Shoulder-to-Shoulder League Archive
Final results for Division 2 in the season 2011-12
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Latest News
31/01/2012: Announcement 1. It has been established that in their match against Prestonpans A on 8th December, Watsonians included a substitute shooter in their team who was ineligible under Rule 5(g). His average was greater than the declared average of the shooter he replaced, so his scores have been disqualified as per Rule 5(h). The match result and the league table below have been adjusted to take that into account.
16/06/2012: Announcement 2. At the AGM a decision taken by the then organiser of this league last October was overturned and all the cards for James Brown representing Watsonians in three of its matches were disqualified as he did not satisfy the rule governing the use of substitutes. The match points have been recalculated and Pathhead B consequently take over as winners of this division.
The results given below, the final league table, the Averages sheet and the two relevant team sheets (but not the individual match commentaries) have all been updated to reflect that situation.
The revised winners are Pathhead B, who take the Evening News Shield, and runners-up Watsonians win the Matchplay bowl ahead of Redcraig. The highest average award goes to Robin Thomson of Watsonians with an average of 96.77, ahead of team-mate Rhona Dove on 95.64.
The Champion of Champions match did not take place, and it is not known when or if it will take place, as the shoot-off for the Division 1 title will not now happen until the start of the 2012-13 season.
As was previously announced here, the league Secretary, Bill Hamilton, resigned at the end of the season. As a result of the vote overturning his decision to allow James Brown’s scores to stand, he has written an Open Letter to all in the Association. Click here to read it.
Match results —
League Table —
Click on each team to see its detailed record for the season:
Pathhead B Prestonpans A Prestonpans B Redcraig Watsonians
Click here to see the individual averages for this division (pdf file).
Previous match commentaries:
13/10/11: Watsonians v Prestonpans A. Watsonians set the heather alight with the best score seen in Division 2 for a long long, time, and their visitors had no answer to it. James Brown for the home team put in a magnificent 199 with clubmate Robin Thomson right behind on 198. Prestonpans’ top shooter was captain Cohnor Cummings with 189. Watsonians swept the board with all 8 Matchplay points. They’ll be hard to beat on this form.
17/10/11: Redcraig v Prestonpans A. Redcraig welcomed their East Lothian visitors and got off the the best of starts by comprehensively taking the points against a very erratic ‘Pans team. The best the visitors got were a couple of Matchplay points, a good cup of tea and some entertaining banter, no doubt. Top scorer for Redcraig was Andy Hay with 192, and the best for the visitors was Dave Thornton with 191.
24/10/11: Pathhead B v Watsonians. Pathhead’s second string put up a brave fight against their city opponents, but lost out to their visitors, who weren’t able to repeat the fantastic score achieved in their previous match but did quite sufficiently to take the points comfortably. Watsonians didn’t have it all their own way though, as they dropped three Matchplay points – more than the overall points differential might have suggested. Top scorer for the home team was veteran Jim Hind with 194 and top man for Watsonians was once again James Brown, this time with ‘only’ 196.
31/10/11: Pathhead B v Prestonpans A. They’re consistent if nothing else, but the virtually identical score that Pathhead shot last week in their defeat to Watsonians proved too much for a much-improved Prestonpans A as the home team took the points by a relatively narrow margin. Their top shot in this match was again Jim Hind with his second successive 194, and the Pans top shooter was captain Cohnor Cummings leading his team from the front with 191. A close match often sees the Matchplay points go close as well, and this was no exception, with each side claiming two wins.
01/11/11: Prestonpans B v Watsonians. The ‘Pans B team made their debut against leaders Watsonians, and despite equalling their A team’s score from their first match, they came up against another in-form Watsonian team who look ominously like running away with this division already. The top scorer for the Prestonpans team was one of their youngsters, Charles Guest, with 187 (including a 97 which equals the top score of all the Prestonpans shooters in this league) while Robin Thomson continues to impress with a 197 for the visitors. Unsurprisingly, Watsonians took all the Matchplay points.
