Sports digest

GOLF BRIDGE OF ALLAN

Another week of warmer temperatures and a bit of rain has seen the condition of the course continue to improve.

Friday saw the latest instalment of the Senior Gents Nine Hole Stableford competition with Bob Buchanan finishing in first place with a score of 19 Stableford points. Jim Gore was second and Danny Mcdougall third with 18 points each.

Saturday was the gents qualifier for the Bill Fallon Memorial Trophy and saw the round of the season so far. Sandy Robertson topped Division 1 and progressed to the trophy playoff with a ridiculous score of 46 Stableford points.

Graeme Cameron in second and Stuart Vannet in third were both 10 points back with scores of 36 each.

Bert Zanelli took top spot in Division 2 with an impressive 40 points which would have been good enough to win overall most weeks. Ian Houston was second with 34 points and Jim Gore bagged his second top three finish of the weekend in third with 33 points

STIRLING

Wednesday Medal (May 18): Division 1 -1 Scott Monteith 77 ( 8) 69; 2 Steven Duncan 72 ( 2) 70; 3 Jonathan Turner 76 (4) 72. Division 2 - 1 Gordon Samson 83 (14) 69; 2 Andy Hudson 83 (13) 70; 3 John Cattigan 83 (13) 70. Division 3 - 1 Alexander Laird 97 (29) 68; 2 Harry Gardner 88 (17) 71; 3 Andrew hislop 88 (16) 71.

This weekend players will compete for the John Duncan Trophy and first round qualifier for Club Championships.

STIRLING LADIES

On Tuesday, May 17, Stirling Ladies held their Coronation Foursomes competition. The winning team was Karen Anderson and Frances Oxburgh with 37 points. Second was Anne Griffin and Linda Mathewson with 35 points and third Elaine Whiteford and Edna Stewart with 34 points. Sixteen teams entered the competition.

The Tuesday Nine Hole Stableford was won by Jean Logan with 18 points, second was Mary Mccaig with 17 points and third Fiona Campbell with 16 points.

The ladies held their annual Festival Trophy Tri-am on Saturday. A total of 48 teams vied for the trophy with the team from Colville Park of Dawn Anderson, Lynn Mcmahon and Joanne Dymock winning with a net score of 142.

Second were Kirsten Ireland of Dunbar, Kay Lannin of Craigielaw and Dawn Young of North Berwick with a net score of 144 and third a team from Dumbarton, Elizabeth Mclean, Ann Shanks and Margaret Nicholson with a score of 146.

There were 10 magic twos scored with Alison Davidson scoring two of them. The ladies also ran a hugely popular wine and chocolate tombola which raised nearly £300 for the Captain’s Charity.

DUNBLANE NEW

The Hydro Cup was won with an eight under par 69 by Sean Partington (26) who played on Friday. Sean’s win earns him a cut in his handicap to 21.5.

Best scratch score was a one over par 70 from Cameron Ferguson with birdies at 4, 12 and 15 and bogeys at 9, 10, 11 and 13.

Craig Anderson (11) won the First Class on 66 highlighted by a birdie at 15. Three players then returned 67 but runner up place went to Billy Wilson (11) who had a better last six than Tony Stanger (8) who in turn had a better inward half than James Mcintyre (4).

Second Class was won by Ian Maclachlan (16) on 63 with birdies at 7 and 14 but an unfortunate double bogey at 18. Runner up was Cameron Macvicar (14) on 65 and third place went to Gerry Wilson (15) on 66.

There were then six players on 67 but the BIH fourth spot went to Mark Neville (15).

In the Third Class, Joe Higgins (17) was thw winner, just missing out on the Hydro Cup with a 62, including birdies at 12 and 16. Runner up on 65 was Jim Mcgregor (17) and third place went to Colin Mackenzie (20) on 66 and a BIH than Nick Pascazio (18).

The cup winner, scratch winner and each of the class winners all received a voucher from Double Tree Dunblane Hydro who kindly provided some sponsorship for the competition.

On Wednesday there was a lower than normal entry for the Arnold Mcculloch Trophy Qualifier.

Steven Aitken returned the best scratch score with a level par 69 with 14 pars, birdies at 5 and 13 and bogeys at 3 and 16.

First Class was won by Darren Davidson (11) on 63 including a birdie at 12 after a triple bogey at 10. Runner up was Malcolm Scott (4) on 69 and a BL6 than Tommy Allan (10). Three players then returned 70 with fourth place going to James Mcintyre (4) with the BIH than Stephen Murray (7) and Ian Kenny (11).

Alec Wilson (17) won the Second Class on 65. Runner up was Farquhar Maclean (15) on 67 and a BIH than Sean Partington (25). Fourth place went to Mark Wood (16) on 70.

The top 32 net scores of 77 BIH now proceed to the matchplay rounds of the Arnold Mcculloch Trophy. The draw is now posted on the noticeboard and as always players are encouraged to make contact with their opponent and arrange their ties as soon possible.

On Thursday the Belhaven Trophy Senior Mixed Open was played with entries down on previous years. Winners came from the last match on the course, Ian and Celia Kenny from Dunblane New with a 67.5 off 11.5. Runners up were another Dunblane New partnership of Jim and Maggie Gardner (23) on 68.

Third place went to Scott and Pat Macdonald (21.5) from Dunfermline on 69.5. Joe and Irene Higgins (17.5) from Dunblane New were fourth on 70.5.

On Sunday the club team defeated Stirling by 5.5 matches to 2.5 at home in the Stirlingshire Golf Union Inter Club League.

