DUNBARTONSHIRE DEFEND SCOTTISH PROVINCE TITLE
Many congratulations to Dunbartonshire Team Kelvinside Academical (Stuart Taylor, Andy Callander, Scott Gibson, Jim Whittle) who clinched the Scottish Province Championship for a second year running. They beat Forth & Endrick’s Buccaneers (Brian Ferguson, Steve Russell, Marjorie Christie, Nicola Woodward, Andrew Ballantyne) 7-3 in the final after three exciting days of competition at Greenacres.
Two days of round robin action determined the play-off fixtures for the quarter-final. Scottish Central’s Keir, skipped by Lee McCleary, and Stirling B’s Kilsyth outfit (John Davie, Billy Johnston, Neil Murray, Katie Murray) faced off as runners-up of Sections A and B with the former snatching the win. West Lothian’s Oatridge (Ian Keron, Adam Keron, Josh Kellock, Stuart Milne, Rob MacIntosh won Section A for a rematch with A’s third-placed side Ayton Castle of Border (Keith Prentice, James Dixon, James Cullen, George Whiteford). While West Lothian had prevailed in the round robin fixture, Border this time got the better of their opponents.
Elsewhere, Section C table toppers Dunbartonshire faced Section B third Orwell of Loch Leven (Willie Paterson, Sany Hay, Jim Brownlie, Iain Robertson) and clinched victory with a second half charge. In the remaining fixture, Section B winners Forth & Endrick got the better of Section C runners-up New Abbey of Stewartry (Ross Fraser, Jayne Kingan, Fraser Kingan, Nicole Weymouth) by a single point – the closest of the four quarter-finals.
On to the semi-finals! Although Border were first to take a point in their game, Forth & Endrick chipped away from there and bagged a 4-2 win. The second semi-final was even more straightforward as Dunbartonshire left Central without a chance and sealed an 8-0 win after five ends.
Everything was set for a showdown between championship holders Dunbartonshire and Forth & Endrick. The title defenders got off to a perfect start, scoring two and subsequently getting the force. The sides traded deuces afterwards to make it 4-3 at the break and all to play for in the second half. However, Dunbartonshire made a break at the restart with a big three points and the best Forth & Endrick could do in response was blank End 6. With 7-3 on the scoreboard, they opted to call it a day.
Full results are available here.
