NINE years after meeting in the final of the Lothians Championship, Mark Timmins and Keith Reilly are set for another head- on clash, writes MARTIN DEMPSTER.
The pair have been drawn together in the first round of this week's Turnhouse Open, having qualified comfortably for the match-play phase in the two qualifying rounds at the weekend.
Silverknowes star Reilly was pipped for top spot by Steven Arms
trong, the pair having a rare old tussle as they played in the same group in the qualifying.
Armstrong held a one-shot advantage after a first-round 66, Reilly edged in front thanks to an eagle-2 at the 14th in the second round before the Turnhouse man got back on top again in the end.
He finished on 133, one ahead of Reilly, with Timmins, who played at Prestonfield when he won that Lothians final in 2000 at Royal Burgess but is now at Pumpherston, and Paul Pentland, also of Turnhouse, sharing third on 137.
Pumpherston's Paul Drake, winner of the Lothians Order of Merit for the last two years, was fourth on 138 but he is unable to play in the knock-out phase.
Graham Robertson, the defending champion, made it through on 140 and he's up against Lochend's James Tetlow, a five-handicapper whose nett rounds of 65 and 64 earned him the handicap honours.