07/11/11: Redcraig v Prestonpans B. This one can only be described as a shock result. The mixture of young (15 and 14 years old) and old (undisclosed) in the Prestonpans B team (the young leading the way, it has to be said) pipped an experienced Redcraig team shooting on their own turf by the narrow margin of only two points. The home team dropped almost 20 points more than in their first match and that lapse along with the visitors” improvement was enough to send the first points of the season to the East Lothian club. Redcraig’s top scorer was John Cranston on 189 but the best on the night was Pans’ young captain Alasdair Hitchin with 190. Prestonpans also took the Matchplay points 5-3, and now sit above their A team in the league having shot one less match!.
14/11/11: Pathhead B v Prestonpans B. After last week’s historic win, the Pans B team headed over to Pathhead to try to repeat the feat. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, as the home team put in a solid performance and took the points quite easily. In fact the Pathhead team was so consistent – four 95s and four 96s in their eight cards. Their top two scorers were Bruce Forrest and D Barbieri with one each (189) while best for Prestonpans was Alasdair Hitchen scoring 186. The difference in scoring consistency was reflected in the Matchplay result – 8-0 for Pathhead.
17/11/11: Redcraig v Watsonians. Watsonians cemented their place at the top of the table with a convincing win on their first visit to Redcraig. The home team struggled to their lowest score so far this season, and although the same has to be said for Watsonians, the honours went to the visitors. Top scorer for Redcraig was Andy Hay with 188 and Watsonians’ top shot was Robin Thomson with 194, keeping him well up the averages list. Watsonians achieved their third Matchplay whitewash of the season after only four matches and have opened up a huge lead there already.
21/11/11: Prestonpans B v Prestonpans A. In the first ‘Pans derby of the season, the B team nearly pulled off another historic win, but a changed foresight by one of their team members just prior to the match was their undoing, and the A team could be considered to have scraped home somewhat fortuitously. They all shot very consistently, but the junior/senior combo in the B team managed to take six Matchplay points off them (unusual for the losing team). Top scorer for the A team was Captain Cohnor Cummings with 185, while best on the night was the B team’s Angus Paterson with 189, his best effort so far this season, with his teenage colleagues not far behind..
05/12/11: Prestonpans B v Pathhead B. A solid but unspectacular score gave visitors Pathhead the points against a Pans team that shot near to their average total. This win keeps Pathhead well up in contention behind unbeaten Watsonians. Team mentor Angus Paterson had the home team’s top score with 183, but showing them all how it’s done was Pathhead veteran Jim Hind with 194, eleven points better than anyone else on the night. 4-all in the Matchplay.
08/12/11: Prestonpans A v Watsonians. It was “Scotstorm” night when Prestonpans were hoping to blow a hole in Watsonians’ lead in the table and hike themselves up into 3rd place. However, the city club managed to stay safely on the road to East Lothian with the gales behind them and kept their title aspirations well and truly on course with a solid win over their hosts. This despite the home team recording their best total so far this season with Dave Thornton their top scorer with 191. Callum Seale was best for Watsonians with 193, and the visitors took the Matchplay points 6-2 before battling back along the Bypass into the teeth of the hurricane.
15/12/11: Prestonpans A v Redcraig. Redcraig took a step away from the basement area when they travelled over to Prestonpans to take on the host club’s A team and won quite comfortably. This loss keeps the host team still at the foot of the table below their B team (only by virtue of a higher aggregate having shot one more match, though). Top scorer for the home team was Martin Williamson with 190, while the best for Redcraig were Kevin McConnell and Ken Kirk both on 189. Six-two for Redcraig in the Matchplay
12/01/2012: Redcraig v Pathhead B. Redcraig leapfrogged Pathhead into second place in the league with this convincing win against their visitors. Their best score of the season against Pathhead’s worst so far gave them an easy victory and ended Pathhead’s run of three wins on the trot. Top shot for Redcraig was David McConnell with 195 while best for a generally out of sorts Pathhead team was Jim Hind with 187, winning his side’s only Matchplay points, being pitted against Redcraig’s lowest scorer in the only match his team could have won.
23/01/2012: Prestonpans A v Prestonpans B. The second of the ‘Pans derby matches went the way of the A team again after they scraped through in first one, but it was once again a less than convincing victory, with only six points separating the teams at the end. They were always just in control though as they won the Matchplay seven points to one. Top scorer for the A team was Cohnor Cummings on 189, while best for the B team were Alasdair Hitchen and Angus Paterson with 186s.
