DEAN fielded three club champions and an EBL Under-25 champion in last night's first round of the Edinburgh & Leith Top Five Singles for the Ian McFarlane Trophy – and they combined to deliver a 4-1 home win over Dudley.
First blood went to the Dean bowlers with double champion Mark Davies raising the hopes of the home support with a runaway 21-5 win over the luckless Peter Whitten in a super quick 12 ends. Whitten opened the scoring with a single but Davies stormed
into an 11-1 lead with a whirlwind run of 4, 2, 3, 2 and never looked back.
Dudley were soon back on level terms , however, with Davy Dewar blazing a 12-6 trail against Roddy Watson but coming under pressure at 14-13 before hitting 21 with an explosive 4, 3 finish to win in 18-ends.
Robert White, the Edinburgh Bowling League Junior Champion of 2004, picked up the pace from 0-5 to 9-5 with a run of 1, 4, 3, 1 then answered the loss of a single with a 1, 1, 2, 3 reply to lead Peter Miller, 16-6.
Miller raised visiting hopes with a six-end rally of 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2 to 14 but White corrected his wobble with a 1, 1, 3 reply to clinch a 21 -14 win in 20 ends.
Dean were now 2-1 up but just off White's shoulder, four-times champion Andy McNab was being put through the wringer at 14-7 down to Dougie McGeachie.
A spectacular change of landscape, however, saw McNab power into an 18-14 lead having produced a run of 1, 3, 1, 3, 3. He then answered renewed pressure at 18-17 with a magic 3 to win in 21 ends.
McNab's win secured Dean's place in the second round but his brother Kevin was also poised to win his match and the five-times club champion made it 4-1 at the 21-12 expense of Graham Flight.
"Home advantage does make a difference but the result still represent a solid performance from us," said Dean spokesman Robert White.
