Greenock & District Secretary, John Freeburn, otherwise known as 'Basher' has kindly offered to send in his League Report and other bowling topical subjects. John has been the G & D secretary for a number of years since taking over the reigns (or should I say the pen?) from Willie Quigley. He is well known around the district and as far as I know gets his nickname from the power behind his bowl bashing drive shots while playing for Grosvenor Bowling Club.
Basher's report is a light hearted round up of the current events of the G & D leagues etc and I thank him for his words of wisdom.
'BASHER'
Basher’s report 9th June 2008
I
took the opportunity of a day off work (some dental work was required – to
renew my dazzling smile) and delivered the draw for the Top Ten to Parklea.
Parklea is the only club in the area not able to receive my reports ON-LINE as
nobody has a PC!!!
When
I walked in Charlie Lynch was doing some gardening work, but the thing that
caught my eye first was the green – it was like a Dalmatian. I know we have all
suffered at the hands of the weather, but Parklea were abusing the privilege.
Charlie
was telling me that it is now five years since they started having problems
with the drainage and it doesn’t appear to be getting any better. It seems that
Railtrack, and the firm responsible for the “West Langbank” building project along with IDC are dragging their
heels a bit and nothing is being done to fix the problem.
I told Charlie that I
would attempt to get the other Associations involved and see if we can put some
pressure on the aforementioned people to try and get the problem fixed, mainly
because Parklea are scheduled to be hosting the G&D Finals in 2010!!
I
am going to introduce a piece into my report and call it “Basher’s Rant”
Basically, this is where I can get something off my chest and then revert back
to my normally placid self – an escape valve if you want – but something which
I feel is necessary. I’ll be quite happy to “Rant” for somebody else,
just give me your subject and we’ll take it from there.
Stephen
McLellan e-mailed me the other day, looking for
information on WellingtonPark in general and Peter Clark in particular. I’ve got
some stuff and I’m pretty sure that some of you guys will have information too.
If you have, send it to Stephen or me.
George
Bryden is compiling a database of facts about all of
the Bowling clubs in the district – you may have seen some of them already. He
would like any information whatsoever sent to him. Photos,
reports, funny stories and anything of interest. He now stays in Robertson St. which is really handy for someone who is going to be
the 150th. President of Port Glasgow in 2010!!!
On
the bright side, the “Scottish” kicked of on Sunday 1st. and the
weather was brilliant. You have to feel for “Wee Geordie Buchan” of “The Vic”;
he draws Sandy Wotherspoon “Le Championi” and then gets asked to
play him on another day because Sandy is going for a Scottish trial. Fair play to the wee
man – “nae’ bother Sandy, anytime yer’ ready” – if there was a Sportsman’s
prize, I’d nominate the wee man – well done George. Mind you, Sandy does his fair bit for bowling, he travels up from London every weekend and plays for his Club and County teams
and in the Winter he plays for the Indoor team, so
he’s entitled to a wee bit of leeway. It used to be that Sandy was played as a good opponent, now he’s “A Scalp!!”, that’s one of the drawbacks of greatness – “A’ get it aw’
the time!!!”
The
G&D Mixed Pairs started on Saturday and had another good entry. This
competition has taken off in the last few years (no doubt due to the brilliant
organising committee) and is enjoying a new lease of life. The winners from the
last two years aren’t playing this year – Stephen is now in the WestCounty team and their matches can be a fair distance away.
County tales!!Well, it had to happen
sometime – the South team lost on Saturday at “The Vic”. There was a great
turnout of local celebrities, (probably because of the weather and the fact
that the bar is close to the green) and they were treated to an enthralling
game that the visitors led from beginning
to end. The eventual score was 124 – 106 to Dumfriesshire, but the South lads
are not too disheartened – they still have a good chance of qualitying if
results go their way. The West team suffered another defeat and must surely now
have no chance of qualifying. Losing 132 – 112 to
Lanarkshire West isn’t the result they were looking for at the beginning of the
week.
