Henry Davidson and Dean Dobbs claim victory at Forres Bowling Club's two-bowl pairs event
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The first internal competition of the season at Forres Bowling Club, the two-bowl pairs, has been won by Henry Davidson and Dean Dobbs.
Although they lost two of their first half sets, they had an impeccable second half, winning their final five sets secured the trophy.
Going well in the first half, with just one defeat, Peggy Locke and Gary Mackie had high hopes. A defeat and a draw at the start of the second half saw them pipped by a point.
Davie Petrie began and ended the afternoon well, but suffered three losses mid-game.
John Matthews began with a 10-1 victory and was unbeaten over his final five sets, however winning only one of his four pre-tea sets cost him.
Mary Sobey took a while to recover from that first set hammering, but recovered well eventually.
In contention at the break, Charlie Watt's chances evaporated when he lost his final four sets.
It was a similar story for Brian Caldwell, in with a chance at half-time but only having a draw to show for his last four sets efforts.
A six-set losing streak spelt disaster for Derek Sobey.
All Alex Porter had to show for a poor first half was a victory over the eventual winners. Things improved after the break.
Marjory McCarthy's form was erratic all afternoon, doing better against the better teams.
Steve Gill would've have done better had he been able to turn draws into victories.
Harry Sutherland brought up the rear with just a single victory in each half.
Scores: D Dobbs 18 points, 62 shots; G Mackie 17 points, 49 shots; D Petrie 16 points, 52 shots; J Matthews 15 points, 62 shots; M Sobey 11 points, 45 shots; C Watt 10 points, 44 shots; B Caldwell 9 points, 48 shots; D Sobey 8 points, 42 shots; A Porter 8 points, 37 shots; M McCarthy 8 points, 35 shots; S Gill 7 points, 39 shots; H Sutherland 5 points, 31 shots.
In the main, Forres fared well in the Scottish Championships.
In the Ladies' Singles, Lesley Coutts overcame a dreadful start to her first round tie against Liz Inglis of Strichen.
Coutts was 8-0 down after just three ends of their tie at Elgin but won seven of the next eight ends to go 12-10 ahead. Inglis levelled the tie with two singles before Coutts won five ends in a row to reach the quarter-finals.
She kept up the momentum in the quarter-finals after losing her first end against Gail Beaton of Aberchirder, racing 6-1 clear with the only hiccup when she lost a three whilst 16-3 ahead. She eventually won 21-8.
Coutts' semi-final against Dufftown's Julie Garrick started very well, 6-1 up after four ends.
Whilst losing the odd single shot, she went 14-5 ahead but Garrick came back at her and half a dozen ends later, the lead was scaled back to 15-14.
The Forres Ladies' Champion regained her composure and finished the game four ends later (21-15).
Coutts will play Amy Barker of St Aethan's (Burghead) in the District 2 final on Saturday June 18.
Forres president Dean Dobbs booked a place against Buckie Victoria in the third round of the Gents Singles.
After a cagey opening ten ends at Buckie, Dean led his Banff opponent 7-6. Ten shots over the following four ends put Dean on easy street, with him eventually winning 21-8.
Paul Coutts bowed out of the same competition, beaten 21-6 at Cullen by Bill Menzies of Strichen.
Charlie Watt and John Matthews progress in the pairs after an emphatic victory over Elgin at St Aethan's.
They led 6-0 after three ends and 7-4 after seven, before Watt and Matthews hit at five at the enxt end and won all of the remaining ends, including a six at the 15th. They will play Keith in the third round.
The Forres triple of Kevin McWilliam, Henry Davidson and Davie Petrie had a disastrous start to their match at St Aethan's against Jim Henderson's side from The Elgin.
The score was 10-0 after a handful of ends, and 15-2 two ends later. The Forres lads started to pick up some shots, indeed they hit two fours, but the damage was done.
Ed Harris, Roy Anderson, Brian Riddell and Gary Mackie suffered an early setback at Portsoy, losing a five at the third end against Peter Raeburn's Peterhead rink.
The Forres four plugged away though, and were still in the game, trailing 12-9 after a dozen ends. They won four of the remaining five ends to complete the comeback and progress to a tie with Buckie Victoria next week.
Harry Sutherland is through to the second round of the Over 55s Singles after defeating Ian Morrison of Aberlour 21-18 at Fochabers. It was a fairly even game, with both players in the teens, before Sutherland began to pull away and earn a third round match against Fraserburgh.
Davie Petrie led Hopeman's Finlay McPherson 5-2 after half a dozen ends before losing four ends on the trot to trail 9-5.
He got back into the game, and after 18 ends led 18-13. Unfortunately, McPherson came back at him and sealed a 21-19 victory at the 23rd end.
Alana Coutts battled away in the Under 25s Ladies Singles, taking the much more experienced, Ashley Dalgarno of Keith to 24 ends at The Elgin.
Dalgarno took an early lead, but, after ten ends, Coutts was just one shot behind at 8-7. Single-shot victories for each player at most of the ends resulted in a 21-13 win for the Keith player.
Forres were beaten 34-17 on aggregate by Elgin in their first Moray Ladies' League game of the season.
The home triple of Ailene Matthews, Sheena Murdoch and Marjory McCarthy went down 19-7.
Meanwhile, the away triple of Chris Stoves, Peggy Locke and Lesley Coutts led 6-3 after seven ends of their tie, but five ends later trailed 15-6.
The Forres ladies woke up in time to win their final three ends, but suffered a 15-10 defeat.
Malcolm Swinswood has won the first competitive game he has played at Forres Bowling Club.
He was 8-0 up on Roy Anderson in their President's Handicap tie and although Anderson did start to pick up some shots, Swinwood progressed to the second round where he'll meet Frank Byrne or Dean Dobbs.
Peggy Locke faced Hazel Caldwell in the John Raffan, and what a cracker of a tie it was.
Locke scored three at the first end and continued to stay just slightly ahead until a brace at the 24th end got Caldwell on level terms at 18-18.
The match was decided at the 27th end where Caldwell secured two shots for a 21-20 victory. She will meet either Alana Coutts or Chris Stoves in the quarter-finals.
Forres were narrowly beaten 93-87 by Hopeman in their friendly.
The top triple of the night belonged to the visitors. Ann Rose, Mike Reed and Jim Riddell led Brian Riddell's side from the second end and finished them off with a five.
Derek Crosby, Charlie Watt and John Matthews supplied the top home triple. Nine shots scored over three mid-game ends put them in control over Baba Robertson's team.
Brian Caldwell was on track for the top score of the evening, 21-4 up on Alan Grant until a collapse over the final half dozen ends.
Alex Porter led Finlay McPherson 7-0, but McPherson fought back and it was neck-and-neck until Porter knocked in one of the Hopeman bowls with his final delivery of the game.
At the halfway stage, Davie Petrie led Robert Smillie 8-5. However, he then lost nine shots in three ends to leave him playing catch up.
Losing a six and a five early in the second half left Malcolm Swinswood beaten by Tommy Murray.
Scores (Forres first): M Swinswood 14, T Murray 20; A Porter 12, F McPherson 13; B Riddell 7, J Riddell 20; D Petrie 11, R Smillie 17; B Caldwell 22, A Grant 13; J Matthews 21, A Robertson 10.
