PARKSIDE'S 7-2 home win against Tanfield saw the defending champions hit the front entering the final straight in the race for the Division 1 title of the Alpha Trophies Edinburgh Bowling League.
Chief rivals Pilrig lost the lead in a 7-2 away defeat from third placed Craigentinny, and with just three more fixtures to play it is a two-horse race.
Parkside have 66 points followed by Pilrig on 63 and Craigentinny on 55½, while the remaini
ng five clubs occupy the relegation zone covered with a blanket of four points.
Leith continue to occupy the bottom rung but dealt themselves a lifeline at the 7-2 expense of Queensberry who now appear to be in freefall after making a great start to their campaign.
Dean's 5-4 away win over Hillside keeps both clubs in the danger zone while record six times champions Tanfield continue to be strange bedfellows for those in the lower region.
Two go down and the latest standings are Queensberry 44, Dean 43, Tanfield 42½, Hillside 42, and Leith 40.
Parkside's Robert Donaldson crashed to a heavy defeat on his home domain. However, convincing wins for the rinks skipped by Alex Hurry, Paul Veitch and Bob Ramsay kept the home clubhouse buzzing in anticipation of a second title success.
Hurry trailed Alex Thompson 8-4 after seven ends but produced an unbroken run of 1, 1, 2, 4, 3, 2, 5, 1, 3, 2, to skip Graham Fraser, Davy Grant and Willie Watson to a 28-8 triumph.
Veitch made his major impression from 9-6 up as he zipped to 19 with a six-end run of 4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, as he skipped Neil Watson, Martin Quin and Brian Salvona to a 20-7 success over David Snodgrass.
Ramsay skipped Rab Gardner, Stevie Kerr and Darren Grant into a 13-1 lead after nine ends and they finished up good 18-7 winners over Mal Higgenbotham.
Pilrig can thank Chris Steven as he battled hard to skip Mike Wilson, George Tregoning and Ewan Craig to a 15-13 win over Gary Nisbet.
Craigentinny dominated on the other three rinks with clear cut wins delivered by Willie McDonald, Kevin McFarlane and Andrew Jeffrey.
McDonald cut loose from 2-3 to 19-4 and skipped Darren Smith, Grant McLaren and Derek McFarlane to a 22-8 win over David Poole while McFarlane finished with a five to skip John Fraser snr, John Shields and Stuart Betts to a 20-9 win over Gavin Smith.
Jeffrey added a super six to lead 13-4 and cashed in to skip Craig McCall, Scott Duncan and Kevin Hunter to a 16-9 win over Scott Rogers.
Relegation-haunted Tanfield bagged two welcome points when Scott Wood made telling space from 13-5 to 25-5 with counts of 1, 5, 2, 2, 2, then skipped Stuart McKean, Neil Buchanan and Stuart Campbell to a 26-6 win over Donaldson.
The full article contains 501 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
