Mixed fortunes for Forres bowlers on national stage
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The Scottish qualifiers provided mixed results for Forres Bowling Club last week.
John Matthews was beaten 21-16 by his Longside opponent, S Davidson, in his gents singles tie.
He started slowly, but a maximum at the ninth end saw him draw level at 8-8. Davidson then pulled away again, and, although Matthews squared it again at the 17th end (14-14), he let a maximum go at the next one.
In the triples, Sandy Burgess, John Ross and Dean Dobbs are through to the semi-finals as a result of defeating New Deer 15-13.
The lads lost a four at the third end, and were 9-3 down after seven. They scored a magnificent seven shots at the tenth end to go 13-10 up and were four shots clear before losing a brace at the death.
Stuart Robertson is through to the quarter-finals of the senior singles. He won his match against Keith 21-16.
However, John Ross will have to try again next year as he was beaten by Aberchirder B 21-15.
Lindsey Petrie won her first game in the defence of her junior ladies' singles title. She beat her Turriff opponent 21-7, and is now in the semi-finals.
In the senior rinks, Eddie Cowie, Ed Harris, Derek Crosby and Sam Morrison were defeated by Keith 18-9.
The Forres boys were 13-3 down after seven ends. They picked up slightly thereafter, but not enough to make any impression.
There was an epic 29-end senior gents' singles game played at Forres.
John Whitton (Grant Park) won his first three ends to lead Elgin's Willie Laing 5-0. Laing soon squared matters, and the score was very tight throughout until at 18-18 before a maximum got the Elgin man over the line.
Young Caitlin Dustan recorded some great shots as she was part of the winning triple in the Scott Cup.
Her partners, Derek Crosby and John Ross also chipped in with a few shots as they defeated Sandy Burgess.
Burgess started well, but was 10-8 down with six ends to play. Caitlin's team won all six of those ends and she has moved up to joint second place in the Scott Cup table as a result.
Alex Porter led Sam Morrison 4-3 after seven ends of what started off as a low-scoring encounter. Morrison wiped the floor with his rival thereafter, and would have won the evening had he not slipped up at the final two ends.
Steve Gill recovered well after trailing Harry Sutherland 7-0 two ends in. Although he squared things at 9-9 after ten ends, Sutherland won the final six ends.
After a poor start, John Matthews was always struggling to keep pace with Dean Dobbs.
Nothing could separate Stuart Robertson and Brian Riddell in a low-scoring draw.
Scores: John Ross 21, A Burgess 8; S Morrison 19, A Porter 8; H Sutherland 20, S Gill 9; D Dobbs 17, J Matthews 8; B Riddell 9, S Robertson 9.
It was a third defeat in a row for the Forres ladies in the Moray Ladies' Triples League.
The home triple of Mary Williamson, Sheena Murdoch and Louise Morris started brightly, taking an early 6-1 lead. However, their Keith opponents then won six ends out of seven to lead 12-7 with four ends left.
The Forres ladies showed their resilience to win the remaining ends for a 13-12 result.
Unfortunately, the away triple of Marion Felton, Sheila Cruickshank and Lesley Coutts crashed 27-5.
There have been some cracking club competition ties played in the last week.
In the men's championship, Roy Anderson defeated Ed Harris 21-19. Anderson went 7-0 up after just three ends, however three trebles saw his opponent square things five ends later.
Anderson started to pull away again, and, when the score went to 19-13, it looked beyond Harris but to his credit he stuck to the task and won six of the following seven ends before Anderson sealed his place in the second round.
Paul Coutts is through to the second round of the President's Handicap, but he was made to fight for his place during a 25-ender with Louise Morris.
Morris started well, and was 7-2 up before Coutts found his feet to lead 9-7. The game levelled out, with both players holding slight advantages in turn but a maximum at the 19th end put Coutts in command.
In the W D MacPherson Trophy, Ray Boyd beat Eddie Cowie 21-19. This tie lasted an epic 26 ends.
Cowie started the brighter to lead 10-4, and kept a few shots ahead until a treble at the 25th end saw Boyd draw level at 19-19, before scoring a brace at the next end to win the tie.
Stuart Robertson, aiming to win the W D MacPherson for the fifth time in succession, has safely negotiated his first round tie with Steve Gill, who did have the lead early on but was soon overpowered.
Louise Morris is through to the second round of the John Raffan after defeating beginner Henry Davidson, who did hold a 6-2 lead after four ends but was unable to keep up with Morris thereafter.
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After their great start to the league season, the Over 55's lost their second game in succession. Aberlour were the visitors, and won two of the three ties.
Ed Harris and Davie Petrie were the Forres stars. They scored a SIX and a five en route to a 22-5 victory.
Elma McInnes and Sam Morrison recovered well from a dreadful start - they trailed 10-1 after just five ends. Despite winning the majority of their ends, they were pipped 13-11 at the finish.
Eddie Cowie and Marjory McCarthy led 8-7 with five ends to play. Alas, they lost all five to go down 19-8.
Forres won five of the six ties as they defeated Hopeman 124-73 in their annual friendly.
Hopeman's top triple were Eddie Cowie (loaned for the evening), Brian Ralph and Ann Rose who defeated Sandy Burgess 18-16.
Burgess had scored a six at the second end to lead 7-0, and then a handful at the fifth end to go 12-3 up. Rose fought back, and won six of the final eight ends.
Top Forres triple were Peggy Locke, Kath Todd and John Ross who won 20-5 against Jim Riddell, who couldn't get to grips with the green and managed to win just four ends.
John Matthews led throughout his encounter with Alistair Roberts, a particularly good second half helping him to a 19-9 success.
Dean Dobbs hit an eight at the fourth end of his clash with Allan Grant, leading 21-5 with three to play. To Grant's credit he pulled back ten shots over the next two ends, before Dobbs finished the evening with a quadruple.
After six ends won alternately, Mike Reid led Alex Porter 11-4. However Porter won the following five ends to go 13-11 up on his way to an eventual 19-15 success.
Lindsey Petrie showed no mercy on Bob Harvey early on, scoring with a barrage of shots to lead 15-1 after six ends. Things looked worse when she hit her second six of the evening at the 10th end, but Harvey finished the stronger to avoid the wooden spoon.
