The Bon Accord U25 team headed down for the Scottish semi final against Ayrshire at Sighthill today having won the North Section of league games. This was the first time in my memory that the Bon Accord have won the North Section so what a great achievement for a team so young.

The weather forecast was not great and right enough the rain came teaming down just before the game started. This did not dampen spirits though as within 10 minutes the sun was shining.

The team selected for the Semi Final:

Rink 1 Kariss Bell, Lewis Reid, Ewan Mutch, Ellis Adie v Fraser Young
Rink 2 Megan Orchard, Victor Micak, Kieran Craigen, Alex MacCallum v Lewis Coleman
Rink 3 Archie Scott, Rhiannon Mackay, Stewart Anderson, John Mackay v George Robertson
Rink 4 Harry Campbell, Sophie Thom, Keith Brown, Zak Morrison v Jamie Noon
Rink 5 Conner Gardiner, Libby Craig, Ross Cowie, Fraser Lambert © v Mason Carson
Rink 6 Samuel Noble, Lucy Smith, Abigayle Grant, Owen Jack v Robbie Dunlop

Ayrshire got off to a slightly better start but not by much. After 5 ends the score was 20-27.

On rink 1 Ellis was 2 behind at 4-6, on rink 2 Alex was 4-4, John was 3-7 on rink 3, Zak was 4-3 up on rink 4 thanks to a fantastic 3 on the 3rd end, Fraser was 3-3 and Owen was 2-4 down.

The gap of 7 decreased slightly by end 10 to 5 at 46-51. This was thanks to a great 3 from Alex’s rink on end 7 and a superb 5 by John’s rink on end 9. Halfway scores were Ellis 8-9 down, Alex 10-9 up, John 11-11, Zak 5-9 down, Fraser 7-4 up and Owen 5-9 down.

The heavens opened again for a brief 5 minute period.

By end 15 Ayrshire had ramped things up and were now leading by 26 shots at 62-88 thanks to 2 scores of 5, 1 of 4 and 2 3’s across the rinks. Ellis 9-15, Alex 11-16, John 14-16, Zak 7-18, Fraser’s team were 13-9 up and Own was 8-14 down.

For the last 6 ends the rain again began to fall and quite heavily. It was a kind of miserable way to end the game. The team kept their spirits high though and with continued encouragement from the back end players the scores finished Bon Accord 81 Ayrshire 129.

On this occasion we did not quite make it but the experience gained will prove crucial for the future.

Final Scores for the day were:
Bon Accord Ayrshire Skip
Rink 1 Ellis Adie 14-21 Fraser Young
Rink 2 Alex MacCallum 11-24 Lewis Coleman
Rink 3 John Mackay 16-23 George Robertson
Rink 4 Zak Morrison 12-28 Jamie Noon
Rink 5 Fraser Lambert © 16-13 Mason Carson
Rink 6 Owen Jack 13-20 Robbie Dunlup

Overall and considering the average age of our U25 team they performed remarkably well.

The Bon Accord is proud of all players, parents and families who came along or organised to get them to Aberdeen indoor for 0615 this morning. Well done and thank you.

I would also like to thank the Edinburgh Bowling Association for hosting the event, the kitchen and bar staff who kept the team fed and watered and the green staff who had the green looking good.

Our next game is the Scottish Cup (16 players – 4 rinks against Grampian on Sunday 6th July). I am still waiting for the venue to be confirmed but it will most likely be hosted by Angus and Dundee or Perthshire. I will get the team posted in the next few days. Can’t wait and best of luck team.

Thank you everyone. Much appreciated.

Come on the Bon Accord.

Lenny and Derek.

Team photo is from Sighthill this morning