The County Finals were played today at Spalding Bowling Club home club of County President Arthur McFegan.

First game of the day was the Triples between Oliver Clingan, Les Shuttleworth & Keith Shuttleworth from New Abbey and Willie Carruthers, Gordon Cochrane & Tom Rogers from Gatehouse. After 5 ends Gatehouse lead 5 - 4 but after 10 ends New Abbey had edged ahead  at 9 - 7. Over the last 5 ends New Abbey scored 6 to Gatehouse’s 3 to win 15 - 10.

The next two games on the green were the two Singles finals. The Junior Singles was between two young players new to County Finals, Bradley Walker for Kirkcudbright and Jack Cobban from Dalbeattie. The start was even with the score 3 - 3 after five ends, Bradley had the better of the next few ends and lead 9-6 after 10 ends. Jack the had a we rally and got back to 10-13 after 15 ends, but six shots in the next 3 ends put Bradley in control at 19 - 10 and he went on to win 21 - 11.

The County Singles was an all Dalbeattie afair  between Bruce and Steven Richardson. Bruce lead by a shot after 5 ends at 5 - 4 but by 10 ends Steven lead by 9 - 6. Then Steven scored eight shots in 3 ends to lead 17 - 7 and take control of the game and went on to win 21 - 11.

The remaining games all started at 2.30 pm and were watched by a good crowd in the sunshine and the green in good condition we looked forward to some more good bowling.

The mixed pairs on rink 1 was between Christine Tennant & Keith Shuttleworth from New Abbey and Caroline & Steven Richardson from Dalbeattie. Christine & Keith had by far the better start to this game and lead 7 - 1 after 5 ends. Hard as they tried Caroline & Steven could never close this gap and were 14 - 6 down after 10 ends and finished 18 - 9 down at the finish.

The pairs were on rink 2 with Scott and Alan Davies from Castle Douglas hoping to win the title for the third year in a row against Robert McClune & George Brown from Kirkcudbright. Both pairs had some good wins on the way to the final and this looked like being one of the best games of the day. Scott & Alan got a 5 in the 3rd end but lost 4 in the 5th end to trail 8 - 6 after 5 ends. Robert & George had the better of the next 5 ends and lead 15 - 8 with both players on good form. A 3 in the 13th end saw the Kirkcudbright pair 19 - 9 in the lead and we all thought that was the end of the game but Scott & Alan had a real good try at catching up and over the next 4 ends scored 7 shots to end the game only 3 shots down at 19 - 16.

The fours were on rink 3 with the beaten triple of Willie Carruthers, Gordon Cochrane & Tom Rogers from Gatehouse being joined by George Bailey against Tommy Caven, Norman Davies, Hugh Robertson & William Brydson from Castle Douglas. The Gatehouse four had the better start and lead 5 -2 after 5 ends, Castle Douglas had the better of the next 4 ends and lead by 1 at 7 - 6 after 9 ends, then the “wheels fell of” and they lost 13 shots in the next 4 ends to trail 19 - 8 and Gatehouse went on to win 19 - 14.

The last game was the Senior Fours on rink 4 with Dennis McKnight, Ronnie Gibson, Bruce Richardson & Joe McCall from Dalbeattie  against Tam Aitken, Peter Hiddleston, Jim Fleming & William True from Kirkcudbright. On paper the Dalbeattie rink looked the stronger but Kirkcudbright held their own for most of the gam, after 5 ends Kirkcudbright were 1 shot up at 5 - 4 but by 10 ends Dalbeattie had just got in front at 10 - 8 and a strong finish from Dalbeattie saw them wining 19 - 9.

The Trophy’s were presented by Elizabeth wife of County President Arthur McFegan and assisted by Ian Bendall who sponsors the County Championships.

17 Ends, 1 Trial. First named has home advantage.

FINALIST’S

New Abbey - Oliver Clingan, Les Shuttleworth & Keith Shuttleworth

Gatehouse - William Carruthers, Gordon Cochrane & Tom Rogers

Stewartry Singles played off at Castle Douglas Sunday 26th June.

Semi finals - S Richardson 21 v 4 T Rogers

                    B Richardson 21 v 16 A Davies

Final will be played on Stewartry County Finals Day, Sunday 4th September at Spalding.

The Stewartry Championships were played today at President Graeme Maxwell’s home green Castle Douglas. The green looked well and with the green set up for five rinks we hoped for some good games.

The County Championships are sponsored by Ian Bendall and Golden Charter.

First final of the day started with the Fours on Rink 5. The Dalbeattie rink of Bruce Richardson, Ronald Penny, James Harper & Stuart Richardson got of to the better start and lead 7-1 after 5 ends and 11-3 after 10 ends. By the 15th end The Kirkcudbright rink of John Crawford, Stuart Gordon, Alan Gordon & Darren Gourlay had got back in the game and a 2 in the 16th end got the score to 12-12. The final end was very close and required the services of Umpire Pat Brown to measure the shot to decide the winner. Well done Dalbeattie.

The 2 Singles finals were next on rinks 2 and 3.

In the Junior Singles Ronan Crossan from Auchencairn got of to a great start with a 3 and a 2 and lead 6-3 after 5 ends. Gary Davies from Castle Douglas moved up a gear and after 10 ends lead 13-6 and went on to win comfortably 21-10.

The Singles Final between Graeme Maxwell and Gavin Green both of Castle Douglas looked like being a good game and so it proved. After 5 ends Gavin lead 5-4, after 10 he lead 8-6 and after 14 ends it was still very close with Gavin leading 12-10. Graeme then went on a great run and over the next five ends scored 11 shots to win 21-12.

The remaining finals all started at 2.15pm.

The Pairs on rink 4 should have been a good game but it turned out to be very one sided with John McGaw and Ronan Crossan from Auchencairn being no match for Alan and Scott Davies of Castle Douglas and eventually threw in the Towel after 13 ends.

The Senior Fours on rink 3 between Ralf Richardson, Robert Bryden, Les Shuttleworth & Oliver Cligan from New Abbey and Tommy Docherty, Wig True, Len Dinnel & Tam Aitken was decided by the front end of the rinks with Oliver and Les giving Tam and Len a hard time. New abbey lead 5-2 after 5 ends, 7-4 after 10 ends and with 9 sots in the last 5 ends saw New Abbey win 16-6.

The Mixed Pairs on rink 1 was a good game to watch with Keith Shuttleworth and Christine Tennant from New Abbey and David and Lillie Kiltie from Gatehouse all playing well. The first 5 ends were very tight with five singles and David and Lillie leading 3-2. A five in end eight put Keith and Christine in front and lead 8-6 after 10 ends. After 15 ends new Abbey lead 13-9 and went on to win 15-10.

The Triples Final on rink 2 was the last game of the green with Bruce Richardson and Graeme Maxwell both trying to win their second title. Details of this game will have to wait until I can find the Scorecard but it was a great game to watch. The defending champions Graeme Maxwell, William Brydson & Tom Maxwell were mostly in the lead but it took some great bowls to keep them there. The Dalbeattie triple of Bruce Richardson, Ronald Penny & Ronnie Gibson played well but on occasions when they looked like they might get shots Graeme played some excellent  shots. I think Castle Douglas were 3 shots up playing the last end and went on to win.

The playdown for the County Singles was held at Kirkcudbright on Sunday.

The semi final results were Graeme Maxwell 21 - William Green 10 & Gavin Green 21 - Scott McCubbin 12