Underdog Jim has his day in the sun
Delight at County champ crown
The 2018 finals of the West Lothian BA County Championships hosted by Bathgate BC proved to be a thriller.
The historic venue, with the host club being formed in 1862, was packed for the occasion with a large crowd from across the county and beyond on hand to appreciate the skill on show across the five disciplines.
Sponsors Fred Winter of Jack High Club Insurance (Singles/ Triples/ Junior Open); Mark Feeney of Glenmavis BC (Pairs), and Kirkliston BC (Fours) were warmly welcomed by West Lothian Bowling Association President Ian McGill of East Calder.
Capturing the Singles title and possession of the Baillie Trophy is the Holy Grail target of the championships and the latest king pin to have his name etched on the precious silverware caused a stir on the banking as Jim Speirs of Ratho was considered to be the underdog.
Speirs – father of Commonwealth Games gold medallist Neil and Hamilton Trophy ace James – lined up against the legendary figure of Ewan Shearer whose crowded CV title achievements includes a record five Champion of Champions wins, three District Singles and two County Singles trophies as well as a West Lothian Master crown to boot. Early signs of a form-line upset were signalled by Speirs making a super-sharp start to lead 9- 2 then when faced with menacing pressure at 11-8 answering with a full house count of four that rocked Shearer onto his heels.
Speirs sensed the opportunity to be entering the record book of WLBA history if remaining strong and resolute in terms of focus and bottle and showed both by adding a run of five shots over three ends to have the trophy in the palm of his hands.
Two ends later ( 17th) he answered the loss of a double with a memorable single that clinched a superb 21-10 victory – and the applause that acclaimed him the County Singles Champion.
The final of the Junior Open for The Fred Meikle Trophy was contested by two players of Hamilton Trophy status – Jamie Aitken of Newbridge with West Lothian and Mark Thorburn of East Calder with Midlothian.
Both challengers have shown major championship winning potential in a positively developing career and on this occasion it was Thorburn – who play bowls in both West and Mid Lothian – that reigned supreme with a powerful display to win 21-13 in 21-ends.
Aitken nosed an 11- 10 lead after 14 hard fought ends but the game-changing highlight came with Thorburn storming to 17 with a whirlwind run of three, two, one and one then answering the loss of a two with a grandstand finish of one, three to 21 to seal the deal.
“I am thrilled to bits at joining the top notch names on the Meikle Trophy but my grandfather (Alec) will be over the moon and that’s a massive bonus to me,” he said.
Having captured the District Singles title on top of last season’s Champion of Champions t riumph, Gary Smith of Linlithgow is still turning on the style at 59 and is now celebrating the capture of the County Pairs title and Dalyell Shield.
Smith skipped Scott Murphy to a 14-10 win over Robert Saunders and Peter Lynch of Whitburn, but were hard pressed in an epic battle that required Linlithgow to just about edge successive singles from 12-10 with two ends to play to get them over the finishing line.
Kirkliston achieved a record extending 14th success in the Triples for the McLardy Trophy with the Logan dynasty of Gordon, Calum and Grant delivering a 27- 7 win over the Bankton Mains trio of David Gilliland, Kevon Norris, and Scott Taylor.
The Logan lads were simply far too good on the day and took a deserved win.
Winchburgh dominated the final of the Fours ( Hopetoun Cup) with Brian Clarkson skipping David Gemmell Jr, Tam Johnston, and Craig Gourlay into a 15-2 lead then defeating Steven McGlinchey, Jim Deacon, Colin Brown and Gareth Simpson of Middleton Hall 19- 5 to win the title.