Forres Bowling Club hit form to see off Fochabers in Dow League opener
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Forres Bowling Club started their Dow League campaign with a fantastic 39-24 victory over Fochabers.
The home rink of John Ross, Brian Riddell, Paul Rogan and Dean Dobbs took an early 7-2 advantage over Keith Lambert's side. However, two ends later the visitors were only trailing 6-7. Winning half a dozen ends in a row put Dean's team a comfortable 17-6 up. After Fochabers scored a brace at the 14th end, Forres scored nine in only two ends to seal the victory in style. Final score was 26-9.
Things were a bit tougher away from home, where Gary Mackie, Sandy Burgess, John Matthews and Paul Coutts fell 6-0 behind to Mark Woodhouse's side after the opening four ends. To their credit, three ends later the Forres lads led 8-6. Paul's side kept right behind their hosts throughout the second half, and had to settle for a narrow 15-13 defeat.
The ex-champions have been falling like flies in this year's Men's Championship.
Five-time winner, Stuart Robertson was beaten by Brian Riddell in their second round tie. After losing the initial pair of ends, Stuart had a good run, and led 7-3 after eight ends. Both players then began to earn more than a single shot per end. With 16 ends played, Stuart was still 14-11 up, and, although Brian fought back, was still 16-14 ahead after twenty ends. Brian suddenly pushed on, and finished the tie four ends later. He will play Derek Crosby for a place in the semi-finals.
After reverting back to his orange bowls lately, Derek secured his place in the last eight of the competition. A maximum at the second end got Derek going against Henry Davidson. Henry was playing steadily enough though, and he won seven of the opening ten ends to lead 9-7. The tie swung one way and then the other, levelling out at 17-17 after 22 ends. Derek was on the jack with at least one bowl thereafter, finishing the tie with 26 ends played.
Another champion to tumble was the holder. Derek Sobey and Paul Rogan had an intriguing opening eight ends, with Derek, the defending champion, holding an 8-6 advantage. Paul then turned on the style to win four of the next five ends as he went 15-9 ahead. Derek wasn't for relinquishing his title too easily though, getting the score back to 13-16. It looked like curtains for Derek when Paul got to 19-13, but once again Derek fought back. He won four ends in a row to narrow the deficit to a single shot before Paul got the brace that he was after. He may have to play another ex-champion in his quarter-final, if Dean Dobbs gets through against Adam Nicolson.
Yet another ex-champion was knocked out in the much anticipated match between Gary Mackie and the 2019 champion, Paul Coutts. Both players were scoring heavily early on, with Gary holding a 9-7 advantage after half a dozen ends. Four ends later he had taken a commanding 15-9 lead. A three at the thirteenth end brought Paul back to within three shots, but Gary pushed on for an impressive 21-14 victory. He will play one of the beginners, Robbie Fraser in the last eight.
Robbie came out on top in an epic beginner's battle against Skibo McKenzie. Skibo started the better, winning five of the initial eight ends to lead 8-4. Robbie was soon back on level terms, and very little separated the two of them for a few ends. With fifteen ends played, Skibo held a slender 13-12 advantage. Robbie chose this point to go on a six end winning spurt. As all six ends were won by a single shot, Skibo could still see a way back. He won a pair of ends to reach fifteen shots before Robbie won another three ends, again all by a single shot.
One ex-champ bucking the trend is John Ross. He is the first ex-champion to reach the quarter-finals. The 2014 winner annihilated Alex Porter 21-5 in a stroll in the sun, which lasted only 15 ends. He will now play John Murdoch.
Lesley Coutts is still on track in her attempt to lift the Ladies' Championship trophy for the seventh time. Lesley scored a maximum on her way to earning a 9-1 lead over Lesley Mackintosh after a handful of ends. Although Mackintosh then secured a three, Coutts hit another maximum as she went on to kill their tie in a dozen ends. She will play either Charley Dustan or Peggy Locke in the semi-finals.
Harry Sutherland was in commanding form against Mary Sobey in the President's Handicap. After a tit-for-tat start, Harry won six ends out of seven to take a 12-4 lead. Mary got the score back to 9-14, but Harry hit two threes in succession to end her hopes. Harry now awaits the outcome of the tie between Henry Davidson and Alana Coutts.
Gary Mackie is on fire just now, and turned in another great performance to turf John Matthews out. Gary was 9-0 up after just four ends. A maximum at the seventh end left John in the unusual position of 14-2 down. Gary was relentless in his play, soon going 22-3 up. John finally got his act together, and won three ends from four before Gary reached his target of 24. The prize for reaching the last eight? A mouthwatering tie against Dean Dobbs.