Basher’s report # 3
League
I
don’t know what their drinking down at Barrhill Road, but it certainly is potent. Two
“Grannies” on the one night – unheard of. Definitely livens up a Tuesday
night when BOTH teams win. ”B” Section is not for the faint hearted.
“A”
Section is still in the melting pot – the night off is going to play a big part
in that section.
Mixed Pairs
The
Mixed Pairs is at the Quarter-Final stages and the following games will take
place over the week-end:-
1/2
J.McKinnon / J.McKinnon
V
3/4
I.Dellusey / W.Delussey
on
Inverkip
5/6
S.Lungley / T.Duffy
V
7/8
H.McColgan / M.McColgan
on
Inverkip
9/10
J.Juszhack / R.Swankie
V
11/12
S.Hourston / H.McKellar
on
Grosvenor
13/14
C.McCue / D.Hourston
V
15/16
L.Watt / A.Cunningham
on
Grosvenor
Top Ten
Top
Ten games were played on Wednesday night and the following ties will be played
next Wednesday at 7.00p.m. :-
RankinParkvGourockPark on WellingtonPark green and GrosvenorvWellingtonPark on Lady Alice green
“Bashers Rant”
My
“RANT” this week has annoyed me for years. We gave “Bools”
to the world in 1892 and the set of Rules used by everyone was drawn up by us.
Why is it then, that Rules used for over a century are
suddenly found to be inadequate. I refer to the practice of “giving the Jack
away” – who thought that one up? The only time you saw this practice before was
when an extra end was required and there was a “toss of the coin” for the Jack.
I am reliably informed that it was changed to suit our “Antipodean
cousins” and that this was done at World Bowls level.
Well it’s about time that we got back to Scottish level and changed it back OK.
G&D.
Right,
that’s got that off my chest – back to G&D stuff.
The
Directors and some friends played the annual friendly against Johnstone & District last week on ErskineBC. For those of you that don’t know, Erskine
is an all weather green and certainly not in the same league as the indoor. It
appears that they keep the same team at home every week – which is certainly an
advantage – there are some funny runs on that surface – I can tell you. A word
of warning for all “Friendly players” – put a “tag” on your bag. My bag was
lifted by mistake – “must have been a bloody weightlifter”, anyway, it took
three days to get it back and caused a wee bit of a problem down my way
– be warned!!!
County
The West team finally got
back in gear with a win, but I’m afraid it’s a bit late for this season, however, the new players have had the chance to see
what it’s all about and whether they are going to like playing in this type of
match. On the other side of “ the great divide”, the
South team lost to a very strong Lanarkshire team. Five full Internationals on
the green. I was playing against Ian McLean – Scottish Junior
Champion and a really nice guy, which is common for all “Great” players – it’s just
something you’ve got to live with!!
Scottish
Talking
about Internationals, Sandy was playing in his SBA semi at Inverkip
on Sunday and won. Good to see that he is only one game away from defending his
title at Northfield. It must be a strong set-up in the National team, when
your Champion cannot get a game.
Glad
to hear that you had a good time in the “Big Apple” –
don’t know why they call it that, but never mind we’ve
got “Boolin” tae talk aboot.
It’s
been a busy couple of weeks in the District, with the Top Ten Final,
the Mixed Pairs Final, the RBA Championships, the last League games
and finally – the Reid Cup.
One
at a time :-
The
Top Ten Final.
I
cannot put it any other way – Wellington dominated the match
and were worthy winners against a Rankin Park team that must have
wondered “what hit them”. In the weeks leading up to the
Final, Rankin Park had been giving some of the “fancied clubs”
a bit of a doin’ – but this time they were on the
receiving end and will no doubt reflect on what might have been.
The
Mixed Pairs Final.
