John Candlish stakes place in Northfield finals

Jul 2 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

JOHN CANDLISH (Coylton) is off to Northfield for the Scottish finals after beating Jamie Houston (Craigie) 21-8 in the District 19 final at Craigie last Friday.

And he will be bidding to emulate Seafield's Allister Reid who went on to win the national title last year.

A big sunshine crowd lapped up the finals but many players found the surface very tricky and difficult to master.

Game of the night came in the pairs when Hawkhill's Drew Dunlop and Colin Smith were tied 8-8 against Jim Hunter and Ian McNeillie (Coylton). The Hawkhill duo then got the first double of the night to secure victory.

Craig Cobbledick (Coylton) took the junior singles with a 21-14 win over Alan Campbell (Crosshill).

The country clubs dominated the other three finals with wins for Auchinleck in the triples, Tarbolton in the fours and Mauchline in the senior fours.

Results: singles: John Candlish (Coylton) 21, Jamie Houston (Craigie) 8; junior singles: Craig Cobbledick (Coylton) 21, Alan Campbell (Crosshill) 14.

Pairs: D. Dunlop & C. Smith (Hawkhill) 10, J. Hunter & I. McNeillie (Coylton) 8; Triples: T. Bohan, J. Gibson & G. Johnstone (Auchinleck) 23, S. Dunlop, G. McLure & G. Allan (Peter Boyle) 10.

Fours: P. Brown, G. Emms, D. Boyd & C. Lindsay (Tarbolton) 19, D. Newall, D. Cairns, I. Woods & S. Miller jnr (Forehill) 12.

Senior fours: D. Vance, W. Watson, J. McHallum & D. Weir (Mauchline) 15, J. Murphy, S. Latimer, J. McKenzie & G. Jack (Seafield) 7.

The finals are at Northfield from July 28 to August 1.

lSEAFIELD'S Scottish champion Allister Reid is this week bidding for the British Isles Championship in Worthing.

He faces Tom Hancock (Wales) today (Thursday) for a place in the final against Martyn Rice (Dumfries) who gets a bye after a call-off from Jersey.

Reid is off to Spain later this month after being selected for a prelim elite squad. He will play a Test match against Spain and Northern Ireland as he bids to stake a place in the full squad.

Also at Worthing are Glaisnock Valley who line up in the fours.