AUCHINLECK is something of a lions' den for visiting bowls teams and there was no respite for Bainfield, who suffered a 88-60 mauling.
The defeat left the Capital side without a win after three matches in the indoor bowls Premier League.
Although it's too early to press the panic button, these are anxious times for last season's Scottish Cup winners who had high expectations comi
ng into the new campaign.
"Two of our defeats have been away from home and that needn't be the end of the world because as long as we are strong on the Bainfield carpet we can save our skins in terms of avoiding the drop," ventured the club's Paul O'Donnell.
O'Donnell managed to escape with a peel having promised much more by setting the pace against Stewart Anderson but Bainfield lost on the rinks skipped by Gavin Smith, Stevie McLeod and Robert Marshall.
Auchinleck now top the table with six points and a better shot margin than current chief rivals Blantyre.
Auchinleck made an immediate impact to capture the first seven-end phase 34-18 and might well have completely demoralised the visitors with a 36-19 domination of the second so it is to Bainfield's credit that they produced a 28-18 rally on the run-in.
O'Donnell skipped Chris Downie Darren Grant and Alan Brown to a 14-14 peel with Anderson but that was a disappointment after grabbing the initiative with a purple patch run of 3, 4 and 2 to lead 14-7 after 11 ends. Only 17 of the 21 ends were completed.
Smith made a solid start to skip Craig Moss Jamie McIntosh and Jamie Gracie into an 8-7 lead over Derek McClue but conceded 2, 1, 1, 3 and 3 to trail 17-8 and although closing to 14 finally lost 25-16.
McLeod and his front three of Craig Paterson, Neil Butters and Chris Steven were blitzed 23-2 over the first 12 ends by Dave Watson but somehow managed to stage a 1, 3, 2, 1, 1 and 2 revival to 12 before losing 24-15.
Marshall and his rink of Neil Watson, Brian Stoddart and Colin Hutchison were restricted to counts at just six of their 20 ends and were being put through the mangle at 22-4 down by George Johnstone.
A sentence of complete oblivion was avoided by a spectacular 2, 5, and 4 fightback from Marshall and Co but too late to avoid a 25-15 defeat.
