Young bowler Caitlin Dustan produces fine comeback to reach Forres Bowling Club ladies' championship quarter-finals
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A fine revival by young Forres Bowling Club player Caitlin Dustan earned a place in the last eight of the ladies' championship.
Caitlin Dustan showed great resilience to recover from a potentially heavy beating to reach a quarter-final tie with Wilma Petrie.
The youngster trailed more experienced opponent Peggy Locke 5-0, and then 12-4 before she started to get her act together.
Eight ends later Locke held just a single shot advantage (14-13). A treble at the next end might have knocked the stuffing out of Dustan, but she responded in style and won six of the next seven ends to record her first singles victory at the club.
Brian Riddell is through to the quarter-finals of the Men's Championship after an impressive victory over Alex Porter.
Riddell, in just his second season outdoors, was 13-3 up and 18-8 ahead before Porter really got going. The winner will now play either Roy Anderson or Dean Dobbs.
Henry Davidson, also in just his second season, has reached the last eight of the President's Handicap.
Davidson edged the opening few ends of his tie with Lesley Mackintosh, eventually finding himself 12-5 up after 12 ends.
Four ends later. Mackintosh had overtaken the deficit to lead 13-12 but this seemed to spur Davidson on, and he was a 20-14 winner in the end.
Mary Sobey will vie with Davidson for a place in the semi-finals after a comeback victory over Brian Riddell, who led 5-0 after just three ends before Sobey plugged away to produce a comeback and lead by the 14th end.
Riddell won the next four ends to lead 15-10, before Sobey won four on the spin herself. This left her one shot from victory which she gained three ends later.
Derek Crosby put his recent back problems behind him in another Handicap tie, leading Hazel Caldwell 9-0 after just half a dozen ends.
Caldwell started to play thereafter, but never got any closer than within four shots.
She eventually lost 20-14, and Crosby now plays Derek Sobey who started well with two threes against Sandy Burgess.
A maximum two ends later got Burgess moving, before Sobey pulled ahead again and finished things by winning four ends in a row.
After an even start, 4-4 after four ends, Peggy Locke proved to be too strong for Marion Felton.
Alex Porter completed the President's Handicap second round line-up with a comfortable victory over Billy Felton. He is now due to play Roy Anderson.
John Ross started with a maximum, and was far too strong for Ailene Matthews in the W D MacPherson Trophy. Ross will play either Ailene's husband, John or Derek Crosby in the last eight.
Roy Anderson started well in his tie with Derek Sobey.
A maximum at the sixth end put Anderson 10-1 up on the more experienced Sobey, who went on a run reducing the leeway to three shots before Anderson won half a dozen ends to finish the game.
He will play either Ed Harris or Sam Morrison in the quarter-finals.
Teenager Alana Coutts turned in a sparkling performance along with Charlie Watt in their Usher Cup tie against the very strong pairing of John Matthews and Dean Dobbs.
Coutts, skipping for the first time, and Watt were 5-0 ahead after the first pair of ends.
Matthews and Dobbs surfed their way in front with a seven at the sixth end. This looked to be the end but Coutts and Watt found themselves ahead again with four ends to play.
They held a one-shot lead going into the final two ends, but their more experienced opponents finally progressed 17-16.
A five at the fourth end gave Marjory McCarthy and Paul Coutts the springboard for success in their tie with Caitlin Dustan and Sam Morrison. After that the result was never in question.
Alan Gardner and Roy Anderson gained a solid footing early on in their tie with Hazel Caldwell and Henry Davidson, leading 8-1 four ends in.
A fightback was triggered before two fives in the final three ends decided things in Gardner and Anderson's favour.
Derek Crosby and Brian Riddell were too strong for Peggy Locke and Lesley Mackintosh. The gents were well ahead before the ladies started to pick up some shots from the eleventh end.
Brian Caldwell and John Ross stormed to an 11-1 advantage over Ed Harris and Sam Morrison in the men's pairs.
Although the latter pairing then won four ends on the trot, they were never really in the game.
Mary Sobey is through to the quarter-finals of the John Raffan Trophy after a good victory over Hazel Caldwell.
Sobey started the game really strongly, and was 11-0 ahead just five ends in. By the time her opponent began to score multiple shots from the 11th end the game was over bar the shouting.
Sobey will either play her daughter, Lesley Mackintosh, or Marion Felton in the last eight.
Alex Porter has moved into second place in the Scott Cup table with his victory in the seventh round of the four-month-long competition.
Porter was joined by Lesley Mackintosh and Brian Riddell, who trailed Brian Caldwell 6-4 after seven ends but got some form together and lost just one shot thereafter.
After playing five ends John Ross still hadn't lost a shot to Stuart Robertson, who tightened things up thereafter, but couldn't reduce the leeway.
Dean Dobbs lost a large count of seven for the second week in a row as he played Sandy Burgess.
His rival's 10-0 lead was soon reeled in by a fightback to 11-13 but Burgess finished strongly for a comfortable victory.
Steve Gill hit Paul Coutts for six at the sixth end and Coutts responded, but a trio of threes in the second half killed him off.
Derek Sobey and John Matthews played out a relatively low-scoring affair where Sobey was comfortably ahead until Matthews scored seven shots in three ends - but it was not enough.
Scores: A Porter 25, B Caldwell 7; John Ross 18, S Robertson 8; A Burgess 23, D Dobbs 13; S Gill 21, P Coutts 13; D Sobey 13, J Matthews 11.
Roy Anderson and Harry Sutherland won Thursday's Moving Hat-Night.
Although they never featured in any big-scoring ends, they won all four of their sets.
John Matthews kept on the move before losing his final set and a poor finish cost Charlie Watt after he too kept moving.
Brian Caldwell was left cursing the coin after losing twice because of it, though he won his other two sets.
Alex Porter was 10-3 up at half-time before very nearly losing overall, and Mary Sobey was never out of rink six yet finished only two behind.
A coin toss finally gave Lesley Mackintosh a move, before she earned a great final set victory.
Rink 5 was Derek Sobey's home for the evening, and a five early in the second half was John Ross' only highlight of the night.
Sam Morrison's luck ran out after winning the toss at the end of the first set.
Scores: H Sutherland 9 up; J Matthews 5 up; C Watt 4 up; B Caldwell 4 up; A Porter 1 up; M Sobey 2 down; L Mackintosh 4 down; D Sobey 4 down; John Ross 4 down; S Morrison 9 down.
Ann MacPherson was once again victorious at the Wednesday afternoon hat, pairing up with Charlie Watt to win all four sets.
Mary Sobey remained unbeaten, but had a coin toss to do so, and Henry Davidson trailed 9-2 after seven ends, but dropped just one further shot.
Steve Gill had a mixed session, which finished badly when losing a handful while Brian Caldwell edged his first set, but that was his only success.
Hazel Caldwell was rooted to the rink for the duration.
Scores: C Watt 11 up; M Sobey 9 up; H Davidson 4 up; S Gill 1 down; B Caldwell 10 down; H Caldwell 13 down.
