Bowls: Bainfield finish up in joint second

Edinburgh bowling club Bainfield completed their return campaign in the ultra-competitive A section of the Premier League by finishing in joint second place following a 79-51 home victory over star-studded East Lothian.

It’s a result that saw Bainfield, promoted last season, leapfrog their victims alongside Falkirk, six points adrift of section winners West Lothian.

“We were flirting with the dreaded relegation zone but winning four of our last five games shot us up the table and beating a team the calibre of East Lothian has iced our cake,” said team manger John Bell.

“People might think that winning at home is no great shakes but we had something to prove having lost heavily in the same circumstances to West Lothian.”

Bell had his team well psyched up to compete against an East Lothian team skipped by giants of the international arena in the shape of Willie Wood, Graham Robertson, Derek Oliver and former Edinburgh IBC star Billy Mellors. And wins for the home rinks skipped by 
Robert Marshall, James Hogg and Colin Hutchison laid a foundation for victory strong enough to withstand the defeat of Paul O’Donnell by Mellors.

“It was encouraging that we made a strong start to capture the first seven-end phase 35-18 then consolidate our position with a 36-23 return on the second that gave us a commanding 30-shot lead going into the third,” said Bell.

The match was another triumph for Robert Marshall who zipped into an 18-2 lead after nine ends then skipped Neil Watson, Stephen Pringle and Kevin Tennant to a 30-7 win.

Marshall’s steamrolling of Kieran Simants, Gary Darling, Jamie Higgins and Robertson had Bell singing his praises and saying: “It’s a puzzle that Robert didn’t make the Scottish team this season.”

Hogg was against his former EL mates in Ewan Fallen, Calum Darling, Alan Young and Oliver and turned on the razzle-dazzle to skip Chris Downie, Brian Stoddart and John McDermott to a strong 23-10 win.

Hutchison skipped Daniel Gormley Paul Millar and Craig Moss to an 18-13 win over Mark Johnston, Steven Thomson Dougie Berwick, and Wood.

O’Donnell and his rink of Craig Paterson, Stuart Patterson and Stevie McLeod lost 21-8 defeat from Les Middler, Jamie Gordon, Andrew Jeffrey and Mellors.