Forres Bowling Club round-up: John Matthews and Alana Coutts edged out of Bowls Scotland district competitions
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John Matthews got off to a flier in his Bowls Scotland District 2 gents over-55 singles semi-final against Neil Stewart of St Andrew's and Urquhart.
Playing on the Portsoy green, John hit a maximum straight away. His pleasure was short-lived however. He fell behind at the third end, and his brace at the fourth were his final shots of his 12-end game.
Alana Coutts can now concentrate on just one final at Mintlaw on the June 17. She was beaten 21-15 by Keith's Kayleigh Dalgarno in the Bowls Scotland District 2 Ladies' Junior Singles semi-final at The Elgin.
Coutts led 7-6 after a closely fought initial eight ends. Dalgarno won the next four ends quite comfortably to take a 15-7 advantage. Three ends later Dalgarno was 19-10 up, leaving Coutts an awful lot to do to stay in the competition. Coutts managed to pick up another five shots before Dalgarno got over the line.
Two previous champions have been knocked out in the first round of this season's men's championship.
The 2009 and 2010 champion, Harry Sutherland had no answer as he was swept away in a dozen ends by Paul Rogan. Paul faces the defending champion, Derek Sobey in the second round.
Losing two maximums (amongst other counts) early on left the 2018 champion John Matthews in serious trouble at 16-2 down after seven ends against Paul Coutts who succeeded him as champion in 2019. Matthews scored seven shots over the following three ends, but was never going to recover.
Gary Mackie is through to the second round tie against Paul Coutts. He had to come from behind to defeat Roy Anderson.
Anderson won six of the opening eight ends as he took a 6-3 lead. He continued his good form, leading 13-7 with 15 ends played. The game turned at the next end. Mackie scored a maximum, and followed it up with a three to lead for the first time. Suddenly it was all to play for again, but Anderson got back on track, and went 18-14 up three ends later. Mackie was determined though, and won four ends in a row to secure passage with a 21-18 victory.
Despite losing a three to beginner, Carol McRitchie at the first end, the 2016 ladies' champion, Sheena Murdoch is into the quarter-finals of this year's competition. Murdoch won the next nine ends and, although McRitchie fought back, won comfortably. She will play Morag Ritchie in the last eight.
Sandy Burgess and Brian Caldwell played out a great President's Handicap match.
A maximum at the second end set Burgess off on a roll as he gained a 9-3 advantage. Caldwell chipped away at the deficit, and a maximum of his own squared the tie at 12-12 after 14 ends. Caldwell pushed on to lead 18-13 before Burgess came back at him to level the scores at 18-18. Two ends later Caldwell had reached his 21-shot target. He will play Brian Riddell in the second round.
Gary Mackie is also through to a second round tie against John Matthews. However he didn't have it all his own way when he played Roy Anderson as he led 9-3 with eight ends played, but three ends later Anderson had squared matters. A maximum at the 12th end knocked the stuffing out of Anderson and Mackie won six ends out of seven to finish the game.
Ed Harris will play Lesley Coutts in the second round. Harris started well against Lesley Mackintosh, winning the first three ends to go 5-0 up. He continued to press on, and could even afford to lose a maximum and still win at a canter.
Carol McRitchie will play Paul Rogan in the second round after defeating youngster, Charley Dustan.
Derek Crosby and Ed Harris had a great game in the W D MacPherson Trophy. Harris had his eye in straight away, scoring a maximum at the first end but Sobey was soon back on level terms though, and the scores were tied at 7-7 after eight ends.
Harris started to pull ahead again, 12-9 up after a dozen ends. Crosby won five of the next six ends as he went 16-14 in front but this spurred his opponent on again to lead 19-17 four ends later. This great game took another twist as Crosby scored his four shots over the next pair of ends. He now has the task of trying to knock out the holder, Derek Sobey in the second round.
John Matthews will play a quarter-final tie against either Mary Williamson or Henry Davidson. Two maximums in the first eight ends got Matthews through a potential 'banana skin' match with Mary Sobey, who won half of the 18 ends played while Matthews was getting the counts.
Ed Harris and Charlie Watt made light work of their Porter Cup game against Morag Ritchie and Derek Sobey. Harris and Watt won 10 of the initial 11 ends to lead 18-1 before their opponents managed a few consolation shots.
Wilma Petrie has finally found out that, not only can she play bowls when she comes out from behind the table, but she can be a winning skip as well. With Sheena Murdoch she won nine of the opening 11 ends of their Ladies' Pairs tie with Peggy Locke and Lesley Mackintosh to lead 12-2, and from there it was no way back for the trailing pair.
Forres were extremely unlucky in their Moray Ladies' League tie against Lossiemouth, losing by a single shot on aggregate with both the home and away triples losing a shot at their respective 15th and final ends.
Peggy Locke, Alana Coutts and Lesley Coutts had a great win on the coast against Jutta Hewett. Holding a slender 7-6 advantage after eight ends, they won five of the next six ends to lead 15-7. Then came the agony of losing a shot at the last.
Morag Ritchie, Lesley Mackintosh and Mary Sobey went 4-0 up on Margaret Stewart after three ends of the home leg. Lossiemouth then took over, but Forres were still in the game, 10-7 down going into the final three ends. Lossie won those ends, with that single shot at the last being the killer. Forres 22, Lossiemouth 23.
