Mother-and-daughter duo roll out great performance as Lesley and Alana Coutts win Moray Ladies Pairs tournament for Forres Bowling Club
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Lesley and Alana Coutts from Forres Bowling Club have won the Moray Ladies' Pairs after a weather challenged event on their home green.
The Coutts overcame the formidable duo of The Elgin's Ann Anderson and Isobel Laing. Little separated the two teams over the first eight ends of the final, with Lesley and Alana holding an 8-6 advantage. Eleven shots, including a five, scored over the next four ends saw Ann and Isobel throwing in the towel, or possibly reaching for one.
The competition began with the first round at 10am. Lossiemouth's Norma Bain won six of the first eight ends against Meg Spence from St Aethan's. Meg hit seven shots over the following pair of ends to go 10-7 in front. Although Norma won another couple of ends, she was falling further behind thereafter.
Isobel Laing stole the march on Marjory McCarthy (Forres) early on, holding an 11-2 advantage with five ends to play. Marjory won three of those ends, but it was too late to make much of an impression.
A five at the third end put Isobel Laing in control of her quarter-final against Meg Spence. The game was over as a spectacle when Isobel went 17-3 up after nine ends. The game was called when Meg lost a four at the thirteenth end.
Forres' Peggy Locke also hit a five at the third end as she stormed 7-0 up on Buckie Victoria's Eleanor Slater. Trailing 12-3 approaching the halfway stage didn't faze Eleanor though, she won seven of the remaining eight ends for a great comeback victory.
The match between Jutta Hewett (Lossiemouth) and Alana Coutts swung one way the the other initially, with Alana leading 5-0 before going 7-5 behind. A seven at the seventh end put Alana in a strong position, and she forged ahead to win comfortably.
Sheena Murdoch (Forres) won the initial four ends of her match with Buckie Victoria's Emma Petrie. Emma fought back, and trailed by just one shot with a handful of ends to go. Sheena gave herself enough of a cushion over the next three ends to allow for losing the final pair.
Isobel Laing took six of her opening seven ends against Eleanor Slater in the semi-finals to lead 12-1. Eleanor then won a couple of ends, but, when Isobel took control again, she was forced to bow out.
Alana Coutts was in command of the all-Forres semi-final when, after losing the initial end, she won five on the spin. Sheena was only three shots back with a handful of ends to play, but lost four of those ends.
John Ross, Charlie Watt, Brian Riddell and Paul Coutts were beaten 26-9 by Aberchirder in the R D Fraser Trophy at Fochabers.
Ross' quest to re-capture the Men's Championship Trophy he won in 2014 is still alive, but he had to overcome a real challenge in his quarter-final tie against John Murdoch. Murdoch, who doesn't play very often, showed up well, taking the first three ends to lead 6-0. Ross saved himself from going well behind by scoring at the next pair of ends, but found that, with Murdoch winning seven of the initial nine ends, he was 11-5 down. Again, Ross won a couple of ends that reduced the deficit to two shots. Murdoch forged ahead once more, leading 15-9 after thirteen ends, but proceeded to lose seven ends out of eight to bow out of the competition. The real killer was losing a maximum at the sixteenth end. A gallant effort nonetheless. Ross will play either Derek Crosby or Brian Riddell in the semi-finals.
Sheena Murdoch wasted no time as she reached a last four match against the holder of the Ladies' championship, Alana Coutts. The 2016 winner was on top form as she despatched Morag Ritchie from the competition in eleven ends.
Harry Sutherland will play Ed Harris for a place in the final of the President's Handicap after overcoming the challenge of Alana Coutts. Harry got the better of Alana in the early stages of their game, going 4-0 up. Within a pair of ends Alana had squared matters. A couple of ends later, Harry had reinstated his four shot advantage, only to be clawed back again. The momentum was now with the youngster, and, with seventeen ends played, she led 14-10. Harry, who won the trophy in 2007 before Alana was born, and again in 2012, won eight of the next nine ends to progress.
Skibo McKenzie and Brian Caldwell are into the semi-finals of the Porter Cup. A three at the third end had them 4-1 up on Marion Felton and Alex Porter. Marion and Alex fought back to 4-4, but then lost a six. They started to fight back again, but a great shot by Brian at the ninth end put him 12-5 ahead just as his lead was about to be cut to three shots. At the twelfth end, Marion and Alex were once again threatening to close the gap, but Brian played a great shot to give him and Skibo a six shot cushion. Alex missed a good opportunity at the thirteenth end. One of Skibo's bowls was keeping him and Brian from losing a four. Alex pulled the pick out. Another six at the next end finished the tie. Skibo and Brian will play Adam Nicolson and Paul Rogan next.