On
a balmy summers evening –( I wish). It was “bouncin”,
but the teams decided they would play and it was an all Gourock Final
between Stacey Lungley and Terry Duffy from “The Park”
against Joyce Juszhack and Raymond Swankie of Gourock. The game was
played in great spirit and was good to watch, if for no other reason
than the fact that Stacey (going to Northfield) was playing out of
her skin and it was obvious why she is going to Northfield. She was
ably supported by Terry who had equally as good a game and ran out
worthy winners.
RBA
Championships.
The
RBA Finals were held on Victoria and Meikleriggs last weekend and
resulted in a pretty good time for local players. The Sponsored Fours
and the Under 45’s were at Meikleriggs on the Saturday and the
rest were held on Victoria on the Sunday. We didn’t have
anybody in the Sponsored Fours, which was between Wellcroft and
Blacklandmill – Wellcroft won, but Wellington Park were in the
Under 45’s. Joe Miller, John Fleming, Stephen Hendry and
Stephen McLellan won the title against a team from Shanks BC and kept
the Trophy in Greenock ( The Vic ) won it last year, they were
hoping to defend it this year – good job they never got to the
Final!!!!
On
the Sunday, Stephen dominated the Junior Singles against C.Macleod of
Woodlands BC and must surely be on somebodys notepad for a Scottish
trial – or does he and Sandy stay in the wrong location????
The Pairs was between Wellington Parks Joe Miller and Willie Kerrigan
and a pair from Elderslie Wallace. Early on, Joe and Willie could do
no wrong and must be wondering what happened to the lead that they
had built up. But, as the saying goes, “it aint over etc. etc.”
and the trophy ended up in Johnstone after a nail biting last end.
The Triples went to the last end as well, but this time it was in our
favour. Port Glasgow’s team of Peter Johnstone, John Morris and
Tommy Kangley held on to win a tight game against a side from
Crookston BC. The Fours was between Renfrew and Cardonald with
Cardonald winning that one. The Senior Fours saw Grosvenor defending
their title. They have won this in 2005 and 2007 and were playing
well. Willie Robertson was the “new boy”, Sam Wilson,
Dunky McLean and Robert Milne had been there before. They were never
really in any danger and won the title for the 3rd.
time in four years – impressive in anybodys book. The Singles
was contested by Kilmacolm’s Gerry Buschell and G.Smith from
Shanks BC. Gerry was well up early on, but let it slip a bit and
Smith levelled the game at 12-12. Buschell got his game in gear again
and eventually won a game that had been dogged by windy conditions at
crucial times – well it is the West of Scotland – whit
dae ye expect.
All
in, a good result for G&D players - 8 entered, 6 finals
contested, 5 won – NO BAD EH!!!!!
G&D
League
Well
that’s the first bit over. Some strange results, but that’s
“boolin” as they say. I am a firm believer that leagues
prove who’s best and who’s not. The evidence is there in
“Black and White”..
Greenock & District Bowling Association
League results - preliminary rounds
"A"
SECTION
SHOTS
Pld.
F
A
+/-
Pts.
PORT GLASGOW # 1
8
920
618
+302
75
GROSVENOR # 1
8
788
685
+103
61
VICTORIA
8
776
734
+42
58
FORT MATILDA
8
785
754
+31
48
LADY ALICE
8
759
766
-7
40
KILMACOLM
8
747
798
-51
40
GOUROCK PARK
8
705
797
-92
40
RANKIN PARK
8
708
779
-71
31
PORT GLASGOW # 2
8
654
911
-257
29
"B"
SECTION
SHOTS
Pld.
F
A
+/-
Pts.
ARDGOWAN CLUB # 1
7
760
587
+173
61
WELLINGTON PARK
7
804
580
+224
60
IBM / HILLEND
7
722
612
+110
56
GOUROCK # 1
7
766
566
+200
48
GROSVENOR # 2
7
557
636
-79
33
GOUROCK # 2
7
640
736
-96
31
LADY ALICE/ INVERKIP
7
518
701
-183
31
ARDGOWAN CLUB # 2
7
522
871
-349
16
The League play-offs will start on Tuesday 22nd. July
and the three Divisions will be
as follows :-
1st. Division
2nd. Division
3rd. Division
Port Glasgow
Gourock # 1
Gourock Park
Ardgowan Club
Fort Matilda
Rankin Park
Grosvenor
Lady Alice
Lady Alice / Inverkip
Wellington Park
Kilmacolm
Port Glasgow
Victoria
Grosvenor
Ardgowan Club
IBM / Hillend
Gourock # 2
Parklea not available
Reid
Cup.
