Season is mixed for Garioch bowlers
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Garioch Indoor Bowling Club's league teams have had mixed results so far this season, writes Mike Barron.
The gents are top of their league having played five and won five.
The joint Garioch/Turriff ladies team are second equal, or bottom equal, as three other teams have played three and won but one each, while Fraserburgh have won all their matches.
The senior gents have probably had their worst season for many years holding up the league, having played eight and won but one fixture.
The postponed seniors match against Fraserburgh, because of adverse weather, took place at Inverurie a few days ago, and Garioch lost 56-71. Two rinks won but two lost heavily.
Home teams are expected to be up in early ends but this did not happen.
Garioch were 6-14 down at end three, 12-27 at sixth, and then between seventh and 11th they fought back with fine steady and positive bowling from two rinks, that of Ron Booth and Bob Airth, to be equal at 40-40.
A couple of ends later Fraserburgh were up by four shots at 50-54. Garioch scored but six shots to 17 before the finish.
Garioch are unfortunate that a number of the top bowlers because of age, health reasons and the fact that play is three hours have “retired”.
There are still some fine bowlers on the green but consistency from some is missing.
Bob Airth had Frank Sinclair, Ian Chalmers and Gary Horne in his rink. They started slowly and were down 5-7 at sixth end but from then the rink drew well. The match was equal at 12-12 at 11th.
Gammack, Fraserburgh’s most experienced skip, lost seven shots at 12th end. He fired with his two bowls but did not disturb the head.
All Garioch four had drawn well, with sensible bowls covering all eventualities.
The match from then was even, with Gammack trying everything. It was an enjoyable game to watch and Airth of Garioch won 21-17.
Ron Booth’s rink were never behind. They got off to a flying start scoring four shots at the first end.
At the ninth being three down, Booth drew two superb shots to win the end. The score then was 11-5.
The four players went up a gear and were 17-6 up at the 12th. Smith of Fraserburgh never gave up and pulled back some shots but Booth finished 18-13.
Gordon Sievewright has had a mixed season with some fine wins but his rink were well beaten against Fraserburgh.
At the ninth end Garioch were down 6-15, they scored two shots at the next, but never scored again until the final end, when they scored a single. The final score was 9-24.
Norman Burnett was the fourth skip and he had, on paper, a well balanced four. Graham Coutts, Robbie Milne and Ian Western were up against it from the start, dropping shots to be 0-6 at the third, 6-11 at the 13th and they never scored another shot until the final end when they got two shots. The final score was 8-17.
The match was lost in the second half of the contest with two rinks losing 16 shots. 2023 can only get better for the seniors.
2022 season has not got off well for the various Scottish titles with only James McDougall reaching the semi-final of the singles.
Bill Conn is again at the top of senior fours with 18 points from 11 matches. He is being chased by Graham Coutts on 17 points who has played two matches more.
Monday triples are led by Steve Buchanan with 16 points. Les Hamilton has a game in hand on 14 points.
Mixed triples are led by Bill Barclay on 20 points but Gordon Spence, with a game in hand, has 19 points
The two four two open pairs has Gary Horne meantime leading with 24 points but Sheila Wood with two games played less has 22.
Tuesday evening pairs has Colin Banks with 21 points but son Jason has 21 and a game in hand.
Alison Michie with 18 points from 13 matches has lost only three in ladies triples.
Gordon Spence has a clear lead, winning 13 of 15 matches in senior gents triples.
The senior open pairs are led by Jim Grant with 20 points from 12 matches.
Gary McDonald has played 12 and sits on 22 points, but James McDougall in the open triples is one point down with a game in hand.
Bill Barclay has the unique statistic of drawing four matches of 14 games and sits on 22 points in open seniors triples. He is being chased by Geoff Simpson who has a game in hand on the same points.
On a Sunday, outdoor clubs are invited to enter teams and Kintore number one leads with six wins from seven games.
With Covid behind us and the number of players slightly less than former years, competition in the leagues has been as competitive as ever.
From the many readers who have followed the weekly bowling news I send Christmas greetings and wish everyone a Happy New Year.
