Six teams from each of the four Provinces in the Forth Valley area played for the Bonspiel Trophy on the 30th January in the main ice rink at the Peak over two full sessions, 6 rinks each.
In the first session Falkirk got off to a flying start with a 7 in the first end. Lying 4 shots skip Michael Daly thought he could manage a 6 if he played the right shot but managed to get the 7 on the final count. Bathgate came back at them with a 4 in the second, but Falkirk kept pegging single shots over 4 of the remaining 5 ends to keep control and win 11 v 6 at the finish. Doune were worthy winners against Buchlyvie at 11 v 5, with three ends of 3 shots each and winning 5 ends in total. They let Buchlyvie make it look better for them by losing a 4 at the final end.There were lots of close games, both Balfron and Buccaneers won their games with the final stone in the last end to keep Forth & Endrick looking good but crucially, Abercorn managed to scrape a draw against Airthrey Castle despite winning fewer ends. This extra point would help ensure West Lothian had one more point than Forth & Endrick at the end of the night.
In the second session Strathendrick racked up a big score against Kilsyth Ladies finishing 16 v 2. Skip Kim McLaren kept the pressure on all the time. Also an 18 shot game was Bridge of Allan against Kilsyth with the former edging it at 10 v 8 with 3 ends won to 4 for Kilsyth. 16 shots scored in 5 ends for both clubs. Oatridge started off by losing a 3 at the first end to Falkirk Ladies but came back with a 6 at the second and then kept it tight to finish 11 v 4. The lowest scoring game was Uphall and Kippen, finishing 6 v 3 in favour of Uphall. They won 5 ends out of 7. Drymen had a convincing win over Dunblane and in the last game to finish Linlithgow won a challenging match against Blairdrummond 8 v 4 to put West Lothian Province over the finishing line as winners of the Bonspiel with 9 points overall.
With West Lothian winners, Oatridge had their best score on the night with 11 v 4 and so are the trophy winners again this season. The Keron brothers are certainly playing well. Well done the winners and thanks to everyone for taking part and making the event a success. Special mention and thanks to Grangemouth for stepping in for Stirlingshire Province when Campsie Glen pulled out at short notice. Poor show by Campsie Glen.