The
Reid Cup was won by Fort Matilda with +30 shots, certainly helping
with this was the fact that Nichol House had a +21 shot victory
–obviously playing against somebody who wanted his car fixed!
Grosvenor
were runners-up with +28 and the highest-up rink was Ian Ferdinand,
Dunky Morrison, Dan McCormick and Nichol House of Fort Matilda.
Congratulations.
Sandy
Wotherspoon must be wondering when he is going to wake up. British
Isles Champion as well. He’s having the time of his life, just
now. He works Monday – Friday and only bowls at the weekend –
how good would this guy be if he worked at it – like the rest
of us?
All
kidding aside – Well done Spoon – keep it going and we’ll
see you at Northfield.
Right
the bit you’ve all been waiting for
– Rant of the Week.
I
was in company at the RBA Finals and being told by one or two people
how to run the G&D better.
If
we did this and that and didn’t do this or that, it would be a
far better league and people would be queuing up to join clubs –
AYE RIGHT.
What
I would like to say to these people is – turn up at the AGM and
voice your opinion, don’t wait until you’ve got a
heidfull of Swally and think that you’re the only person who
knows what their talking about – and another thing – have
you noticed that the changes they want to make always appear to give
them or their club an advantage - HMMMM.
OK
rant over – back to normal. If your going on holiday –
have a nice time and I’ll see you all at the end of the month.
Basher
It’s been a quiet couple of weeks with the “Fair” and all. Most Clubs are just going through the motions, but not Lady Alice. The intrepid Gerry Watters organised “The Young Bowlers” tournament and it was played on Sunday 20th. with a 10.00a.m. Start.
Sandy and Christine Reddy once again sponsored the event, and Sandy was annoyed that he didn’t have individual trophies on the day, due to the Trophy Box being on holiday – ach well!, we’ve all got to get our holidays sometime. Anyway, it was a great day and the kids had a ball.
As usual, food was laid on by the hosts and the G&D picked up the tab. The folk at Lady Alice are to be congratulated. Led by President Joe Stevenson, the day was faultless and was a credit to the organising committee of Gerry Watters and Andy Kearns. President Kenny Morrison was in attendance and said words of encouragement at the finish
The Final was a very good match between, Alex Harkness of Wellington Park and Rikki McNeil of Lady Alice. Alex got away to a good start with a two and two ones, but Rikki pulled back to within one shot with a three at the fourth end. A two at the fifth end saw Rikki go into the last end one up. Alex trailed the jack away from Rikki to be lying shot and peels. Rikki, with his last bowl removed Alex’s bowl from the head and became G&D Young Bowler for 2008 (3 years after having won the G&D Junior at Birkmyre!!!)
I’ve not been idle myself; the G&D Championships don’t just happen. Dates have to be set, venues worked out and all of the details required for Finals Day. I’m lucky that I’ve got Kerr Livingston as my right hand man – he’s irreplaceable, just don’t tell him that I said it. We’ve been in touch with the committee of Ardgowan Club and everything seems to be coming together. Unfortunately, due to a prior engagement, Provost McCormick won’t be with us this year, but a deputy is being sought – as we speak, and I’m sure he’ll not let the side down. I don’t know about you, but I was impressed with Provost McCormick, last year – he came across really well.
Finals Day should be the highlight of our calendar and the only thing that can spoil it (apart from famine and flood) is the weather – it made a bloody good job of it last year, mind you everybody got it bad last year – so the less said the better.
