Poor show on national stage for WL stars
It was a bitterly disappointing display by West Lothian’s bowlers on the national stage competition as the outcomes in the play-down action of the Gents Scottish Junior Singles Championship saw the respective banner carriers of West Lothian IBC and Balbardie IBC make early exits.
The opening play at the Abbeyview Dunfermline venue saw Connor McKendrick from the Inveralmond Stadium in Livingston fail to shine in the preliminary round and he was made to pay the price thanks to a 21-9 exit at the hands of Daniel Colvin from Stonehaven.
Stuart Ford would have been proud as punch to represent the Balbardie colours on the national stage and having received a bye into the first round proper, the dark horse grassroots enthusiast then received a walkover against Berwickshire.
Ford eventually lined up under the spotlight against his more established Falkirk counterpart C Dodds in a second round encounter but was outgunned 21-9.
It was Connor Milne of Turriff who emerged the section qualifier and he is joined in a strong semi-final line-up by Jason Banks, Stephen Lowrie and Ryan Gualtieri, but the West Lothian interest is now over.
Last weekend also heralded the play-downs of the Ladies Junior Singles but the higher-profile figure of Kimberley Dodds proved too strong for Erin Fraser, with the emerging Balbardie star making a preliminaryround exit, although she can be proud of her performance against one of the best players in the tournament.
Unfortunately, West Lothian IBC were not represented in the event.
Looking ahead and it’s back to Premier League action this weekend for West Lothian IBC and the top stars of the Inveralmond Stadium.
They have started the campaign brightly on their return to the top flight but face a major test on their visit to defending champions East Lothian.
Both teams are undefeated after three games so someone’s unbeaten record must go in what is sure to be a brilliant encounter.
Bathgate-based Balbardie have been finding life extremely tough in Division One South.
Having lost all three of their opening matches they will be desperately hoping to break their duck with home advantage over East Kilbride on Saturday afternoon.
The ladies of West Lothian IBC scored a sensational 103 –70 win at home to Headwell last weekend and have made a fine start to the campaign.
They are bidding to make it three wins out of four when they entertain foot of the table Tweedbank at the Inveralmond Stadium (12 noon start).
While they will be considered strong favourites, the West Lothian team will know that they can’t afford to take their opponents lightly if they are to emerge with the victory.
Elsewhere, Balbardie made it three wins out of four with last weekend’s win at home to Teviotdale but have no fixture this weekend.