A great opener for West Lothian in SCC

West Lothian has made a strong start to their Scottish Cities and Counties campaign with impressive opening wins against Border and Midlothian building optimism of completing a hat-trick when they entertain Fife at Kirkliston on Saturday (2pm).

Fife arrive winless having lost heavily away to Edinburgh and Leith (-50) and at home to West Fife (-39).

Midlothian provided fierce opposition for WL in last weekend’s match at Linlithgow and the outcome was very much in the melting pot as late as the last three ends with WL leading 91-89.

The results of end 19 across the six rinks proved to be a spectacular game-changing moment with WL landing a stunning 17-1 blow that was highlighted by a count of six for Ray Logan and five for Neil Speirs.

Thomas Mann weighed in with three while a double for Andrew Dunnett and a single for Grant Logan far outweighed the single lost by Steven Fleming.

WL added to the Midlothian collapse with a 5-3 supremacy on end 20 then a 5-4 edge on the final end clinched a 21 shot triumph (118-97) for a jubilant West Lothian.

Wins on the rinks skipped by Thomas Mann, Andrew Dunnett, Grant Logan, and Neil Speirs was a pleasing aspect of a team asked to show a strong resolve when brought under pressure while Steven Fleming finished peels and Ray Logan lost by five.

Mann showed tremendous acceleration with a run from 13-13 to 26-14 and skipped Calum Black, Gary Orr, and Gary Smith to a 26-15 win over Danny McDougall.

Dunnett kicked on from 14-11 to 21-11 then skipped Ewan Shearer, Scott Logan, and Calum Logan to a 23-12 win over David McGlynn.

Logan (Grant) recovered from 12-5 down to skip Jamie Edwards, Blair Mackie, and James Speirs to a 17-14 win over Scott Briggs. Speirs (Neil) crossed to 18-16 with his five at the 19th end then skipped Steven Forrest, Mark Allison, and Bryan Cooper to a 19-18 win over Colin Bonner.

Fleming and his front-three of Frazer Muirhead, Andi Gray, and Greg Logan shaped up well to lead 17-10 but slipped to an 18-18 peel with Graeme Archer.

Logan (Ray) and his rink of Darren Pearce, Barry Sword, and Sandy McDougall crashed to a 20-15 defeat at the hands of icon figure David Peacock.

The win sees West Lothian at the top of the East section table but lead by 70 shots to 40.

West Lothian’s under-25 brigade suffered a 127-104 defeat at the hands of Renfrewshire at Harrysmuir in the Scottish League Cup.

They entertain Dumbartonshire at Bankton Mains this Sunday.