There was almost a great comeback as Robbie Fraser met Brian Caldwell in the W D MacPherson. Newcomer Robbie, won seven of the opening nine ends as he took a surprising 13-3 advantage. Brian got going, and won three more ends before Robbie hit a maximum at the fourteenth end as he went 18-8 in front. Three brilliant ends later Brian had levelled the score! Robbie regained his composure just in time and progressed to a quarter-final tie against either Peggy Locke or Brian Riddell.
Derek Sobey started comfortably against Derek Crosby, going 6-0 up. Six ends later Crosby led 8-7. Then came a mini disaster for Crosby. Within four ends he found himself trailing 14-10. He got the score back to 13-14 before Sobey won six ends out of seven to progress. He will play either Charlie Watt or John Ross in the quarter-finals.
For a long time, thirteen ends, little separated Skibo McKenzie and Roy Anderson, with Roy just 9-7 ahead. However he won the next half dozen ends to gain total command of the match. Skibo won another couple of ends, but two singles got Roy over the line. He will play either Sandy Burgess or Marjory McCarthy in the quarter-finals.
Alex Porter was nearly knocked out in the first round of the Porter Cup! With over half the ends played, Alex and Marion Felton held a comfortable 10-3 advantage over Mary Williamson and novice, Carol McRitchie. Then the fun started. Mary and Carol were suddenly on great form, and won four ends in a row (including scoring a four) to level the game at 10-10 with three ends to play.
Up 11-10 playing the penultimate end, Alex's greed put him under unnecessary pressure. He was holding the shot, but knew that Marion had some well placed back bowls. He tried to trail the jack with his third shot to earn a count, but only succeeded in sending it slightly sideways, giving it away. He was forced to win it back with his final bowl, which he did, to enter the final end 12-10 up.
The real pressure was about to hit. Mary and Carol had played some great bowls, and Carol's third bowl had them holding three, and in a position to progress. Alex had to cut it down to force Carol to play her final bowl. He managed to move the jack, leaving Mary and Carol holding one. If Carol could get another shot she would force an extra end. A gallant effort, but she came up just short. Marion and Alex will play Brian Caldwell and Skibo McKenzie next.
The game between Mary Sobey and Paul Coutts, and John Ross and Brian Riddell was a cracker, which was neck-and-neck throughout.
Mary and Paul hit a four at the second end, but this came amidst three winning ends from John and Brian. The complete opposite thing happened over the next four ends. With the score level at 7-7 the pendulum swung slightly in the latter pair's favour as the scored three singles.
A handful of shots spread over two ends then put Mary and Paul two up with two to play. As John and Brian scored a brace at the penultimate end it was 12-12 with all to play for at the last. Mary and Paul got the all-important shot. They will now play Peggy Locke and Paul's daughter, Alana.
Peggy and Alana won half a dozen of the opening eight ends of a low-scoring tie gave them an 8-2 lead over Roy Anderson and Dean Dobbs. Roy and Dean started a comeback, but couldn't close the gap on the ladies.
Marjory McCarthy and Henry Davidson looked to be on easy street as they earned a 12-4 lead over Wilma Petrie and Robert McRitchie. However, suddenly three ends later the scores were all-square at 13-13. Marjory and Henry got there in the end and will face Charlie Watt and Ed Harris in the quarter-finals.
Adam Nicolson and Paul Rogan are also into the quarter-finals. Five shots over the second and third ends put them ahead in their game against Elma McInnes and Gary Mackie. The two sides were matched over the following handful of ends, but a five at the ninth end put Adam and Paul in control of the game. The tie could've become interesting after Elma and Gary scored a four with a pair of ends left, but Adam and Paul held their position. They face Billy Felton and Robbie Fraser next.
The strong pairing of John Matthews and Dean Dobbs have comfortably negotiated their first round Men's Pairs tie against Ed Harris and Sandy Burgess. A six at the seventh end did the most damage.
Their quarter-final opponents will be Robbie Fraser and Skibo McKenzie. Despite losing a handful to Derek Crosby and Henry Davidson at the very first end, Robbie and Skibo got it together and levelled three ends later. They lost it again, and a pair of ends later trailed by five shots once more. To their credit, they won all of the remaining nine ends.
After a fairly even opening, a five at the eighth end gave Brian Caldwell and Paul Rogan a healthy 10-4 lead over John Murdoch and Roy Anderson. John and Roy got it back to 7-10 before Brian and Paul won the final handful of ends. They will play John Ross and Adam Nicolson next.
John and Adam grabbed control of their match with Robert McRitchie and Billy Felton early on, taking an 8-1 advantage within five ends. Robert and Billy won the following four ends to get back in the game. Their resurgence was short-lived though. John and Adam won five of the remaining half dozen ends.
