Halfway and District
Overtoun Park Bowling Club gents welcomed guests from Kirkhill on Saturday for their annual friendly match.
The men were playing for the trophy donated by Dougie Cutt when he inaugurated this event in 2004. As usual, some great bowls were played in superb weather and the camaraderie spiced up the day even more.
At times the hot weather gave the gents a good excuse for a little cool refreshment. A wonderful time was had by all and there were no hard feelings when Kirkhill again won the trophy.
Overtoun have also had their annual Men’s Day when the men invited guests from various other clubs to play a sections game. After some good matches, Ian Noddings and Gerry Ritchie came up against Michael Dooley and John Meikle in what turned out to be a very exciting final.
Ian and Gerry emerged as champions after the final bowl by Gerry took out John Meikle’s bowl on the jack. The company then retired to the clubhouse for a welcome fish tea to round off a very successful day. The Cambuslang and District Senior fours continued to show the green shoots of improvement when one team saw victory last week.
Last Thursday saw both Andrew Wilson and Jack Connolly compete in the S.B.A under 25’s semi-finals against Kingswood and Hampden respectively. Both won through and will now meet in the final this coming Sunday at Burnside starting at 1pm. in an all Burnside final.
On Friday Burnside’s Gilliland League team met Halfway in the final of the competition at Kirkhill Bowling Club and their was a big turnout of Burnside members to cheer them on.
The game was tightly fought and Burnside fought off a late comeback by Halfway to win the trophy.
The team of Dougie Johnston, Scott Stevenson, Chris Allan and skip Marc Stirratt done the club proud by winning all six games to lift the trophy. Lead Dougie Johnston is a relatively new bowler and he dedicated the win to his bowling coach Billy Fox.
On Saturday the club travelled to Templeton for their annual parish match. All involved had a great day with Burnside managing a narrow win.
The Monday night aggregate game was won by the team of Stevie Jackson, Danny Bruce, Iain McIntosh and skilful skip Ken Stirratt.
The week ahead looks like it could be an exciting time for the club. The S.B.A finals will be played on Thursday night at Kingswood Bowling Club. Burnside will be competing in the triples and the fours games and the club wish all good luck on the day. The games start at 6.30pm and all members are asked to get out and cheer the finalists on. Last Sunday saw the Invitation Pairs, sponsored by Audrey and Jim Stoddart, take place at Halfway and District. Thirty-six teams took part in what was a scorcher of a day.
The greens were running as well they have been all season and eventual winners were Alec Hay and David Fergus who defeated Jamie Malone and John Campbell in a close final.
On Friday night the Gilliland League team of Brian McLeod, Bryan McAllister, Martin Wilson and Jim Wilson lost narrowly to Burnside in the final at Kirkhill. The RDBA Triples league continued and Halfway managed one win and one defeat to Croftfoot. This week’s opponents are Kirkhill, next week’s are Burnside.
This Thursday sees Halfway travel to Dalzell in a tough first round match in the top six. The Lanarkshire league also starts this week with the Division Three team at home to Hamilton Caley on Friday and the Division 10 team away to Orbiston on Thursday night.
Halfway also have teams in action in the LWBA ties this week, results to follow in the next edition of the Reformer.
The seniors had three wins out of four on Monday morning beating Murray home and away and managing one win against East Kilbride.
David Fergus was part of the Lanarkshire South team that made it five wins in a row to book their place in the knockout stages of the Andrew Hamilton Trophy with one game to spare. In the RDBA Triples league last week both teams lost to Templeton BC
Cambuslang were due to play Kingswood home and away last night, Tuesday.
In the Cambuslang District Seniors Rinks League, the club lost both games away to Kingswood on June 14 and are set to play Burnside this morning, Wednesday, 10.30am.
On Saturday, June 17, at their inaugural Gordon Dick Memorial Invitation Triples, sponsored by Colin Johnston and Son Plumbing and Heating, Cambuslang had 24 teams from within and outwith the district.
The competition was a great success, everyone had a super day. The sun shone brightly as did the faces of the eventual winners. The RDBA Championship finals were hosted by Kirkhill on Friday evening. Congratulations went to Whitefield’s triples team of Craig Knape, Tam Devenny and Mark O’Hagan who won their championship final 12-7 against Croftfoot.
Unfortunately, the journey to the National Championships ended for Alastair Paton Jr who lost the district final 21-17 against his opponent from Stonehouse. The triples team of Andy Stewart, Michael O’Hagan and Michael Docherty suffered a similar fate losing to Eddlewood in their semi-final.
The club also have their mixed pairs duo of Georgie and Mark O’Hagan competing at the semi-finals stage following their win against Stonehouse.
The gents invitation pairs tournament was held on Saturday in glorious sunshine. At a packed event, the winners were Michael O’Hagan and Michael Docherty who won the final against Gerry McCaffrey and Jim Molloy.
The LBA Leagues begin on Friday evening with Whitefield’s Division Seven team kicking off their campaign with a home fixture against Thankerton. The Division 17 team travel away to Beltane.
In the RDBA Allan Chapman trophy, the Whitefield team of David Russell, Gerry Boyd, Jim Molloy and Douglas Knape finished as runners-up to the runaway winners, Croftfoot.
The RDBA Triples League continued on Tuesday night with the club’s teams recording one win and one defeat against Rutherglen. The league continues this week with fixtures home and away against Templeton.
The senior representative games continued in the Cambuslang and District League. Whitefield played Burnside in the two rink format winning one and losing the other. The team currently sits third in the table. In the LBA Seniors District 26 ties, recent matches resulted in three defeats and one win.
In the seniors Top Ten, there was a great win against Uddingston with a tie against Hamilton Caley beckoning. Douglas Knape has qualified for the district singles quarter-final with David Kelly and Hugh Dougan also through to the same stage in the pairs championship.
For those who do not often get a mention for their prowess on the green, congratulations to Tom Doyle, Andrea Russell and David Russell who won the Jackie Stevenson Memorial Shield at Stoneyetts on Sunday.
The Monday night gents aggregate was won by Bert Baillie and Tam McLinden who were 10 shots up.
Finally, the ladies aggregate is played on Wednesday and, as with the gents, starts at 7pm prompt. Last week’s winners were Muriel Doyle, Lyn Davidson and Heather Blair.