Carrick Knowe building up a head of steam

DEFENDING champions Carrick Knowe moved top of the Scotmid-sponsored Water of Leith 1st Sixteens League table for the first time this season with a 3-2 away win over title rivals Bainfield.

The victory puts them half a point clear of Currie and Sighthill, while Slateford and Bainfield are a further two and four points adrift respectively.

“We have won all three of our games since being held to a share of the points at home to Balerno [in the season opener] so we have answered that early wake-up call,” said spokesman Craig Aitken.

Wins for talisman figure Colin Mitchell and Richard Tough also bagged the bonus point for aggregate (57-54), while the rinks of Stuart Clark and Paul O’Donnell kept Bainfield in the picture. Mitchell included a five as he skipped Kevin Tennant, Robert Mitchell, and Johnny Priestley into a healthy 12-2 lead over Craig Paterson then five-times Tait Trophy champion traded comfortably on the cushion to win 20-14. Tough made the difference with a three that pushed him into a 13-10 lead over Russell Wilson, then, under renewed pressure at 13-12, he pulled another three out of the hat to skip Ian McKenna, Colin Tough and Craig Aitken to a 15-12 win.

Clark, meanwhile, was doing a great job for Bainfield with a battling performance to skip Adam Brock, Willie Dyet and David McNair to a low scoring 11-7 win over reigning national fours champion, James Hogg.

O’Donnell also managed to bag a valuable home point when picking up from 12-11 with a four to go on and skip Graeme Fergus, John Simmons and Stuart Patterson to a 17-15 win over Darren Hush. Balerno’s encouraging start against Carrick Knowe proved to be a false dawn as it was followed by two 5-0 defeats from Currie at home, then Sighthill away, however they have bounced back with an impressive 3-2 home win over Slateford. Wins for Maxi Baigrie and Derek Robb also proved enough to tip the match aggregate in their favour (66-63) to capture the bonus points. The talk of the Balerno steamie was Baigrie and his rink of Billy Davidson, Brian Ronald, and Tom Murray who stormed back from 15-4 down to beat Gordon Ramsay, 22-18.

Other results: Beechwood 3, Juniper Green 2; Colinton 3, Currie 2; Gorgie Mills 1, Sighthill 4.