Well another finals day as come and gone and thankfully the weather stayed dry today.

All of this week at Northern BC has been run superbly by both Northern BC members and the Bon Accord Committee and today was no different for our three finals.

First up at 12 noon, were the Under 25 Singles and Champion of Champions Singles finals, both of which are sponsored by Slaters.

Under 25 review – Katie Rendall (Polmuir) had knocked out the holder in the semi-final and faced Ellis Adie (Whitehall) who himself has had a great year with being capped for the Bon Accord senior county team. Although Katie won the first end, it was Ellis who made the better start winning the next four ends to lead 9-1. The next four ends were shared to move the score along to 12-5 in favour of Ellis. Back to back threes put Ellis on the verge of victory at 18-5, and two ends later, with another score of three, it was Ellis who won his first under 25 title by a score of 21-6. Congratulations to Ellis and commiserations to Katie however you both have a number of years at this age group and no doubt you will have many more tussles!

Champion of Champions Singles – Friends Andrew Thomson (Whitehall) and Neil Anderson (Kittybrewster) put friendship aside as the battled to claim this prestigious title. It was Neil who started the better as he opened up with a three and a single to lead 4-0 after two ends. The next four ends were shared with Neil maintaining his four shot advantage at 7-3 and both players were playing excellently. Over the next two ends Andrew scored four shots to level the match score and then added consecutive threes and a single to move ominously seven ahead at 14-7. At the next end, Andrew lay three shots all within a matter of inches from the jack and with his last he trailed the jack into the group to have all four of his bowls surrounding the jack, with all virtually touching. Neil had to fire but unfortunately just missed to now trail 18-7. Andrew scored a single at the next and then lay a title winning two at the next however a super draw from Neil with his last bowl won the shot and he followed this up with another single to be 19-9 behind. However, Andrew was not to be denied and he scored the required double at the next end to win the title 21-9. Congratulations to Andrew and commiserations to Neil.

Top 10 Team Final Sponsored by Mattioli Woods

The line-up for the final between previous winners Westhill and Kittybrewster was (Westhill names first)

Singles – Andrew Reilly v Daniel McKendrick
Pairs – Craig Burnett & Scott Runcie v Ben Inglis & Bradley Buchan
Triples – Paul Reilly, David Farquharson & Gary Forbes v Mike Boyne, Billy Grant & Roy Henry
Fours – Mark Birnie, Callum Reid, Alan McKay & David Cobban Shaw v Steven Brownlie, Keith Morrison, Ronnie Gill & Neil Anderson

With the singles starting 30 minutes after the other three matches, in the pairs Westhill quickly moved into a 5-1 lead after 4 ends, Kittybrewster led the triples 5-2 also after 4 ends whilst the fours was tied at 3-3. So nothing in it!!

After 5 ends of the singles, Kittybrewster led 5-3, whilst in the other matches Westhill were ahead 12-1 in the pairs, Kitty were 12-5 up in the triples and Kittybrewster led 8-7 in the fours. Even at this early stage, it was beginning to look like it was the singles and the fours matches that would decide who would be victorious.

Ten ends completed in the singles and Kittybrewster still led by 9-7. In the fours Westhill moved 11-9 ahead and then secured what could be a significant four shots on end 12 to lead 15-9 with only five ends remaining.

After 15 ends of the singles, the score was now tied at 12-12.

After 13 ends of the remaining matches, Westhill led the pairs 17-11, Kittybrewster led the triples 17-7 and Westhill led the fours 17-9. At this stage Westhill led 5-3 with shots being Westhill 53, Kittybrewster 49.

Westhill won three of the next 4 ends in the singles scoring eight shots to lead 20-13 and two ends later Westhill secured the first 2 points winning 21-14. in what had been a high quality match.

Next to finish were the pairs with Westhill securing a great win 22-14. Kittybrewster won the triples 19-7 to reduce the deficit to 4-2, however Westhill held on in the fours to win 18-13 to end with a match score of

Westhill 6 (68 shots) – Kittybrewster 2 (60 shots)

Congratulations to Westhill and commiserations to Kittybrewster.

Following the match, the finals day presentations took place after a very welcome high tea from the catering ladies of Northern BC. The presentation was chaired by our President Stuart Robsion and the following presentations were made:

Fours Leagues sponsored by Phil Anderson Financial Services – Division 1 winners – Kittybrewster, runners-up Whitehall; Division 2 winners – Woodend

Triples League sponsored by Mark Shaw Funeral Services – Winners – Whitehall; runners-up – Polmuir

Seniors Triples League sponsored by The Baillie Family – Winners – Balgownie

Under 25 Singles sponsored by Slaters – Winner – Ellis Adie (Whitehall); runner-up – Katie Rendall (Polmuir)

Champion of Champions Singles sponsored by Slaters: Winner – Andrew Thomson (Whitehall); runner-up – Neil Anderson (Kittybrewster)

Top 10 Team KO sponsored by Mattioli Woods: Winners – Westhill; runners-up – Kittybrewster

As always at these events there are a number of thank you to say that have helped the Association run and complete all our competitions to date and these include:

All the member clubs for supplying rinks, markers, umpires
To players who have taken part in our competitions
To our sponsors to whom we are most appreciative to
To Alex Gauld and the team of umpires who have helped in the final stages of our competitions. Today thanks go to Gordon Brown.

And for today and this week, to Northern BC members especially Match Secretary David Leslie and to Junior Vice President Sarah Mackenzie for today who substituted for President Tom Hendry.

Our season is not yet complete, as next Sunday we have the Under 17 Singles which is being hosted by Polmuir BC and starts at 12 noon.

Attached are a number of photos from today of our various winners and officials.

A big thank you to all that helped make today a great success and apologies if I have missed anyone out. Finally, I understand that there was an issue with the live scoring of the Top 10 towards the end, which I apologise for. It appeared that my internet connection to the Northern BC WiFi has disconnected without me realising. so lesson learned to carry out regular checks!

Cameron Millar
Match Secretary