By the time that our Finals come round, the National Finals will have been played and we will either have been successful or not. We certainly cannot complain about the past few years. It started back in 2003 with Ardgowan Club Seniors losing out in the Final, then Port Glasgow lost out also. But we all know what happened in 2006 and 2007 thanks to “The Port All-stars”
“Wee Dunky” was “very emotional” for about a month after they won and Sandy just keeps going and going. You never know he might take the trophy down to Northfield and bring it back up again!!! Whatever happens, it’s been a tremendous five years and I’ll bet it’s not finished yet – not by a long chalk.
The League Trophies are now going to be played for and, if things go the way that the have in the past, we’re in for an exciting five weeks.
The Hospice Wapinshaw will be played for and hopefully donations submitted to the G&D, so that we can put in a good total. The Hospice is submitting a team from their staff, which just happens to include some local bowlers. The only saving grace we have is that Ian McSwan is one of them, so that should even it up.
The annual friendly between the G&D and the Club Presidents will be played on Fort Matilda’s green at 7.00p.m. on Friday 25th. This game is one that I do look forward to, as it’s good to get all Presidents together and have a laugh. The Wanderers new clubhouse is being used for the after match supper, so that should be interesting.
There isn’t much time left now before the end of the season, you wonder where the time goes. A season is approx. six months long, but if you take away the short nights at the beginning and end, there isn’t much really. Before we know it, the Indoor will be starting and folk will be disappearing there – it’s a fact of life. I would like you all too really think hard about what you’ve noticed this year and if there are any changes that you would like to see next year.
I personally think that we are coming close to the day when Clubs will not be submitting two teams of six fours – the numbers just don’t appear to be there. A suggestion was made about introducing triples into the G&D league – I was always against this, basically because we were depriving people of a game, but I think that day is looming. It may be possible to run two sections of six / fours and retain the 1st. & 2nd. Divisions – using the 3rd. Division for a triples league on the same night will be looked at.
Looking at the Association playing strengths, we find that IBM, Hillend, Inverkip & Parklea are not capable of sustaining a team on their own. Of the five “Big” clubs, Lady Alice have a composite team, I know that Grosvenor are struggling. Ardgowan Club, Gourock and Port Glasgow seem to be holding their own, but how long will that last?
I hope to hear from as many of you as possible, because it’s our Association and we need to look after it.
TTFN
Basher.
Rikki McNeil, winner of the G&D Young Bowler with Sandy Reddy and runner-up, Alex Harkness.
21st July 2008
Hi Gary,
Are things back to normal yet? It must have been one hell of a party on Saturday, and well deserved too. But I’ll come back to that later.
The League is getting to the interesting stage and a couple of surprises about. What has happened to “The Port”, normally they are “up there wi’ the best of them”, but not this time. It looks like it’s going to be between Ardgowan and Grosvenor, although there are two big matches still to be played. Wellington seem to have “shot themselves in the foot” after promising everybody that they were “ready for the title”. Never mind, it would get boring if the same club won every year (come tae think of it – that’s what does happen, ach well never mind.
Right, Northfield. I didn’t go down on the Thursday or the Friday (because of work) and thank goodness for that – apparently it was bucketing on these two days. I did go down on the Saturday, however, with my old mate Milne. What a day – it must have been in the high 70’s if not higher. We watched Sandy first and then moved on to the Seniors. The Gourock “boys” were struggling with the pace of the green and didn’t give as good an account of themselves as they would have wanted – but hey! if anybody had offered them a Semi-Final place in June – I think they would have laughed at them. Anyway, we went over to watch Bruno and his lot and stayed with them.
We went to the stand for the Finals and sat at the end of Rink 3 – great view of Sandy on 2 and Bruno on 4. It has been well documented how Sandy lost his title and I’m not going to make any comment about a guy who has been a credit to us and indeed all Scottish bowlers. I think anyone who saw the game will agree on one thing – Wayne Hogg is going to take some stopping, this boy is in it for the long haul.
