LANARKSHIRE CLINCH 2024 HENDERSON BISHOP TROPHY
Many congratulations to Lanarkshire (Libby Neilson, Nancy Rutherford, Maggie Ferguson, Mairi Allan, Mari Scott) who clinched the Henderson Bishop Trophy. They saw off Aberdeen (Lianne McGregor, Rosemary Jamieson, Karen Shaw, Tamara Thomson) in the final to take the coveted trophy.
Competing in Section A, Lanarkshire were in splendid form and won all of their fixture to top the table and progress to the semi-finals. Stirling (Jane McLaren, Kim McLaren, Marjorie Christie, Elspeth Johnston) were best of the rest on a three in one record and progressed to the Cherrystone play-offs as runners-up.
It was a similar story in Section B where there was no way past Greenacres (Karen Kennedy, Gail Thomson, Jacqui Taylor, Michelle McIntyre) who secured the Q1 spot. Edinburgh 1 (Barbara Watt, Edith Butler, Lindsay Wilson, Shona Watt) won all but their fixture versus Greenacres and finished second in the table standings.
Section C was a slightly tighter affair with Forfar 1 (Jill Donald, Liz Furrie, Kirstine Fairweather, Lesley Joiner) collecting three wins and a draw. This was enough to top the standings ahead of Kinross 2 (Irene Baillie, Laura Geyer, Jane Barr, Sheona Reid) who sat on two wins, one draw, and one defeat.
Aberdeen were undefeatable in Section D and topped the table on a perfect eight points record. Having one all but their game versus Aberdeen, Dumfries (Ann Johnstone, Caroline Donaldson, Marion Mather, Susan Morrison, Fiona Hardie) had to settle for the Q2 spot and a shot at the Cherrystone.
On to the semi-finals where it was Forfar 1 versus Lanarkshire and Greenacres versus Aberdeen. Forfar 1 were first on the board with a three and held the advantage as singles were traded. However, Lanarkshire fought back with a two in End 4 and took the lead with a steal of the same number. After eight ends, there was nothing to separate the sides and proceedings went to an extra end where Lanarkshire found an extra gear for a massive four points and the win.
In the other semi-final, Greenacres opened with a steal of two and forced Aberdeen to hold the lead. Aberdeen trailed by two at the break but went into the restart determined, scoring one first before stealing singles in the next three ends for a 5-3 success.
Thus, the final was set between Lanarkshire and Aberdeen. Lanarkshire made the difference early, scoring two in the opening end and continuing to steal in the next two to build a seven point advantage. Aberdeen finally got on the board in End 4, but their single did little to cut the deficit. Lanarkshire opened the second half with a three and when they went on to steal a single, Aberdeen admitted defeat on 11-1.
In the Cherrystone play-offs, Dumfries narrowly edged out Stirling to clinch the Low Road trophy.
Full results are available here.
