Gents start off with a defeat
West Lothian gents suffered a shock start to their Premier League campaign with the seven times previous champions crashing to a 13 shot defeat (84-71) on home territory to newly promoted West of Scotland.
The new boys on the block could well have been overawed by entering the lion’s den to face the high profile gladiators that populate the Inveralmond Stadium but it was them that did the mauling and fully deserved to bask in the applause.
West Lothian did fire on two of their four cylinders with winning performances served up by the rinks skipped by Craig Moss and James Speirs but flat batteries on the rinks skipped by Neil Speirs and Mark Allison were severely punished.
Even so, the stuttering home team were still in a winnable position entering the third and final phase and just four shots adrift but the expected charge to victory failed to materialise with the saddened home support forced to witness a further nine shot capitulation.
WL get an immediate chance to atone in front of their support this Saturday as they have home environment advantage against albeit stronger form-line opposition in the shape of Falkirk.
Selectors Bryan Cooper and Neil Speirs bring in Dougie Mitchell for Blair Mackie and have tinkered with the make-up of all four rinks.
Rink 1: George Sneddon, Dougie Mitchell, Jamie Aitken, Craig Moss (skip).
Rink 2: Richard Mark, Connor McKendrick, Gary Orr, James Speirs (skip).
Rink 3: Jamie Edwards, Ian Drysdale, Cameron Greer, Mark Allison (skip).
Rink 4: Bryan Cooper, Raymond Logan, Des Hagart, Neil Speirs (skip).
Balbardie gents hit the ground running in their home match against Headwell in Division 1 North with wins in all four rinks delivering a terrific 67 shot victory (11750).
West Lothian ladies lost 68-51 on their tough visit to East Fife in the East Premier League fixture, however their Balbardie counterparts notched up a valuable 65-55 away win over Headwell in Division 1 East.
It was an heroic winning performance from the rink of Catherine Lochran, Nan Mitchell, Delia Flannigan and skip Sharon Leitch that tipped the scales with Margo Duff and Kim Ross both suffering minor setbacks.
Balbardie entertain Bainfield this weekend while it is an idle one for West Lothian.
Elsewhere, West Lothian seniors celebrated a strong away win ( 74- 49) in last week’s visit to Teviotdale in the East B League while Balbardie found it hard going in a heavy 96-40 defeat at East Lothian.