Gourock Park, on the other hand, were taking no prisoners and just got better as the day went on. No matter what the rink from Haddington threw at them, the Gourock Park boys just soaked it up and changed it to their favour. It was a great performance and one that will be remembered, for all the right reasons, by a lot of people, let alone themselves. As I said earlier – one hell of a party on Saturday – and well deserved.
The Fletcher is due to be played on Wednesday 13th. and the sheets were sent out along with the Reid, so there shouldn’t be a problem there!!! The Championships will start on Saturday 16th. and there is an entry of 32 for the Junior – that’s only one pre-lim round, which is OK.
GOOD LUCK to all and hopefully I’ll see you at Ardgowan on the 23rd. – you never know, I might even be playing against some of you.
RANT OF THE WEEK
It’s OK, I’m not in a ranting mood this week, especially after the weekend. I know that the Port Glasgow Seniors got to the Final earlier in the century (sounds dramatic EH!), but I wasn’t at that game. I started going to Northfield in 2003 and since then I’ve seen Ardgowan being beaten, “The Port” winning – thanks to that miraculous shot of Jim Quyes at the extra end, “The Spoon” winning and finally Sandy defending his title and Gourock Park winning their first. Now it’s been reported in all of the papers about these matches, however, they’ve all missed out on one thing. In 2004, the G&D decided to alter the League in order that Clubs would play against similar opposition for a prolonged period and have something to play for, right up to the end of the season. Personally, I think that it’s more than coincidence that we’ve got all of this success because we didn’t do all that well before it.
Now, a lot of people will say that’s rubbish – but the facts never lie.
BYEEEE
Basher
August Report
Well it's been quite a month, with the leagues coming to a climax and the G&D Finals taking place I don't know about anybody else but I had one eye on the green and one eye on the sky when Finals day came around.
But it was a brilliant day and Ardgowan Club are to be congratulated for their hard work and organisation, especially Hazel McEwan, who polished all of the Trophies.They looked magnificent - THANKS Hazel !!The Finals were good to watch and went off without a hitch, which is always pleasing for the organisers.
We were honoured by the presence of Councillor Jim Clocherty, who represented Inverclyde Council as substitute Provost, and a good job he did too. He brought with him his wife Carolyn and seemed to enjoy the day along with the majority of folk.Kenny Morrison's wife Cathy, did a great job in presenting our trohies etc. and received the customary "bunch o' floors" from Stephen Hendry - 'cos Rikki McNeill had escaped.
Sandy Wotherspoon and the Gourock Park "boys" brought along their "Silverware" for all to see. Sandy had the British Isles trophy with him - a magnificent trophy which was more like a crown - quite fitting really!!, and "the park boys" brought along the "Fours"cup, which is about the same size as our Reid cup - BIG!!! I wonder what next year is going to bring - we are getting so used to National silverware being on show at our presentations - when will it ever end ?
Along with the trophies that we present on our Finals day, we were delighted to hear of Stacey Lungley's International recognition, which is another feather in the cap of the Darroch Park club. In fact, as you read this, she has the G&D Ladies singles trophy on her mantlepiece, as well. All we need is Sandy to come back from Aberdeen with the World Cup and we're in for a hell of a party on closing days.
After the presentation of trophies, the Players and Invited guests were supplied with a delicious meal in the Clubhouse.
Speeches were given by Councillor Clocherty, Bill Knox of the Scottish and Robin Kyle -President of the RBA.
Crystal glasses were presented to the players and gifts handed out to the Umpires and Ladies of Ardgowan. Special presentations were made to Sandy for the tremendous year that he has just had from Councillor Clocherty and also G&D President Kenny Morrison. Sandy took this opportunity of thanking all of the people who had sent him good wishes and also the many people who had taken the time to come and support him.
Following this, another presentation was made to Joda Reid, Alex McIlravey, Roger Lynn and Ian Brown for their success at Northfield. Ian gave a speech of thanks on behalf of his team.
