Rosebank duo on top in Jack Mowat Open Pairs
The annual Jack Mowat Open Pairs bowling tournament was played last Sunday in Lybster with mostly dry conditions prevailing throughout for the full house entry of 24 teams, representing all the clubs in Caithness and also Sutherland.
Always a popular event, this year expressions of interest came from 30 teams of which 24 took part in two sections with the winners and runners-up of each progressing after each team had played four games of eight ends.
From Section 1, winning all four games and the section, was a team from Golspie represented by Dylan Murray (skip) and Melvin Miller. Runners-up by virtue of the best shot difference on six points and +31 was the Rosebank team of Paul Mackinnon (skip) and Graham John, beating the Thurso team of Alan Morrison and daughter Maddy on six points and +9.
From Section 2 the only team that gathered a full eight points was the Golspie duo of George Mowat (skip) and Robin Colvin, while close runners-up on seven points were Alister Macleod (skip) and wife Margaret from Brora.
In the semi-finals Rosebank all but whitewashed the Golspie duo of Messrs Mowat and Colvin, being 9-0 up at the seventh end, then losing two shots on the last to prevail 9-2. In the all-Sutherland semi the Brora pair overcame the Golspie duo in a close, low-scoring game by six shots to four.
The final was again a show of impressive bowling from the Rosebank team as they romped to a 7-0 lead by the fifth end, with the game coming to premature finish on the seventh end due to another three shots giving them an unassailable lead and thus the Jack Mowat Open Pairs for 2019.
The trophy returns to Rosebank from where it resided for a year due to the 2018 winners (D Gibson and M Simpson) also being from that club.