CRAIGENTINNY remain on course to capture the Division 1 title of the Alpha Trophies Edinburgh Bowls League for the first time since 2005 with last night's 7-2 away win over Dudley increasing their lead over the chasing pack.
Chief rivals Parkside did well to score a 5-4 away win over Goldenacre but the result does mean that Craigentinny have increased their lead at the top of the table to six points after eight games of the 14-match programme.
Third-placed Pilrig, the
defending champions, lost 5-4 at Hillside while record six-times champions Tanfield dropped points in their 5-4 away win over foot of the table Queensberry.
It was the bonus point for shot aggregate plus wins for the rinks skipped by Ian Paterson, Willie McDonald and Kevin McFarlane that kept Craigentinny top.
The league leaders' Andrew Jeffrey skipped Jamie Reid, Scott Duncan and Gordon Bold into an 11-5 lead over Davy Dewar and still led at 15-10 but he was pulled back to 17-15 with three ends to play. Dewar then skipped Ian Robertson, Dougie Louden and Colin Barr junior to a thrilling 21-17 victory.
Paterson was against the collar most of the way against Peter Miller but was always close and a late run of 1, 2, 4 was enough for him to skip Craig McCall, John Shields and David Brown to a 17-13 win.
McDonald had it all to do at 12-4 down to Graham Flight but a spectacular run of 7, 1, 3 1, 1, turned the tables and a second seven three ends later saw him skip Darren Smith, Grant McLaren and Andrew Caldwell to a 24-21 win.
McFarlane skipped Paul Robertson, Kerr McKail and Gary Nisbet to a 18-16 win over Peter Whitten.
Parkside – runners-up last season and champions in 2007 – inflicted a first home defeat on last season's Division 2 champions Goldenacre.
Paul Veitch skipped Derek Smith, Martin Burns and Andrew Davie to a 24-10 win over Colin Hutchison while Alex Hurry was also on the top of his form to skip Danny Jackson, Rab Gardner and Graham Fraser to a 19-7 win over Nicky Brown.
Malky Thomson raised the first home cheer when skipping Gavin Barclay, Alan Head and Neil Carr to a 17-11 win over Willie Watson while teammate Jim Hutchison led Willie King, Brian Hogg and George Hansen to a 15-13 win over Robert Donaldson.
In Division 2, table-toppers Leith edged a 5-4 home win over Dean that increased their lead to four points over second-placed Wardie, who suffered a 5-4 home defeat from third-bottom Maitland.
Niddrie moved into third place – just ahead of Dean – with a 7-2 home win over foot-of-the-table London Road Foundry while Willowbrae edged a 5-4 away win over relegation-zoned Postal.
