Bowling – Balerno aim for title double

Maxie Baigrie of Balerno Bowling Club defends his Water of Leith seniors knockout title at Colinton on Friday (1.30pm). He will play Bill Herd from Slateford and the tie is on a green he likes.

It is, according to the bowler, fast and true and a good place to play and he qualified by beating Adam Brock (Bainfield) in the semi-final at Slateford.

David Anderson, the seniors secretary at Balerno Bowling Club, said Baigrie’s opponent dominated the opening ends of the semi-final, playing a long jack to hold a 17-9 lead.

The Balerno bowler eventually gained the mat, took it further up and shortened the jack length, putting his opponent under real pressure to such an extent that he failed to add to his score. He won 21-17.

Also in action on Friday at Colinton is the Balerno rink skipped by Fergus McBeath (pictured) and they don’t know their opponents yet.

McBeath is looking to win the title for the first time and his rink also consists of lead Charlie Husband, second Tom Vallery and third Hugh Watt.

They qualified in a nail-biting semi-final tie with Gorgie Mills at Slateford and Anderson said that both sets of players struggled with length and weight on a difficult rink.

At 10-10, Gorgie left a bowl two inches from the jack and McBeath, with his first bowl, drew perfectly, his bowl touching. It was a match winner.