THE form book was turned on its head last night as two of Portobello Indoor Bowls Club's titles went to the underdogs.
First up was the upset in the Mixed Triples with the trio of Isabel McKinlay, Dennis Anderson and Wallace Millar beating favourites Keith Adamson, Cathy Ward and Colin Hairs.
The more fancied rink suffered a calamitous start to trail 6-0 although
they did find their touch to cross 9-8. However, at the tenth end a cruel slice on the jack saw the Millar trio card a mighty 5 to regain the lead at 13-9. The underdogs then tightened their grip on the match with a couple of 2s to 17 then saw out the next three ends to triumph 18-12.
The final of the women's Fours pitched the celebrity rink of Jacky McFarlane, Molly Sprott, Marie Monteith and Marianne McGarrity against Helen Dougal, Zandra Kinnear, Margaret Keenan and Rita Reid.
Reid made a great start to lead 6-1 after five ends, however, the opposition battled back to cross 9-6 before the scoreboard showed it all square at 9-9 after 11 ends.
McGarrity broke the deadlock with a 3 to 12 then dropped a single but produced a 2, 1 finish to clinch a hard-earned 15-10 victory.
The champions of both events are rewarded by representing Portobello in next season's Scottish Team Championship event.
At the Portobello stadium tonight, Colin Hairs and Euan Murray go head-to-head for the club championship title while John McDermott clashes with Jamie Reid, 16, for the under-25 version, and Harriet Munro faces Helen Dougal for the women's crown.
WENDY ARCHER continues to chase a hat-trick of titles in the Singles championship at West Lothian IBC with the holder through to the final and due to meet junior cap Liza Barrett. Archer beat Angie Uttley 21-16 in the semi-finals while Barrett saw off Jenifer Richardson 21-16.
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