26/01/2012: Redcraig v Watsonians. Redcraig missed a golden opportunity to get themselves right back into contention when they lost narrowly to their top-of-the-table visitors courtesy of one uncharacteristically poor card from one of their shooters. Neither team shot particularly well, and Watsonians scraped through by only three points with their worst score of the season to hang on to their unbeaten record. Redcraig’s top scorer was Andy Hay with 190, while both Gordon McDougall and Robin Thomson (using Gordon’s rifle after forgetting to take his own bolt) were best for the visitors with 191 each. It was 4-all in the Matchplay.
30/01/2012: Prestonpans A v Pathhead B. What a match! Pathhead B pitched up to Prestonpans in the hope and probably expectation of consolidating their second place in the league by repeating their win of earlier in the season, but the home team had other ideas and in a titanic tussle overcame their visitors by one single point in 129 – 64 off to 65 off. This instead puts Prestonpans in second place and consigns Pathhead to fourth. The ‘Pans team can probably thank their captain Cohnor Cummings, who was the only member of their team to shoot anywhere near his average and top-scored the night with a 190. Best for a disappointed Pathhead team, several of whom also shot below their potential, was R Edlman with 187. The Matchplay points were suitably shared at 4 each.
02/02/2012: Prestonpans B v Redcraig. The ‘Pans B team picked up the easiest two point they’ll ever get when Redcraig came to visit with only three shooters for a match for teams of four. No explanation has reached this writer, so at the moment it’s just one of those things. The home team all shot to their usual standard with Angus Paterson their standout with 192, and the depleted Redcraig side did their best against overwhelming odds with Ken Kirk their best performer with 191. Matchplay points were shared 4-each, and Redcraig now stand in second place there. This misadventure puts a dent in their aspirations for this division though – I had them tipped as the dark horses to be challenging for the lead come the end of the programme.
06/02/2012: Prestonpans B v Pathhead B. Angus Paterson’s eye injury might have have been significant in Prestonpans’ narrow loss to their visitors. It occurred too late to find a substitute and he managed to shoot with some difficulty, unsurprisingly not performing to his potential. The Pathhead team shot slightly better than their average but took the victory by only four points. Top gun for the home team was Captain Alasdair Hitchen with 190, while Pathhead’s best were Bob Oliver and Jim Hind scoring 188 each. Four-all in the Matchplay. This win boosts Pathhead into second spot in the league.
09/02/2012: Redcraig v Prestonpans A. Redcraig leapfrogged their opponents into third place in the league with this easy home win over the ‘Pans A team, after producing their second-best score of the season against their visitors” worst score. Perhaps Prestonpans don’t travel too well as it was a similar story on their first visit to West Lothian earlier in the season. Top scorer for Redcraig was David McConnell with 191, while best for Prestonpans was Cohnor Cummings with 183, a disappointing score for him after a decent first card. It was a whitewash in the Matchplay in favour of the home team, and those eight points now put them level with league-leaders Watsonians..
16/02/2012; Watsonians v Prestonpans A. Prestonpans A went down heavily in their visit to league-leaders Watsonians who just scored at about their (adjusted) average. The visitors never got going (their best single-card score was the same as Watsonians’ worst) and at the end it was a stroll in the park for the winners. Their top scorer was Robin Thomson with 195 (keeping him at the top of the Division 2 individual averages list), while the best for Prestonpans were Cohnor Cummings and Allan Gundlach with 186s. All eight Matchplay points boosted Watsonians into lead there.
23/02/2012; Watsonians v Redcraig. Watsonians maintained their healthy lead in the table with this not particularly convincing victory over their visitors. Redcraig did put in their best-equal total, but the hosts took the points with what could be considered a slightly below-par performance. Young James Gutteridge in his first match (a very late substitute for hospitalised Captain Gordon McDougall) acquitted himself well by topping Watsonians’ score sheet with 192, while best for Redcraig was Kevin McConnell, also with 192. Four points each in the Matchplay.
28/02/2012: Watsonians v Prestonpans B. Watsonians took another step on their inexorable advance on the league title with this almost inevitable win against the bottom of the table team. The visitors put in one of their better scores and it wasn’t the home team’s finest hour, but they did enough to take the points and keep their big lead in the table. Their top scorer was Robin Thomson (keeping his nose well in front in the averages table) with 193, while best for Prestonpans was Charles Guest with 191. Four-all in the Matchplay.
