Henry Davidson and Mary Sobey claim honours in first hat night at Forres Bowling Club

With the extended indoor season now finished, there was a decent turnout for last Monday night's 'friendly' hat night at Forres Bowling Club, writes Alex Porter.

The Scott Cup doesn't commence until next week, so a moving hat night was held.

The first winners of the season were Henry Davidson and Mary Sobey. They were in such a comfortable position after winning their first three sets that they felt they could afford to lose all four ends of the final set.

After taking a battering in the first set, the short ends stood Harry Sutherland in good stead for the remainder of the evening.

Gary Mackie won his first five ends, but being successful in only a pair of the following eight cost him.

An excellent final set saw Steve Gill turn a six-shot deficit into a three-shot advantage.

Brian Riddell recorded a positive scorecard after recovering from being six shots down after seven ends.

Charlie Watt was going well before a heavy final set defeat.

The vast majority of John Matthews ends were low-scoring, however a poorer second half let him down.

Losing seven shots over a pair of second half ends consigned Stuart Robertson to the also-rans.

Brian Caldwell was staring at the wooden spoon until he won his final two sets.

After winning his first set, Alex Porter realised that he was taking things too seriously and decided to let his opponents win for a change.

Scores: M Sobey 8 up; H Sutherland 6 up; G Mackie 4 up; S Gill 3 up; B Riddell 2 up; C Watt 1 down; J Matthews 4 down; S Robertson 5 down; B Caldwell 5 down; A Porter 8 down.

The first Wednesday afternoon hat of the season finished with a victory for Ed Harris, Peggy Locke and Steve Gill.

Although they were beaten by 'relative youngster', Davie Petrie, in the first set, they recovered to win their remaining three (including getting their revenge on Petrie).

After losing his initial set, Charlie Watt was unbeaten for the rest of the session. This included a comprehensive 10-1 win in the third set.

Hazel Caldwell lost out to husband, Brian, in the first set, but had the last laugh on him and finished with a positive card.

Brian Caldwell's best bowls were played at the beginning of the afternoon.

After a promising start, Davie Petrie's play deteriorated.

Derek Crosby began with a win, but a heavy third set defeat knocked the stuffing out of him.

Scores: S Gill 11 up; C Watt 8 up; H Caldwell 2 up; B Caldwell 3 down; D Petrie 6 down; D Crosby 12 down.

Ladies' champion Lesley Coutts put in her first hat-night appearance of the season on Thursday night, and, ably supported by Peggy Locke and Roy Anderson, blew away her opposition.

The trio won all four sets and hit a seven at the ninth end.

After losing his first set, Davie Petrie went on a winning spree (eight ends on the spin), but a final set defeat buried his chances of overall victory.

A strong final set saw Derek Sobey turn a three-shot deficit into a decent result.

Paul Coutts started with a bang, a 12-shot win. However he didn't find the rest of his opposition so easy.

Charlie Watt wasn't involved in any spectacular ends, but won three of his sets.

A dreadful final three ends cost Harry Sutherland the evening's runner-up spot.

After a decent start, John Matthews lost half a dozen ends in a row. He almost recovered towards the end of the session.

Mary Sobey had an exceptionally poor start to the evening, 14-1 down after seven ends. She did really well to cut the deficit a bit in the second half.

Gary Mackie was stranded on rink 1 for the evening as a result of failing to score after the seventh end.

Brian Caldwell had a miserable time stuck on rink 3, losing some heavy counts in the process.

Scores: L Coutts 29 up; D Petrie 13 up; D Sobey 9 up; P Coutts 8 up; C Watt 4 up; H Sutherland 1 up; J Matthews 1 down; M Sobey 8 down; G Mackie 24 down; B Caldwell 31 down.