Bowls: Bell sure Bainfield will be a force to be reckoned with

BAINFIELD bowls club team manager John Bell is confident his stars can dominate Division 1B of the national leagues and reclaim their Premier League status.

The Edinburgh club won the Scottish Cup as recently as 2008 but have a frustrating yo-yo record as a Premier League club and were again relegated at the end of last season.

“I take nothing for granted in this sport and finishing top of our division will be no easy task but given the exciting individual talent and strong club spirit that exists here we have the ingredients to be a force to be reckoned with,” says Bell.

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Bainfield open their league campaign at Methil tomorrow and Bell knows it will be an extremely tough test against an East Fife team that also has Premier League experience.

Bell’s own spirits have been raised by Bainfield’s capture of two leading lights of the Capital’s outdoor bowling scene in the shape of James Hogg and John McDermott who promise to be major assets, and they will make an immediate debut in the opening fixture.

“It is disappointing that we have lost Jamie Gracie to West Lothian but that blow has been sentenced to the shade by McDermott’s switch from Portobello and Hogg’s decision to return to the indoor scene,” said Bell who has opted to blood both players in the same rink with McDermott at second and Hogg at third to Robert Marshall who also has teenager Neil Watson as his lead.

Craig Moss continues as captain and the full cap will play lead to Stuart Patterson, Stevie McLeod and Paul O’Donnell, while Colin Hutchison skips Craig Paterson, Brian Stoddart, and Jamie Aitken. The rink of Chris Downie, Stephen Pringle, Alan Brown and Gavin Smith completes the line-up.