A four at the first end set Mary Williamson and Lesley Coutts up nicely in their Ladies' Pairs tie against Elma McInnes and Morag Ritchie. With half-a-dozen ends played, Mary and Lesley led 7-4. They then won eight ends on the spin to progress comfortably to a semi-final clash with Sheena Murdoch and Wilma Petrie.
For the second week in a row, Forres lost both legs of their Moray Ladies' League tie - this time against Buckie Victoria.
The away triple of Mary Williamson, Carol McRitchie and Lesley Coutts started well enough, leading 6-1 just four ends in. A four at the seventh end brought their opposition right back into the game. There was nothing much between the sides until Forres lost a five at the death to lose 16-10.
Mary Grier, Peggy Locke and Mary Sobey won only five single shots as they went down 16-5 in their tie.
Billy Felton, Lesley Coutts and Dean Dobbs have all moved to within three points of Carol McRitchie at the top of the Scott Cup table as the competition approaches the halfway point. A six and two fives led to them securing an early 17-0 advantage over Sandy Burgess.
Brian Riddell hit a seven as he restricted John Matthews to just four single shots all evening.
Stuart Robertson twice went nap against Paul Coutts.
11-6 up with four ends left, Derek Sobey only just held on to defeat Brian Caldwell.
Paul Rogan did well to recover from 11-5 down to win five of the final six ends and pip John Ross.
Leading Harry Sutherland 11-6 with just four ends remaining, Alex Porter managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory.
Scores: D Dobbs 39, A Burgess 6; B Riddell 24, J Matthews 4; S Robertson 20, P Coutts 13; D Sobey 12, B Caldwell 11; P Rogan 15, J Ross 14; H Sutherland 13, A Porter 13.
A familiar face won the Wednesday afternoon hat. Ann MacPherson won yet again, this time alongside Sam Morrison. The only small blip on their card was losing the toss after drawing their second set.
Ed Harris had a fantastic turnaround in fortunes as the session went on. Trailing 9-1 after seven ends, he lost just two further ends and won the final set 11-0.
It was the sixth end before Brian Caldwell dropped any shots. He was still ahead until losing every end of his final set.
Skibo McKenzie didn't have one of his better days.
Scores: S Morrison 16 up; E Harris 6 up; B Caldwell 3 down; A McKenzie 19 down.
For the second week in a row, Alex Porter won the Thursday Moving Hat. It was the ninth end before Alex, Roy Anderson and Henry Davidson lost a shot. They kept on the move, winning all four sets.
Charlie watt lost just five ends all evening as he too kept on the move. Unfortunately, two of those came as he drew the final set.
Also on the move all night was Mary Sobey. She remained unbeaten, but drew two sets.
Although Derek Sobey kept moving as well, he was well beaten in his final set.
Despite winning half of the ends played, Sam Morrison was stuck on Rink 3 throughout.
Until a great final set, Stuart Robertson was having no luck on Rink 1. He even lost the toss after drawing his second set.
Hazel Caldwell started badly and never really got going on Rink 2 until the eleventh end.
Brian Caldwell was stranded on Rink 4 for the entire evening. At least his finished with a brace.
Scores: A Porter 18 up; C Watt 12 up; M Sobey 8 up; D Sobey 4 up; S Morrison 6 down; S Robertson 7 down; H Caldwell 10 down; B Caldwell 19 down.
Although slightly worse off in the shot stakes, Forres defeated Lhanbryde 4-2 in their home Over 55s League match.
Sheena Murdoch and Mary Sobey led the way for Forres. After losing three of the opening four ends, they went on a wee run resulting in a 9-4 half-time advantage. The shots were shared equally over the remaining seven ends, meaning Sheena and Mary came out on top 13-8.
Elma McInnes and Derek Sobey were matched at every turn by their opponents until the hit a six to finish the game in dramatic fashion to get a 13-9 win.
Derek Crosby and Roy Anderson suffered badly early on as Neil Ogilvie stormed to a 14-0 advantage. A five at the seventh end gave Derek and Roy hope, but this was soon quashed and Neil went on to win 20-9.
There have been two near-misses for Forres players at competitions around the area in the last week.
Ian Stewart and Charlie Watt finished runners-up at the St Andrew's and Urquhart Open Pairs, beaten in the final at an extra end.
Lesley Coutts, Alana Coutts, Dean Dobbs and Paul Coutts finished runners up to a Keith side at the Cullen Invitational Rinks.
The Tom Ross & Sons sponsored Forres Open Triples takes place this weekend. Spectators are welcome to attend what is usually an exciting competition with a fantastic raffle.
