A superb evening of bowls at Polmuir tonight which even a shower of rain could not dampen the quality on show!

Tonight’s report will start at the bottom of the draw!

Woodend’s Sandy Gibb making his first appearance in the COC faced up to the experienced Kevin Pirie (Whitehall). Over the first 5 ends the players couldn’t be separated as the scoreboard read 5-5. After 12 ends, they were still level at 9 all. End 13 saw Sandy secure an important 3 shots however Kevin replied with counts of 2 & 3 in the next two ends to edge ahead 14-12. On end 18, Sandy scored another 3 to level the scores at 16 all! Which way was the match going to go? A three to Kevin on the next end put him on the verge and Kevin used his experience to secure a double on the 20th end to win through to the semi-finals 21-16.

The next match saw local hope Callum Work up against Raymond Morrison of Abergeldie. After 6 ends Raymond led 5-3 but then Callum hit form scoring 11 shots and conceding just 1 to move 14-6 ahead. However Raymond was going to go down fighting and won the next 4 ends to close the gap to only 14-12! Callum then moved 18-13 ahead and within 1 end of victory but it was Raymond who then scored a full house count of 4 shots to trail by 1 at 18-17! With many local members looking on with fingers crossed, Callum secured the 3 he needed at the next end to win 21-17.

On rink 3, Mike Stephen (Cults) faced Jeff Killman of Newhills. It was Jeff who made the better start and after 10 ends he led 10-4. Further counts of 3,1 & 2 moved Jeff 16-4 ahead however Mike secured a count of 3 to claw back some of the deficit. Could he repeat his heroics from the previous night? Unfortunately not as Jeff scored the 5 shots required over the next 3 ends to win comfortably 21-7.

The final game on rink 5 saw Balgownie’s Steve Buchanan face Kittybrewster’s Eric Gallan. It was Steve who got into the groove quicker scoring counts of 3,3 & 2 in the first 6 ends to lead 9-2. Fours ends later and Steve to held his 7 shot advantage at 12-5. Eric won the next 2 ends to narrow the gap to only 4 shots but Steve hit back with runs of 2,3 & 1 to lead 18-8 and be only one end away from a semi-final place. However, Eric showed all his experience to dig in and managed to find a hot streak as he won the next 5 ends scoring 9 shots to only trail by 1 at 18-17! Who would hold their nerve? End 22, Steve scored a single (19-17). End 23, Steve scored another single (20-17)! End 24 Eric scored a single (20-18)! End 25 Eric scored a double to level the score at 20-20…….a one end shoot out! Eric’s first bowls ended up just under a foot away and despite Steve’s best efforts he couldn’t manage to better it…….match to Eric 21-20!! What a match to end the evening!

Congratulations to our 4 winners who advance to tomorrow evening’s semi-finals and commiserations to the fours defeated players.

The semi-final line-up is

Eric Gallan (Kittybrewster) v Jeff Killman (Newhills)
Callum Work (Polmuir) v Kevin Pirie (Whitehall)

Good luck to the semi-finalists!

There will be live scoring of the semi-finals and the link will be posted later on the Bon Accord Facebook, website & App.