PILRIG sustained their Division 1 title challenge in the Alpha Trophies Edinburgh Bowling League with a 7-2 away win over Hillside last night to remain joint top with defending champions Parkside.
Parkside would have been looking for a clean sweep but had to settle for a 7-2 home win over Queensberry, while the battle between two historical league giants saw Craigentinny celebrate a 7-2 home win over Tanfield.
Foot of the table Leith moved
closer to the pack with a 6-3 home win over Dean and the latest positions stand: Pilrig 52; Parkside 52; Craigentinny 37½; Queensberry 37; Hillside 32; Tanfield 28½; Dean 25; Leith 24.
Craigentinny welcomed back Andrew Jeffrey after an absence from the league scene and he made the major impression of the night by skipping Craig McCall, Scott Duncan and Kevin Hunter to a 26-6 win over Stuart Campbell of Tanfield.
Willie McDonald was pegged back at 12-11 but he skipped Darren Smith, Grant McLaren and Derek McFarlane to a 16-11 win over Graeme McIntosh.
Kevin McFarlane completed a hat-trick of wins for the home side when skipping John Fraser sen, John Shields and Davy Brown to a 19-14 win over David Snodgrass.
Tanfield's only success came from Scott Wood, who produced a sizzling spell from 1-6 to 17-6 and skipped Jamie McIntosh, Scott Carr and Stuart McKean to a 21-16 win over Gordon Bold.
Pilrig lived dangerously at Hillside but had the bottle to tip the scales in their favour when the business end loomed.
Hillside made their mark through Gary Muir who skipped Keith Adamson, David Foley and Brian Irving to an 18-7 win over David Poole.
But Pilrig's Gavin Smith skipped Gavin Rogers, Graeme Hislop and Darren McKenny to a 22-9 success over Keith Gallacher.
However, it was a last-bowl take-out for three which clinched a 15-11 win for Walter Day, Ryan Gow, Scott Rogers and Keith Taylor over Kevin Moncur and Chris Steven carded 4 at the last to skip Graeme Gow, Mike Wilson and Ewan Craig to a 17-12 win over BJ Smith.
"We did give the league leaders a fright only it wasn't a big enough one," summed up BJ for Hillside.
Division 2 leaders Wardie had a battle on their hands against third-placed Dudley but edged a 5-4 home win that keeps them two points ahead of chief rivals Goldenacre.
Goldenacre won 7-2 at home against foot of the table Seafield while a mid-table battle saw Willowbrae spring a 6-3 surprise away to Corstorphine. Maitland moved out of the relegation zone with a 7-2 home over Postal.
The full article contains 458 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
