The John McConnachie Memorial Friday night triples competition starts on Friday 13th Aug at 7pm.  Members playing are asked to be at the clubhouse for 6:45pm.  Good luck to all participants and may the best team win……  Further updates to follow.

Friday 13th Aug report.

Well the sun shown (well for a time anyway) and all the big guns headed out to do battle in this years John McConnachie Memorial Triples competition.  The format of which is 11 ends.  Battle commenced from some at the agreed time but for others it was a different story.  Missing players….missing shoes…oh the list goes on.

With Scott “Hawk” missing 1 shoe from his locker he spent most of the time hopping around looking for the missing item much to the amusement of the other competitors.  Eventually a substitute show was provided and play for all the teams could begin.

The green looked well but to be honest played terrible and tested all the competitors to the limit.  Some “Big” names fell by the wayside after the 11 ends were complete with the so called underdogs being triumphant on the evenings play.  So those teams lucky enough to have won are now thru to the next weeks round which takes place on Fri 2oth Aug…..For those that were not so lucky it just means they can enjoy the clubs bar facilities earlier than most.

Fri 20th Aug report.

Well with the teams called to the green at 6:40pm for the 6:45pm start by the ever efficient match secretary, Mr Jim McWilliam, the players made their way there onto their respective rinks…..that is all but 2 players.

The match secretary decided he needed to finish his Guinness before attempting the 11 ends of bowls……and with a few large gulps the drink was done and his rink could finally get underway.  That just left the teams drawn to play on rink 5 to start their game.  After a quick count – there were only 5 players on the green with Mr Gerry McColl being the absent party.

After a quick phone message, and a call back from the man himself – his team mates were informed that he was at least 10 minutes away “stuck in traffic”…so as every good seasonal bowler knows…..that is 10 mins to have another drink so the 5 players vacated the green to enjoy a refreshment whilst waiting for the arrival of one of their party.

Finally Gerry turned up and the teams could let battle commence.  With the games generally equally balanced  (apart from the whacking great win the Thomson family managed to rack up and skipped by “Super Skip” Craig Thomson) all in all the games were closely fought as each team battled to make it through to the semi-finals with each shot being closely calculated, pondered over, discussed, made a hash of and player ridiculed.

The game in rink 5 was very closely fought with the team skipped by Stephen Gow 4 up with 1 end to go.  Here lies the escape story of the night that even Steve McQueen and his fellow prisioners of war would have been proud of.  With the leads having played almost all their bowls and Stephen’s team lying several shots the call went out over the radio waves for the “Heavy Hitters” to take aim and fire at the head.  Needless to say the outcome was that the end was burnt and had to be replayed.

That was not the end of the excitement……with the end being replayed and the leads and seconds finished it fell to the skips to make or break the evening.  With Stephen, Gerry and Jim lying several shots Donald McKinnon and Stephen Blair informed their skip “The Rocket” that he needed to pull the jack 3 yards to give them 5 shots.  With 2 bowls left to play “The Rocket” duly picked the jack up and did as he was told.  Stephen then drew with his final bowl and secured 3rd shot.

There was no option but the bowl had to be removed from the head with the “Rockets” last bowl to have at least a chance of getting through to the semi-finals.  In a last gasp effort the bowl was thrown and somehow managed to hit the bowl and leave his team mates with the 5 shots needed to win the match.

Look out Houdini….the “Rocket” is after yer job.

A harsh result for Stephen and his team mates…..as they did deserve to have the lead they had accumulated on merit on the evenings play….but I’m afraid thats bowls!

22nd December 2010

The scaffolding has now gone and the main external construction work has been completed with the focus now on the internal fixtures and fittings.  The most important area of the new clubhouse – the bar – is being built and will be much larger.  The committee have been busily working away sourcing new items for the fitting out of the clubhouse including new seating, tables, Bar and catering equipment to name but a few.

Externally the veranda and railings have still to be completed but internally work is continuing with completion dates estimated at the middle of January 2011.  We continue to work towards getting into the new building and adding the finishing touches to what will be our new home.

The building of the new clubhouse commenced on Monday 9th August 2010 with the contractors on-site early that morning.  Things moved apace with fencing being erected for site safety and early ground work commencing shortly afterwards.

Its great to see the work commencing and there is an air of anticipation and optimism around the club since the work started.  Photographs will be posted of its progress throughout the build process.