Gary Martin flies the flag for Prestwick indoor bowlers

Oct 29 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

GARY MARTIN carried Prestwick's hopes in the gents national singles over the weekend.

Craig England won the championship at Prestwick last season but with Craig visiting Canada for nine months the beaten finalist from last year stepped up to the plate.

Gary opened his campaign with a 21-10 win over Alan Bruce of Fraserburgh before losing21-12 to Steven Allan from Alloa who went on to qualify for the national singles finals in November.

There was disappointment for all the local competitors with David Gass (Ayr) and Steven Rankin (Auchinleck) coming closest when they lost 21-20 in the quarter-finals. The semi final line-up for the singles shows Robert Grant (Lanarkshire) v Craig Bence (Cowal) and Colin Walker (Midlothian) v Steven Allan (Alloa).

This week is the turn of the ladies singles playdown with Rose McAuley carrying high hopes for a Prestwick success. Fifty-one players will carry their club colours as they try to wrest the title from the grip of Julie Forrest (Teviotdale) who has won the event for the last two years. Rose opens her campaign at 9.30am with a match against Margaret Mackie from Dundee.

Prestwick seniors moved into a tie at the top of their senior section after a 68-49 win away to Ayr. The match was finely balanced on three rinks with a 23 win for Morris Sturgeon over Jack Hutchison deciding the contest.

Cliff Eade lost 14-15 Bert Storrie (14-15), Michael Higgins beat George Jack 16-12 while Alan Paxton drew 15-15 with Derek Graham. The section now sees four teams tied on six points with Glasgow edging ahead of Prestwick on shot difference.

This week the top two teams will face off at Prestwick with the selectors making just one change as they strive to go clear at the top.

Rink 1: Willie Ferguson, Hector Berretti, Jim Fortune, Cliff Eade; Rink 2: Scott Watson, Willie Fulton, Dougie McKie, Michael Higgins; Rink 3: Alec Thomson, Tom Howson, Joe Reid, Alan Paxton; Rink 4: Willie Kennedy, John Lindsay, John Docherty, Morris Sturgeon.

The ladies racked up their third home win of the campaign as they completed a Prestwick double over Ayr on Saturday. The match at Prestwick was very tight with both teams having strong parts of the match and the outcome being in the balance until well inside the last hour.

The rinks finished split two wins apiece but Kathie Mitchell’s 24-14 win over Anne Brown and Betty McKinlay’s25-16 win over Sheila Dunn proved crucial.

Anne Hainey beat Val O' Neill 19-15 while Joyce Arnott beat Wilma Ogilvie 15-12 to complete a 76-64 win to Prestwick.

This week the ladies league takes a break with the Scottish ladies singles playdowns at Lanarkshire.

The junior team were due to play their first fixture in the Ayrshire Junior League on Saturday but Galleon have withdrawn due to lack of numbers and therefore Prestwick received an 8-0 home win.

The gents resume their league campaign on Saturday when they travel to East Fife Indoor BC in Methil. East Fife had started poorly in this section but a home win over Coatbridge in their last encounter will warn the Bellevue Road side that this is no easy fixture.

The team manager has named one change from the side that travelled to Paisley with Craig Cathie replacing Chris Duffy at second.

Rink 1: Allan Hendry, Craig Cobbledick, Brian Fulton, Robert McCulloch; Rink 2: Lee McCulloch, Jordan Slaven, Alan Williams, Drew Boyd; Rink 3: Junior Cole, Mark Kerr, Alec Cathie, Paul Boyd; Rink 4: John Keir, Craig Cathie, Stuart Reid, Gary Martin.

Prestwick will play their first match in the Ayrshire fours league on Sunday when they face Irvine at Ardrossan. With Prestwick being the venue for the opening round of fixtures, this will be the first time for the team under the direction of Alec Thomson to play this year.

Rink 1: Willie Kennedy, Drew McMillan, Lee McCulloch, Robert McCulloch; Rink 2: Alec Thomson, Eddie Doolan, John Lindsay, Cliff Eade; Rink 3: Stevie McLean, Alan Williams, Dougie McKie, Tom McLarty.

The other match at the venue sees Auchinleck take on the Galleon.

This Sunday sees Adam Grant carry Prestwick’s colours in the Scottish Young Indoor Bowling Association Singles competition. The venue is Falkirk and around 30 players will be playing for the coveted two slots at the Young Masters Singles final to be held on the portable rink during the televised Scottish International Open in mid November.

Prestwick is hosting a Halloween wappenschaw on Saturday from 3pm to 6pm when all are welcome. The price is £8 per head with a two course meal after play is finished at 6pm. Every player will play three games of five ends during the time limit.

There are many spot prizes and also a prize for the best costume on the day.