DIGEST

BASKETBALL

STERLING Davis believes the fear of embarrassment can spur on Glasgow Rocks today against BBL leaders Leicester Riders. Leicester inflicted a 33-point drubbing on Plymouth in the BBL Trophy final last week before Worcester ended their 16-game winning streak on Friday. Rocks coach Davis said: “Almost all the guys were at the final so they know what level Leicester are playing at, but it also means they know what we have to bring.”

CALEDONIA Pride picked up the biggest win in their short history by edging out WBBL title contenders Sheffield Hatters 79-78 in Edinburgh. American point guard Natalie Bastian, who had a game-high 24 points, converted two free throws with 10 seconds left as the Scots rallied from 12 down with four minutes left with a stunning 13-2 run.

BOWLS

EAST Lothian’s Mark Johnston and Derek Oliver and Leanne Furye and Caroline Ruxton of Arbroath each have two shots at winning Taylor Bowls national titles at Aberdeen today. Johnston and Oliver are involved in the men’s fours and triples finals while Furye and Ruxton line up in the women’s pairs and fours.

In the fours semi-finals, Oliver and Johnston helped East Lothian beat Falkirk 20-12. Today, they clash with Blantyre, who crushed Garioch 28-8. In the triples, East Lothian beat Balbardie 19-18 and face Garioch, who defeated Inverclyde 16-6.

Prestwick’s Paul Foster and Craig Lindsey will battle it out with West Lothian’s Tommy Mann and Callum Logan for the men’s pairs title, after Prestwick beat Elgin 20-13 and West Lothian defeated Lanarkshire 21-10.

In the women’s semi-finals, Furye and Ruxton beat Midlothian to line up a clash with Sharon Leitch and Lorraine Craig. In the fours, Arbroath beat Blantyre 29-13 and meet Abbeyview in the final. Elgin and Tweedbank will contest the triples.

HOCKEY

BROMAC Kelburne’s quest to retain the men’s First Division title continued with a 2-0 win over Gordonians in Aberdeen. Ross McIntyre and Josh Cairns were on target. Second-placed Grange defeated Uddingston 6-3 with goals from Dominic Wild, Frank Ryan 2, Duncan Riddell, Ali Irvine and Todd Mills.

Third-placed Grove Menzieshill beat Hillhead 2-1. Craig Paterson had the Glasgow side ahead at the interval with a penalty corner conversion, but the Taysiders rallied in the second half with strikes from Paul Martin and Adam Fallis. Edinburgh University went down 2-1 to Watsonians. In the women’s league, Grove stayed top with a 2-0 victory over city rivals Dundee Wanderers, Sarah Jamieson scoring twice. Edinburgh University thumped Hillhead 11-0, with Amy Brodie netting four times. Milne Craig Western beat Kelburne 4-0 at Titwood while Wildcats overcame CALA 6-1.

SHINTY

OBAN Camanachd and Kyles Athletic were involved in a Herculean struggle in their Marine Harvest Premiership match at Mossfield with Kyles running out 4-3 winners. The lead changed hands four times before Gordon Whyte struck a late winner.

Oban’s Conor Howe netted in the opening minute but Grant Irvine equalised after six minutes. Cammy Keith and Matt Rippon hit one apiece in the lead-up to half-time to make it level at the break. Howe hit his second on the hour mark as Oban re-took the lead but Roddy MacDonald equalised in the 70th minute ahead of Whyte’s winner. The away team also took the spoils when Glasgow Mid Argyll squeezed out Kilmallie 2-1 in the battle of the newly-promoted sides, Craig Anderson hitting the decisive goal.

Elsewhere, it was the opening round of the area cup competitions. In the MacTavish Cup in the north, Glenurquhart won the all-Premiership clash with Lochaber 3-1 at Drumnadrochit. The Glen’s goals all came early in the second half, through Neale Reid with two and Calum Smith. They will now face local rivals Lovat, who beat Strathglass 9-2. Kinlochshiel edged out Kingussie 3-2 with Keith MacRae hitting the winner in the final minute. Caberfeidh beat Skye by the same margin in a match marred by the dismissals of Craig Morrison of Cabers and Skye’s Calum Gibb.

In the Celtic Society Cup in the south, Bute, Tayforth, Glenorchy and Kilmory progressed at the expense of Oban Celtic, Colglen, Ballachulish and Taynuilt.