Today (Wednesday) a multi tee Stableford takes place and on Friday and Saturday, the Seniors Championship qualifier will be played.

On Sunday the 36-hole Ballantine Medal will be played with an upper handicap limit of 14. Late entries can find a time on the on line booking system.

Results: Hydro Cup (May 20 and 21): Winner Sean Partington 87 (26) 61. Scratch Cameron Ferguson 70.

First Class - 1 Craig Anderson 77 (11) 66; 2 Billy Wilson 78 (11) 67 bl6; 3 Tony Stanger 75 (8) 67 bih; 4 James Mcintyre 71 (4) 67. Second Class - 1 Ian Maclachlan 79 (16) 63; 2 Cameron Macvicar 79 (14) 65; 3 Gerry Wilson 81 (15) 66; 4 Mark Neville 82 (15) 67 bih. Third Class - 1 Joe Higgins 79 (17) 62; 2 Jim Mcgregor 82 (17) 65; 3 Colin Mackenzie 86 (20) 66 bih; 4 Nick Pascazio 84 (18) 66.

Arnold Mcculloch Qualifier (May 18): Scratch Steven Aitken 69. First Class - 1 Darren Davidson 74 (11) 63; 2 Malcolm Scott 73 (4) 69 bl6; 3 Tommy Allan 79 (10) 69; 4 James Mcintyre 74 (4) 70 bih. Second Class - 1 Alec Wilson 82 (17) 65; 2 Farquhar Maclean 82 (15) 67 bih; 3 Sean Partington 92 (25) 67; 4 Mark Wood 86 (16) 70.

DUNBLANE NEW LADIES

Recent results: Medal (May 17) - Div 1 - 1 Irene Higgins net 68, 2 Cecelia Kenny 72, 3 Laura Waller 72. Div 2 - 1 Catherine Simpson 68, 2 Hazel Ritchie 70, 3 Jane Mcdonald 73.

Medal (May 10) - Div 1 - 1 Margaret Peattie 74 bih, 2 Laura Lee 74, 3 Jane Mclennan 75. Div 2 - 1 Hazel Ritchie 72, 2 Catherine Simpson 74, 3 Monica Cessford 75. Coronation Foursomes (May 3) - winners Liz Mcgregor and Anita Fincham.

Spring Meeting (April 26) - Div 1 - 1 Jilly Montgomery 64, 2 Amy Thomson 67, 3 Carole Mackay 71. Div 2 - 1 Catherine Simpson 69, 2 Monica Cessford 71, 3 Maggie Gardner 71.

Stableford (April 19) - Div 1 - 1 Cecelia Kenny 26 pts, 2 Linda Paul 40 pts. Stableford (April 12) - Div 1 - 1 Jen Marshall 38 pts, Div 2 - 1 Kathleen Booth 37 ptss.

Nancy Mclaren Stableford Pairs (April 5) winners Janis Myles and Ann Gardner. Opening Greensomes (March 29) winners Judy O’connor and Caroline Bell..

WATER POLO

Stirling Water Polo’s boys teams have won their respective semi-finals to reach the Scottish Championship Finals.

The Under 16s defeated Menzieshill from Dundee. Stirling were always in control and able to pressurise their opponents into mistakes, consitently keeping the scoreboard ticking over and producing some quality goals on the road to a comfortable 29-12 win. Stirling will go into the final as underdogs as they will be playing the current Scottish League champions Portobello.

Team: Jonah Bracciali, Murray Dickson, Jason Dickson, Hamish Robertson, Logan Vandermeulen, Fraser Vandermeulen, Adam Hill, Nathaniel Schiff-abels, Rafael Schiff-abels, Finlay Small, Peter Doig.

The Under 19s met Portobello and with Stirling already having won the Scottish League earlier this year and Portobello finishing runners up, this was anticipated to be a competitive match.

An early start of 9am showed for the Stirling boys when they started poorly and guilty of poor pass and shot selection.

However, towards the end of the first quarter, Stirling started to play better and worked some well taken goals, running out 21-9 winners. In the final, Stirling will face Menzieshill.

Team: Finn Lanyon, James Miller, Jamie Ralston, Kester Harris, Calum Addison, Ethan Aiken, Murray Dickson, James Clafferty, Grier Vandermeulen, Nathan Campbell, Logan Vandermeulen, Jason Dickson, Jonah Bracciali

Prior to Covid, Stirling Water Polo won both the Scottish Under 16 and Under 19 Championships in 2019 and nowhave the chance to repeat these victories in the first championships held since then.

Stirling girls will also be represented in the Under 19 final. Unfortunately, Stirling do not have enough girls to field age group teams at this time, and therefore some of the girls play for neighbouring clubs.

Georgia Ross and Lucy Macnair turned out for Dunfermline who won against Kirkintilloch whilst Holly Matheson played for Forth Valley in their win against Warrender in their respective semi-finals. The Stirling girls will now play against each other in the final.

All finals will be played at the Carnegie Centre in Dunfermline on June 12.

Congratulations are also due to long time Stirling player Harry Gray, currently studying at Loughborough University, who will make his Scottish senior men’s debut this weekend in the Home Nations Championships in Derby.

Stirling County bounced back after last weekend’s league and cup defeats to register a comfortable 36-run win over Kelburne in the Western Union Premier League at New Williamfield on Saturday.

The victory was secured thanks to a 126-run partnership between skipper Matthew Tweedie and South African student Brandon Mcmullen which set County up to reach 255 for five off their allotted 50 overs.

They came together when Ant Dunford was dismissed with the score on 33 and when Tweedie departed for exactly 50,