Roy Anderson and Alex Porter have moved to within two points of the summit of the Scott Cup table after the latest round. With fellow team member, Brian Caldwell, in fine form, they dropped just three single shots to Alana Coutts.
There was some high scoring between John Ross and Dean Dobbs. Ross got the better of the exchanges, finishing the evening with a five.
Paul Coutts twice hit Derek Sobey for six on rink 6.
Three strong ends early on gave Stuart Robertson some breathing space against Harry Sutherland. Otherwise their match was fairly even.
Trailing 11-8 after eleven ends, Sandy Burgess turned the tables on Brian Riddell by winning the remaining five ends.
Gary Mackie continued his winning streak by staying just a small step ahead of John Matthews throughout.
Scores: A Porter 34, A Coutts 3; J Ross 29, D Dobbs 12; P Coutts 25, D Sobey 9; S Robertson 17, H Sutherland 10; A Burgess 18, B Riddell 11; G Mackie 14, J Matthews 11.
For the third week in a row, Wednesday's Hat was won by Robert McRitchie. Partnered by Sheena Murdoch on this occasion, he kept on the move and won all four sets.
Skibo McKenzie won three of his sets, but slipped up in the third one.
Considering he lost three sets out of four, Brian Caldwell did exceptionally well to record a positive scorecard.
Peggy Locke should never have stopped for tea. She led her opposition 20-1 at the halfway stage. She then went into meltdown, never won another shot, and lost 23-20!
Derek Crosby fought back well from 12-1 down. He final set cost him a positive outcome.
Skipping for the first time, Carol McRitchie found it hard going until the final set.
Scores: R McRitchie 16 up; A McKenzie 4 up; B Caldwell 3 up; P Locke 3 down; D Crosby 6 down; C McRitchie 14 down.
Despite losing every end of their third set, Skibo McKenzie and John Matthews won the Thursday Moving Hat. A seven at the fifth end aided them to go 18-1 up on their opponents after just seven ends.
Mary Sobey was on course for an overall victory before she dropped a shot at the last. A six at the fourth end helped her to a 12-0 first set win.
Stuart Robertson nearly threw away his advantage after being 12-3 ahead after nine ends.
After winning the 2 Bowl pairs recently, Ann MacPherson and John Ross found it a lot more difficult to play with four.
Henry Davidson was well up until dropping six shots over the final three ends.
Due to winning his first and last sets, Derek Sobey managed to finish just ahead.
Sneaking the final three ends got Dean Dobbs over the line with positivity.
Brian Riddell recovered well. He trailed 12-3 at half-time.
Alex Porter managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory by losing the final set.
Harry Sutherland's card was made a bit more respectable by him winning his final three ends.
There was no Wednesday magic from Robert McRitchie. He only won four ends all evening.
Ian Stewart was at sixes and sevens. He lost both on a night for him to forget.
Scores: J Matthews 15 up; M Sobey 14 up; S Robertson 3 up; J Ross 2 up; H Davidson 1 up; D Sobey 1 up; D Dobbs 1 up; B Riddell 1 up; A Porter peels; H Sutherland 2 down; R McRitchie 8 down; I Stewart 28 down.
Forres earned a draw in the over-55s league at home to Moray 1.
Ed Harris and the on-form, Brian Caldwell led Linda Cruickshank 9-0 after the initial four ends. Although Moray won the following pair of ends, eight more shots over four ends sealed the victory in this game. It eventually finished 22-7.
Some slow play left everyone watching the climax of Skibo McKenzie and Roy Anderson's tie against George Grant. Moray led this one 11-4 with just two ends left. In an amazing turnaround, Forres scored a single at the penultimate end before hitting them for six at the last as it finished 11-11.
Elma McInnes and Charlie Watt's tie against David Dean didn't go as well. They trailed 11-4 after nine ends. Even winning four of the remaining five ends left them on the wrong end of a 12-10 scoreline.
Forres suffered a heavy 121-74 home defeat in their friendly against a strong The Elgin side.
The top triple of the evening was Davie Petrie, Anne Anderson and Zander Christie. They were always in control against Brian Riddell, losing just five ends.
Elma McInnes, Peggy Locke and Alex Porter were the only triple to save Forres from a whitewash! Even then, they nearly threw it away. They led Brian Christie 15-4 with only half a dozen ends left, but were grateful to score a brace at the death.
Hazel Caldwell lost a seven at the second end to Kevin McWilliam, but immediately hit him for six. Losing six ends in a row shortly afterwards left her playing catch-up.
Ian Stewart led Lindsey Petrie 10-2 after seven ends. His next shot came at the final end.
Having played a tight game, a four at the twelfth end gave Brian Caldwell an 11-7 advantage over Isobel Laing. However he was soon to drop seven shots over a pair of ends.
Going nap at the third end gave Mike Junor the advantage over Henry Davidson, who more than matched him thereafter, until losing a four at the penultimate end.
Scores (Forres first): H Caldwell 13, K McWilliam 23; I Stewart 11, L Petrie 22; B Caldwell 13, I Laing 15; H Davidson 13, M Junor 21; A Porter 17, B Christie 14; B Riddell 7, Z Christie 26.
