Bowls: Colgrain quartet hold on to area’s fours title

The Colgrain team staged a memorable fightback from 7-1 down to secure the title, shrugging off the home advantage enjoyed by their final opponents Dalmuir on Saturday.

With an enthusiastic band of supporters cheering them on, the Colgrain quartet found themselves six shots behind after four ends and seemingly facing a near-impossible task to retain the crown they won in 2018.

But the team refused to give up the fight, and they steadily closed the gap, eventually overtaking their hosts in the 11th end.

The next two were neck-and-neck, but in the 14th end Colgrain took a crucial three shots and eventually finished nine shots clear for a comfortable, though hard-fought, victory.

Skip Harrison said afterwards: “Getting to the final after five rounds, played over three months, was an achievement in itself, but to go on to win and retain the title was an outstanding show of brilliance.

“It was the same team both this year and last and we’ve now made history winning it back to back.

“We’d like to thank all our supporters who were there on Saturday cheering us on.”

Six DBA finals were played at Dalmuir on Saturday, with the singles, pairs, triples, junior and senior champions being crowned alongside the fours winners from Colgrain.

Also featuring on the day’s card were Cardross Bowling Club pair John Miller and Steven Telford, but they lost out in the final, though only by a couple of shots.

Meanwhile, five Colgrain players are part of the Dunbartonshire West team who have qualified for the quarter-finals of the national Andrew Hamilton Trophy.

John McBride, Alan Sharp, Scott Moorhouse, Ian McKenzie, Billy Harvey junior and their team-mates will take on the North section’s winners, Bon Accord, in the first phase of the competition’s knockout stages at Balgay Bowling Club in Dundee this Saturday, July 6.