Glasgow
Seven entrants played a round robin of handicap play over two days, with time limits 2½ hours. Four rounds were completed on the Saturday which was cool but dry, with the three remaining rounds played on the Sunday which was also cool but dry (something to do with Glasgow’s open-air drink laws?). Six handicaps ranged from 2 to 5, with Alan Wilson being the bisque man holding 18, giving him at least 13 for each game.
Saturday saw Alan beat Jim Taggart (4.5
Saturday) 26-13 and Charlotte Townsend (4.5) 19-12, taking all of the time
on each occasion. Then he used his bisques to greater advantage beating
Brian Durward (3.5) 26-1, and David Appleton (3) 26-10, but only against
David were there bisques left over. So Alan got the lie-in on Sunday with
Rod Williams (2) and Bruce Rannie (4) to see to. Meantime, David and Rod beat Bruce more
comfortably than they might have expected, both showing determination and
care, David with two clean breaks with one from Bruce in between, and Rod
with a chanceless peg-out after Bruce had gone to Rover early on. Rod had
already beaten Charlotte 19-17 after she had misjudged the state of the
game with the shot on time, taking an easy hoop with no thought for the
next one thinking that was the leveller. He had also beaten Jim 26-17 and
therefore was the only other player going into the second day 100%.
Brian beat David 26-13,
and Jim beat David 26-20 to put him out of contention, and in the final
tie of Day 1 Bruce beat Charlotte 26-0DP as his swing got back to normal.
On Sunday, Rod against
David was the vital tie if anybody was going to challenge Alan, but David
got the better of a class match 26-10. Against Rod, Alan used all his 16
bisques to run Ball 1 to Rover, set up a leave which Rod missed, and then
get Ball 2 round, achieving the rover peel and 26-0 peg-out posthumously
with the final bisque gone, to give him the Tankard with one round left.
In the lap of honour,
Bruce ran Hoop 1 in Turn 1 and left a tice, which Alan ignored. Bruce hit
but could not get in front of the hoop, then Alan used six bisques to get
to rover. Bruce hit the leave but blobbed Hoop 2. In the sixth turn, Alan
used seven of the other eight bisques for the second ball; he attempted
the rover peel several times before achieving it and the peg-out again
posthumously with the final bisque. So Alan Wilson of Powfoulis won all six
of his games, learning a lot along the way, including that it might not be
totally sensible to waste a pivot jammed against a hoop just because it is
a possible peelee, costing more than a few bisques to keep a standard
four-ball break going. However over the two days, most bisques went in a
positive manner, especially because he hardly clanged a hoop, and after
the first couple of games, he was not prepared to yield the lawn until
Ball 1 was round or both balls were in the box. Meantime, Jim (now on 5) jammed more
hoops than Bruce and lost, and jammed more hoops (especially Hoop 2 on the
lower lawn) than Charlotte and lost. Bruce beat Brian by starting with a
break in Turn 3, to which Brian responded in Turn 4, but the lead was
significant in the end. And finally Manager Yachtsman beat Charlotte in
another game of skill and break-building, to pinch second-place on points
scored count-back, while Brian also beat Rod 26-0 with two good turns.
Those of us without a
dozen bisques showed some good solid break-building and recovery shots
whilst playing each other, but Alan, who must have been on the lawns for
more than twelve hours, was a worthy winner of the trophy. Brian Durward
presented Alan with the prize he himself had won the previous year, thanks
were given to David Appleton for his faultless management, including
ensuring only two games had "T" in the result, and just as the pints were
being pulled across the road, the rain began! Same again next year – but where were all
the others? Three Anglo-based, two Edinburgh, one Powfoulis and one
Glasgow took advantage of smooth if a little slow lawns to get the
early-season wrinkles ironed out, including how to make Diet Cola the
right colour!
Bruce Rannie
Results
| AW | DA | BD | BR | RW | CT | JT | Wins | F | A | |
| Alan Wilson | -- | 26-10 | 26-1 | 26-2 | 26-0 | 19-12 | 26-13 | 6 | 149 | 38 |
| David Appleton | 10-26 | -- | 13-26 | 26-10 | 26-10 | 26-20 | 20-26 | 3 | 121 | 118 |
| Brian Durward | 1-26 | 26-13 | -- | 8-26 | 26-0 | 19-26 | 26-16 | 3 | 106 | 107 |
| Bruce Rannie | 2-26 | 10-26 | 26-8 | -- | 14-26 | 26-0 | 26-14 | 3 | 104 | 100 |
| Rod Williams | 0-26 | 10-26 | 0-26 | 26-14 | -- | 19-17 | 26-17 | 3 | 81 | 126 |
| Charlotte Townsend | 12-19 | 20-26 | 26-19 | 0-26 | 17-19 | -- | 26-9 | 2 | 101 | 118 |
| Jim Taggart | 13-26 | 26-20 | 16-26 | 14-26 | 17-26 | 9-26 | -- | 1 | 95 | 150 |
