Prestwick indoor bowlers beat Paisley to stay up

Dec 17 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

PRESTWICK gents team recorded a fantastic home win against table topping Paisley to guarantee their Premier League status for another season.

Paisley made the most of the early running as they claimed an early lead which Prestwick took to the tenth end to overhaul.

Most of the third hour of the match was very tight before Prestwick pulled away with an hour to go. The 82-60 end result was the biggest of the match with Paisley losing ground late on.

There were convincing wins for Paul Boyd against Jonathan Ross 27-13, Andy Kilday against Drew Stobo 23-11 and Robert McCulloch against David Fisher 27-11 with Drew Boyd losing to an inspired John Gilmartin.

The win sees Prestwick move third in their section with defending champions Lanarkshire now favourites to claim the section win. The league now stops for its festive shut down.

Prestwick seniors found the going tougher than expected at Irvine with the match in the balance at the three quarter way mark.

Prestwick had opened up a lead early on before being pegged back and it was only a late surge on all four rinks that saw the Bellevue Road side come out on top with a 75-55 win.

The win sees them remain in second place in the section with Glasgow on 12 points from eight matches, Prestwick on 12 points from nine and Auchinleck on 12 from ten. Prestwick still have to visit Glasgow in what could be a section decider.

This Saturday, sees the seniors complete their fixtures in 2010 at home to Ayr. Rink 1: Willie Ferguson, Jim Ross, 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, David Brown, John Docherty, Morris Sturgeon.

The Ayrshire fours team had a disappointing final match on Sunday as they tried to win the league title.

They required a minimum 5-3 result to pip Auchinleck for the title but never recovered from a poor start and, despite challenging around the half way mark, it was to prove a fruitless journey to Auchinleck.

Their opponents, the Galleon, won on all three rinks to give them an unexpected 8-0 victory which saw them lift their first Ayrshire fours league title since 1992.

This weekend sees the Scottish pairs playdowns take place with both Prestwick gents and ladies teams travelling to Paisley. The gents pairing of Lee McCulloch and Allan Hendry meet Castlemilk in their opening encounter with Newton Stewart or East Kilbride awaiting the winner.

In the ladies event, Val O' Neill and Rose-ena Smillie play Nithsdale in their opening match with the winner meeting East Kilbride or Castlemilk in round one.

The delayed Scottish seniors playdowns will take place on Sunday at Prestwick. These matches were due to be played two weeks ago but were postponed due to the weather conditions. Play starts at 10am with action in singles, pairs and triples.

In the singles, Newton Stewart play Ayr and Inverclyde play Paisley. The pairs sees Auchinleck play Blantyre with Prestwick playing Inverclyde and in the triples Prestwick play Inverclyde and Blantyre play Ardrossan.

Quarter-finals take place at 2pm with the winners in each competition moving through to the senior national finals at Falkirk in late February.

There are only two places remaining in the draw for the Christmas open two bowl triples to be played at Prestwick between Christmas and New Year.

The competition starts on Tuesday, December 28 with play through to Thursday evening. If anyone wishes an entry in this competition, they should contact Gordon at the stadium on 01292 477802.

Half yearly memberships are now being taken at Prestwick so anyone interested in joining for the second half of the year should make enquiries at the stadium.

The cost for a half yearly membership is only £31. Anyone taking out this membership will be eligible to play in all competitions within the club.