Midlothian break Blantyre hearts in closing group match

Midlothian gents may have failed to challenge for top spot in Division A of the indoor bowls Premier League but their last-match defeat of Blantyre had a major impact on the final placings.

Ronnie Duncan snatched a crucial peel for Midlothian

Blantyre visited the Dalkeith Stadium sitting joint top with Falkirk but, with the huge advantage of 177 more shots in the bank, a win would have clinched their place in the play-off final.

But a 88-76 triumph for Midlothian, combined with a 93-62 success for Falkirk over Ayr, saw Blantyre take the runners-up spot.

Midlothian’s Ronnie Duncan killed off the visitors as his mighty count of five shots on the last end sealed a peel with Ian McLean. With the visitors edging narrow wins over Billy Peacock and David Peacock, it was a spectacular triumph for Colin Walker that tipped the scales in favour of Midlothian.

Walker included two counts of five as he skipped Andy Caldwell, Ian Fleming and Lindsay Plenderleith into a 13-2 lead then sustained that level of form to inflict a punishing 32-15 defeat on Jim McCann.

Duncan and his front three of Scott Runciman, Craig Hodge and John Stevenson looked to be set for a hiding at 12-4 then 1-8 down to Ian McLean but rallied impressively to cross 16-15 then came again from 16-21 to grab a 21-21 peel.

David Peacock and his rink of Ian Forbes, Keith Stables and Scott Briggs were under the cosh at 16-7 down so did well to finish just 19-17 down to Brian Irvine. Billy Peacock skipped Neil Murray, David Salkeld and Jim Cullen into a 17-9 lead but slipped to a 21-18 defeat from Scott Bishop.