Wednesday, July 9, 2003
BEST OF BRITISH
Victory over Auld Enemy gives Polmaise the UK title
POLMAISE bowlers brought glory to the Stirling area last week when they captured the British Isles triples championship at Ayr - in dramatic fashion.
Scottish champions John Johnstone, Derek Logie and skip Jason Williams powered their way to a thrilling extra end victory over England - which also clinched the NatWest Trophy for Scotland as best overall performers in the championships.
Rock-solid
The Polmaise trio started off their British quest with a rock-solid, semi-final 26-9 win over Guernsey's Steve Bichard, Geoff Savident and Ricky Brehaut.
But against England's Gary Lucas, Alan Prew and Greg Moon in the final they trailed 10-1 and 15-7 before an impressive run of 1,1,4,2 squared the match at 15-all.
Determined
Polmaise then dropped a single and a double to put England in the driving seat going into the final end. However with shot against, a determined Williams burned the end and on the replay Polmaise picked up three to force an extra end.
With first Johnstone displacing it and then Logie eventually ditching the jack to lie shot, Polmaise stood on the brink of victory for the next few agonising minutes.
Unaccountably, English skip Greg Moon failed to reach the target with his final three deliveries and proud Polmaise were home and dry at 19-18.
Elsewhere in the championships, singles man Darren Burnett scored a 21-20 victory over England's Martin Sekjer, while Scotland's junior singles and fours both lost in their finals.
The Polmaise success was the first-ever British title won by an SBA Stirling district club. The only other Stirlingshire success came in 1966 when Denny's Andrew Cruickshank, Jim Logan, John Bradbury and Jim Adams won the British Isles fours.
Historical Note: This remarkable victory in 2003 marked a significant milestone in Polmaise's history as the first club from the SBA Stirling district to win a British Isles title. The dramatic comeback from being 10-1 down early in the match to forcing an extra end, and then securing victory in such nail-biting fashion, made this achievement even more memorable. This win not only brought prestigious recognition to Polmaise but also helped Scotland secure the NatWest Trophy as the best overall nation in the championships.
