Indoor bowling: Prestwick seniors make a perfect start

Feb 11 2011 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

PRESTWICK had the perfect start to their Ayrshire Seniors League campaign when they beat Auchinleck 8-0 at Irvine.

There were wins on the rinks skipped by Michael Higgins, Alan Paxton and Morris Sturgeon as the score finished 66-41.

The other match saw the Galleon beat Ardrossan 8-0 and by 55-33 on shots. The league takes a break for a week now as Saturday sees the Scottish Senior League final take place at Whiteinch with sadly no Ayrshire interest.

Prestwick finished their Scottish Ladies League campaign with a 97-51 home win against East Kilbride. The result was never really in doubt with Wilma Ogilvie recording the best result with a 32-9 win over Jean Ramsay.

There were also wins for Kathie Mitchell over Mary McFadden (28-15), Margaret Wells over Cathie Conlon (18-15) and Betty McKinlay over Mary Thomson (19-12).

Victory sees Prestwick swap places with East Kilbride and finish fourth in the league and tied on the same number of points as second placed finishers Ardrossan.

This week the ladies start their Ayrshire League campaign with a trip to Irvine to face Galleon.

The Scottish Senior Cup team from Prestwick beat Ardrossan 64-37 at the Galleon. This Wednesday they travel to Auchinleck and should face a sterner test in Blantyre.

Rink 1: David Brown, Willie Fulton, Eddie Doolan, Jim Fortune; Rink 2: Scott Watson, Jim Ross, Dougie McKie, Michael Higgins; Rink 3: Alec Thomson, Tom Howson, Joe Reid, Alan Paxton; Rink 4: Willie Kennedy, Hector Berretti, John Docherty, Morris Sturgeon.

There was no joy for Prestwick in the first set of the Ayrshire playdowns on Sunday. Michael Higgins came closest when he was beaten 21-20 in his opening singles encounter by Jim Smith from Auchinleck.

The senior pairs of Tom McLarty and John Docherty lost 19-13 to Irvine. In the senior triples, Prestwick lost 15-7 to Galleon while in the senior foursm they lost 17-8 against Auchinleck.

The ladies two bowl pairs also failed to bring success with Val and Lynn Houston losing in two sets to Galleon. The other Ayrshire playdowns take place on Sunday, February 20 with Ardrossan, Galleon and Prestwick hosting matches.

In the Greengauge Junior Challenge on Sunday, the two Prestwick players just failed to progress. Jordan Slaven lost his opening match before winning the remainder of his games and just failing to qualify.

Craig Cathie won all of his group games before losing to East Kilbride in the final of the playdown event.

On Sunday, the juniors travel to Auchinleck to compete in their national pairs and triples playdowns alongside Ardrossan, Auchinleck and Newton Stewart.

This Saturday sees the start of the Scottish Knockout Cup with Prestwick travelling to Ardrossan for a tough opening encounter against one of the better first division sides in Dumbarton. The match has been moved from Inverclyde due to difficulties faced by the Greenock based club.

Team: Rink 1: Lee McCulloch, Jordan Slaven, Alan Williams snr, Drew Boyd; Rink 2: Alec Cathie, Craig Cobbledick, Brian Fulton, Robert McCulloch; Rink 3: Craig Lindsay, Mark Kerr, Stuart Reid, Paul Boyd; Rink 4: Junior Cole, Craig Cathie, Gary Martin, Andy Kilday.

Prestwick are hosting the Whiteinch v Auchinleck match on Saturday.

Prestwick has some forthcoming events that are open to all and tickets can be purchased by contacting the club.

The ladies cash bingo is on Friday, February 18 and tickets are just 50p. The Time of Your Life show will visit the stadium on Sunday, March 13 with tickets costing £8.50 which includes a knife and fork buffet.

Sally Buxton ad friends will be hold a psychic night on Thursday, March 31 with tickets costing £5. Enquiries can be put to Gordon at the Indoor.