Right, back to normal, the League Division Two shield was finally decided and it went to Gourock. At this moment in time, I am looking at the possibility's of changing the league set-up for the reduction in numbers that we are going to experience, next year. The sad news of the impending demise of IBM means that we are definitely one club less and probably,one team less in the league.The information that I am getting "through the grapevine" is that many clubs are finding it difficult to maintain the numbers required to put out six teams of Fours.Although, I know that there is a lot of talk about Triples leagues and making the three divisions into triples leagues, I do not think this is the road to go down.
The national game is fours and if we fall into the trap of playing triples on a more than occasional basis, we will lose our technique of playing with "only two bools".However, that being said, I do not see a problem with introducing a triples league into the third division.It may be possible, or acceptable, to retain the 1st. & 2nd. Divisions as they are and play
them throughout the whole season on a "two up - two down" basis. This can be done over a complete season, or split it at the "Fair" as is. Obviously, if we do this, it will mean a later starting time before the holidays - which isn't
a bad idea really.The 3rd. Division can be used for the teams that normally are second strings or maybe clubs that are really tight on numbers.Whatever happens, we should all be looking at it with an open mind and not - "WHIT's IN
IT FER ME" - it's a good league - let's make sure it's kept that way.
Most Clubs will be tidying up a few loose ends with one-day competitions etc. and some of their members will be looking out the "Carpet slippers" - indoor for you guys who don't appreciate my sense of humour.
League matters- The League is getting tight as far as numbers are concerned. We have lost IBM and it
also means that Hillend are back in the doldrums again. The "Big clubs", that's those who normally supply two teams, are finding it more difficult to continue putting out 12 rinks on a Tuesday night. The G&D were approached regarding this problem and have drawn up an alternative which may fit the bill. All clubs will be invited to supply 6 rinks or, if they are capable, 12 rinks. If they supply 6 rinks, these will be divided up into the same type of divisions that we have just now and continue as normal. However, if other clubs can not supply this type of entry, they may be interested in entering a league of triples and can enter this league with a nine man team i.e (3 triples) - it is most unlikely that any club will wish to submit more than two of these teams, but will allow some of the smaller clubs the opportunity of entering a team (teams like - Parklea and Hillend as well as Inverkip). We may even find that the Triples league will have sufficient teams
to merit a similar draw to the Rinks league - who knows?
Cup matters :-
Again, the subject of the Reid and Fletcher came up and Kerr Livingston explained a competition that may be played using ten players instead of 16 / 18 as is used at present. Wellington Park had stated that they were finding it difficult to support the G&D by playing in the Reid / Fletcher, mainly because they were on a Wednesday night and involved practically all of their players from the previous night. After a discussion, the
meeting decided that there was no need to change.
Financial matters :-
Kerr Livingston gave a brief run-down of the G&D finances. There was no problem at the moment. However, the finances that we have built up over the years are taking a bit of a hammering due to unseen occurencies. Over the last four years, we have been in the enviable position of having Scottish Champions / British Isles Champion players in our midst and rightfully marking their successes with tokens of our appreciation at their achievements. These tokens will always be presented and there is funding for them. We built a balance of funds over a period of time to take care of this type of thing. That was when we had 16 clubs and 2 sponsors. We don't have them and we don't want to see our bank book go any lower than we feel is necessary. So, our proposal was to up the annual fees by £200. There are 14 clubs and that would mean a rise in fees of approx. £15.
It has to be pointed out that there has not been a rise in annual subscriptions for 4 years,so this is not a bombshell and wouldn't have been necessary if we still had 16 clubs. A counter proposal came from Wellington Park that the annual fees be based on the head count that a club had - similar to the RBA. It was pointed out that a decision of this type could only be taken at the AGM.
J Freeburn - Assoc.Secretary
G&D Delegates Meeting Round-up
Hi Folks, Basher here.
I haven’t spoken to you for a “wee” while – basically, because I’ve been up to my ears in it ( self inflicted – I know ). Still, somebody has to do it.