John Matthews and Dean Dobbs are into the semi-finals of the Men's Pairs, but only after a testing time against newbies, Robbie Fraser and Skibo McKenzie. A four at the first for the strong favourites, John and Dean, was no real surprise to the spectators. However they didn't expect the strong response from Robbie and Skibo! The latter pairing won five ends on the spin to lead 6-4! John and Dean restored parity two end later, only to fall two behind again with ten ends played. A five for John and Dean at the eleventh end turned the tide, and they went on to win comfortably.
The tie between Brian Caldwell & Paul Rogan and Adam Nicolson & John Ross was a fascinating one, which went right down to the wire. The match seemed to be one-sided as Brian and Paul won the initial half dozen ends, going 10-0 in front. Amazingly, Adam and John won seven of the remaining nine ends. Although still 12-5 down with only three ends to play, they finished just one shot short of forcing an extra end. The two victorious teams will play each other in the semi-finals.
Alex Porter has moved to within three points of the top of the Scott Cup table after securing his third overall win in nine outings. Robbie Fraser played an excellent lead game to make things easier for Alex. Upset at losing the first end to a Charlie Watt shot, they ensured that Charlie and his skip, Harry Sutherland, never got any more all evening!
On almost any other night Lesley Coutts would've been collecting the five points. She lost just two ends to Brian Caldwell, winning thirteen in a row at one point.
Hazel Caldwell started really well against Stuart Robertson, leading 8-0 after four ends. Four ends later she trailed 10-8! She got back on track by dropping just one single second half end.
With seven ends played, John Matthews held a 12-2 advantage over John Ross. Ross won six of the remaining nine ends to narrow the deficit.
Carol McRitchie moved back to the top of the table as a result of her, and skip Paul Coutts' victory over Brian Riddell. Paul led 9-2 after half a dozen ends, but a four for Brian at the fourteenth made things interesting.
Scores: A Porter 34, H Sutherland 1; L Coutts 26, B Caldwell 5; H Caldwell 18, S Robertson 12; J Matthews 18, J Ross 13; P Coutts 17, B Riddell 14.
As a result of winning all four sets, the Wednesday Afternoon Hat was won by Peggy Locke, Billy Felton and Robert McRitchie. They scored SIX twice in three mid-afternoon ends.
Charlie Watt kept on the move, but was defeated in his final set.
Sam Morrison won five of his last half dozen ends.
Brian Caldwell had a bit of a disaster, losing all four sets.
Scores: R McRitchie 20 up; C Watt 5 up; S Morrison 4 down; B Caldwell 21 down.
13 up after half a dozen ends, Derek Crosby and Skibo McKenzie looked nailed on to run away with Thursday's Moving Hat-Night. However, with a couple of ends to play the duo were just five ahead. They scored 13 shots over that pair of ends to put them out of sight.
Robert McRitchie began really well, and won three of his four sets. He slipped up in his second one.
Dean Dobbs twice went nap during the evening. That proved to be the difference between him and his opposition.
Trailing by four shots after ten ends, Stuart Robertson finished the evening on form.
Low-scoring was the name of the game in John Matthews' encounters. He won more than he lost.
Alex Porter started badly, with a 9-2 hammering. He dropped just two further ends, but one was by a handful.
12-2 up after seven ends, Brian Caldwell managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory.
A poor final set let Robbie Fraser down. He had been peels after the third.
Marjory McCarthy went to pieces over the final half dozen ends.
Harry Sutherland did even worse, losing his final six ends after holding a four shot advantage!
Not a lot went right for Henry Davidson. His highlight was winning the toss after the third set.
After winning his third set, Ed Harris could have done without his dreadful ending.
Scores: A McKenzie 18 up; R McRitchie 12 up; D Dobbs 10 up; S Robertson 9 up; J Matthews 6 up; A Porter 6 up; B Caldwell peels; M McCarthy 6 down; R Fraser 8 down; H Sutherland 11 down; H Davidson 15 down; E Harris 21 down.
