Bowls: Slateford net the spoils in a thriller
Robert Marshall has kept the Slateford name to the fore with his heroic efforts in singles play but even his presence didn’t stop recently crowned Edinburgh & Leith Top Five Singles Champions Carrick Knowe, who finished a whopping 26 points ahead of Slateford in winning the Water of Leith 1st Sixteens League, from coming into this final as favourites.
And the form-book looked to be working out when Carrick Knowe carved out a comfortable 13-6 lead in the Pairs and held most of the aces at 11-6 up in the Fours, as well as storming into a commanding 13-4 lead in the Triples.
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Hide AdThe match picture did have a different complexion in the Singles but that was not unexpected, with Marshall playing the spearhead role for Slateford. The just-crowned Tait Trophy champion made life difficult for Carrick Knowe’s Richard Tough.
Marshall found his top gear at 5-4 down and motored to 12 with a run of 1, 3, 2, 2. Then, when Tough menaced him at 14-11, the 18-times Slateford champion made fresh space to 19 with a 3, 2 response and kept his club in the match with a 21-13 win in 20-ends.
Meanwhile, the Carrick Knowe trio of Stephen Pringle, Darren Hush and James Hogg had made a flying start to lead by nine shots and went on to beat Ronnie Ramsay, Rab Stewart and Graeme McAdam 18-13.
But the Slateford trio had helped the shot-margin cause with a mighty count of 5 on the tenth end and although it didn’t save them, it did have a major influence on team morale across the green.
Slateford duo Dougie Martin and Gordon Ramsay were in the doldrums at 13-6 down to Kevin Tennant and Colin Mitchell, but staged a spectacular escape to steal a 15-13 victory with a finish of 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2.
It was a nail-biting last-end victory that Slateford repeated in the Fours, where Alan Brash, Louis Beaton, John Ramsay and Scott Brunton had it all to do at 13-9 down to John Mitchell, Andy Blair, Craig Aitken and Johnny Priestley.
Dudley had turned into a cauldron of red-hot excitement and the drama reached its peak with Brunton and Co carding 1, 2, 1 to peels at 13 and then completing the great Slateford comeback with a three at the last to win 16-13.
“The script for this final surely belongs in the thriller section and the intense drama of the occasion made it a real pleasure for Slateford to emerge the stars of the show,” reflected Gordon Ramsay for champions.