The season is well on it’s way and there have been some plusses and some of the other too. I’ll start with the G&D first, as that’s the first off the mark. There was a bit of difficulty with the League draw, basically because of the numbers and Kerr & I tried “damn hard” to find a popular solution – but to no avail. The League Championship will be won by the best team in the District – Believe me. The 2nd.Division will be won by whoever can stay in touch the longest.
The Triples is better than some give it credit for and is allowing Hillend and Inverkip to play for themselves and that cannot be bad.
The Top Ten was, once again, won by Wellington Park. Albeit, they didn’t get it all their own way and were made to fight the whole way.
The Mixed Pairs was retained by Stacey Lungley and Terry Duffy and was witnessed by a large crowd at Rankin Park on the night. Rankin Park have now hosted two Finals and nothing has been said about their “New” green – so we have to assume that it is “acceptable”.
The Reid Cup was won by Gourock and the highest-up rink was Wellington Park ( Stephen McLellans rink were +28 )
It won’t be long before I’m sending out the Championship draw sheets and that, in itself, marks the end of the season. I always enjoy G&D Finals day. I think that the good thing about it – is that everybody knows everybody. We are a family and we are among our own kind – that’s how I see it anyway. Mind you, you can’t pick your relatives – know what I mean!!!
The Scottish is always the “Big One”, basically because the prize is a trip to Northfield. It’s always nice to win a “wee dangly badge”, but nothing beats being at Northfield on day one (well maybe playing in the Final does), but being there with all of the other hopefuls is brilliant. I won’t go through the whole card, except to mention my “wee mate” Bradley. I’ve been to Northfield twice with him and would love to see him getting through to the latter stages. We play in the League together and he’s great to play beside (as long as he keeps doing what I tell him).
Right, it’s time to mention the Renfrewshire. The Championship Finals were a tremendous success and a lot of praise should got to the members of Meikleriggs BC, who gave a great deal of help and assistance to Kerr and myself during the days and weeks running up to event itself. The weather was very kind to us and the players who represented their Clubs were very sporting throughout the Finals and made it an event that will be remembered for a long time to come.
Lady Alice Seniors have played better – they know that and so do we, so let’s not dwell on it for too long. On the other hand, Stephen McLellan has not been playing as well as he would like (his words – not mine), you could have fooled me. He was taking no prisoners in his game. The lad from Neilston, must have wondered what hit him. 21-12 to Stephen and a 3rd. title in the bag.
Allan Walker had a good support from Ardgowan Club, as well as his Mum and Dad, plus a fair amount of neutrals from the “tail o’ the bank” and was up against a former winner, in the shape of George Hay from Shawlands BC. The game was played in a very sporting manner and certainly swung one way and then another. It looked like the “lemons” were going to dominate the game, early on, until George got a better line and came back into the match. Everybody agreed that the game was a great advert for sportsmanship and good play – just a pity that the trophy didn’t come down this way –AGAIN.
The County Cup was won by Meikleriggs and shows the strength of their Club – they supply the County teams with 4 players and also a President.
The Centenary Cup was won by Elderslie Wallace and these Cups will be presented at suitable times.
The RBA Top Ten draw sheets should be in your hands, as we speak, and will start at the beginning of August.. If anybody has any queries regarding the competition – contact Ian Easton using the information on the sheet.
Right – Bashers Rant.
I am not going to say anything that you should not be aware of. You all know that I am standing down, next year from the G&D. I feel that I have gone as far as I can and there are certain areas that I do not want to be associated with, because I do not see them benefiting the Association. I have always put the interest of ALL players to the fore and this is not the message that is coming across. I know that there are many people who want one league and do not appear interested in anybody else. I do not subscribe to that theory and never will. The last six years have been very fruitful and was basically because of the type of system in operation.
We have to look after each other or we will perish – mark my words.
Back to the G&D Championships.
I am definitely looking forward to these Championships. We have some great players in the area, and if they play to their potential – who knows!!.
