the ladies hold their 2+1 competition.
Finally, Tom Doyle and Jim Quin ran out winners in the Monday aggregate, 21 shots up.
versus