Kirkliston see off Rosebery rivals
24th victory closes in on Whitburn record
Kirkliston clinched the West Lothian Bowling Association’s coveted Rosebery Cup with a stunning 108-66 victory over Uphall Station at Whitburn.
Etching their name on the coveted spiritual 1882 birth silverware of The Linlithgowshire Bowling Association is a major part of Kirkliston Bowling Club history, with this latest triumph sparking celebrations for a 24th time.
Whitburn are the all- time record holders with 27 Rosebery Cup titles to their credit.
However, their last success came as far back as 1984 and since then Kirkliston have closed the gap by increasing their win tally from 14 by a further 10.
They have been one of the most dominant teams in the WLBA over the past three decades.
Uphall Station followed Whitburn in 1985 with the last of their eight wins and, having done well to reach the 2016 final, entered it as the underdogs.
They were hopeful, though, of causing an upset against a club that has failed to deliver a few times when expected in their long Rosebery history.
The Logan clan had a strong presence in the final, with icon Raymond joined by his sons Scott and Calum, his brother Gordon and his son Grant. Gordon’s other son Greg featured in the Uphall Station line-up to give the contest a family feeling.
Raymond, Calum, and Grant all played skip in a strong Kirkliston team that included the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medal hero Neil Speirs, who was skip number four in a s trong line- up that simply proved to be too strong for their opponents.
Frazer Muirhead, who won the national singles title in 1981, along with Greg Logan, David Lamb and Kenny Black represented proven quality in the Uphall Station ranks but they were blown away by a dominant Kirkliston display.
The Cheesetown boys raised the first cheer with an 8-0 clean sweep on the opening end, which was a sign of things to come.
That opening end inspired them to a 36-25 supremacy in the first seven-end phase.
The second phase saw Kirkliston increase their match lead from 11 to 33 with a 41-19 domination that hugely benefited from the 13- 3 and 11- 2 highlight contributions from Calum and Raymond Logan respectively.
It is to their credit that Uphall Station put the brakes on three of the Kirkliston rinks in the third phase but they were still outscored 31-22, thanks in large part to Neil Speirs producing a grandstand finish of 14-1.
Speirs basked in the limelight of a powerful late run of 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, (1) to skip Scott Logan, Kyle Brodley and Mark Allison to a 30-9 win over Steven Pow, Mark Allan, Graham Munro and Greg Logan.
Raymond Logan accelerated from 4- 6 to 18- 6 then skipped Nathan McKendrick, Darren Pearce, and Robbie Cuthill to a 26- 12 win over Richard Mark, George Shepherd, Calum Black and Kenny Black.
Calum Logan was on fire to skip Colin Smith, Andi Gray and John Aitken into a 26-10 lead but seven blanks on the run-in saw him settle for a 26-19 win over Iain Mackie, Gary Callaghan, David Smith and David Lamb.
Grant Logan and his front three of Steven Forrest, Gordon Logan and Jordan Pearce dictated the early pace to lead Bob Cameron, Stewart Getty, Craig Heath and Frazer Muirhead 15-7 but finished up hard- pressed to rescue a 26-26 peel.
That did not deter the euphoric celebrations at the end, though, as Kirkliston Bowling Club once again lifted the top title in West Lothian bowls.