Grant’s team are Lybster Open Triples champions
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Players from all four Caithness bowling clubs arrived in torrential rain last Sunday to play in the Lybster Open Triples.
Fortunately, the deluge had more or less subsided by start time but a short delay ensured the water had drained away and the competition got under way to then be played through a day of scorching sunshine and very warm temperatures.
The format – two sections battling it out over four games for each team to find a winner and a runner-up from each section – produced some close games and some not so close.
Once the dust had settled the winners of Section 1 were the Rosebank team of Mark Peden (skip), Tom MacGregor and Stewart Cumming with a full eight points after winning all games. Runners-up were the Lybster trio of George Zindilis (skip), Douglas Sutherland and George Sutherland.
In Section 2, with a full set of eight points, also from Rosebank, were the team of William Bremner (skip), Dylan Murray and Paul Mackinnon. Runners-up were the home team of John Grant (skip), Jim Fraser and Sandy Mackay.
In the semis, both being Lybster v Rosebank matches, the Section 1 winners from Rosebank (M Peden et al) lost to the Lybster team (John Grant et al).
The other semi was a close affair throughout with the home team skipped by George Zidilis hanging on to get through against the Rosebank trio and contest the final against their clubmates.
The final was a close and tense game of bowls throughout, with John Grant’s team starting well to go 4-0 up after the first two ends. It was the three on the second end that gave them the cushion to be able to hold off their opponents who matched them in ends won but were unable to quite overtake them in the scoring stakes, and so it ended 6-5 – making John Grant, Jim Fraser and Sandy Mackay 2019 Lybster Open Triples champions.