08/03/2012; Prestonpans B v Redcraig. There were no slip-ups from Redcraig this time on their latest visit to the ‘Pans (they were a man short last time), and they put in what’s become their regular score to take the points from the home club’s B team who delivered their best score of the season. It was a commendable effort but not quite enough, with the visitors winning by only four points. Their top scorer in a very consistent team effort was Charles Guest with 190, while top for Redcraig was David McConnell with 195. It was another four-all in the Matchplay. There are now three teams tied on points behind Watsonians, all waiting to pounce. Are the leaders going to slip up? Their match on the 8th against Pathhead B might be decisive.
(Apologies for not updating the League Table to take that match into account. Redcraig were a clear second, on 10 points so the above comment was incorrect.)
08/03/2012; Watsonians v Pathhead B. Watsonians did indeed slip up, but only to the extent of a draw against their visitors, who produced one of their better scores so far to maintain their challenge. They may be 8 points behind, but they have four matches to shoot to Watsonians’ two. One of these is a re-match between these two teams. For Pathhead to win the division it would need them to win all four of their remaining matches and Watsonians to lose to them and also to Prestonpans B. Top scorer for Watsonians was Robin Thomson with 194 while best for Pathhead was veteran Jim Hind with 192. Yet another equal share of points in the Matchplay.
12/03/2012; Prestonpans B v Prestonpans A. This was a pretty close-run thing for the A team in the last of the club derbies, squeaking through by only two points in a lowish-scoring match. This win puts the A team into joint second in the league with Redcraig, who have a match in hand though. Top scorer for the ‘home’ team (‘Pans B) was Alasdair Hitchen with 188, but the A team’s Allan Gundlach had the best score of the night with 190 (his commendable 99 on his first card probably saved his team’s blushes). It was another 4-all in the Matchplay.
13/03/2012; Prestonpans B v Watsonians. The home side’s last match of the season (and the second in as many days) gave Watsonians the win they needed to become the Champions as they can no longer be caught. It was a narrow victory, though, by only five points as the Pans B team upped their game considerably from the night before and they all shot much more consistently. Their visitors were just that little bit better though and took the points with a score similar to the ones they’ve been putting in in recent matches. The home side’s top scorer was young Charles Guest with 191, while Robin Thomson again topped Watsonians’ list with 194. Robin is looking likely to win the best average award for this division. At long last, the Matchplay points went in favour of one team, with the visitors winning 5-3.
15/03/2012: Redcraig v Pathhead B. Redcraig welcomed Pathhead in one of the matches which will probably decide which of them takes the runner-up spot in the league. These two teams meet again next week, but on this occasion it was the West Lothian outfit that took the points and possibly an advantage in the league stakes. This was another fairly close match with both teams shooting above their normal average. It’s been about six matches where the difference in scores between teams has been more than 10 points. This is a well-contested league. Top scorer for Redcraig was Kevin McConnell with 191, and best for the visitors was Jim Hind with 187. 5-3 to Redcraig in the Matchplay. Pathhead have a busy schedule to complete their programme – three matches in eight days. They will have to win them all if they want to be runners-up.
19/03/2012: Pathhead B v Prestonpans A. The Pans A team hopped over to Pathhead and although they put in an above-average score, the home team did likewise and thus took the points quite comfortably. Pathhead leapfrog Prestonpans into 3rd place but have two more matches to go and have the opportunity to take the runner-up spot. Top scorer for Pathhead was Jim Hind with a commendable 196, whereas the best for the visitors was Malcolm Williamson with 190. It’s back to another 4-all in the Matchplay.
22/03/2012; Watsonians Pathhead B. Watsonians concluded their programme by defeating Pathhead to confirm their final placing at the top of the league. They produced their second-best total of the season to beat their visitors’ best effort so far in a high-scoring match. Top scorers for the home side were Rhona Dove and Gordon McDougall (now seemingly fully recovered from his surgery) with 195 each, while Gavin Forrest was best for Pathhead with 194. Watsonians took the Matchplay points 6-2 to take an unbeatable lead in that competition. Although he didn’t shoot in this match, Watsonians’ Robin Thomson takes the award for having the highest average in this division, ahead of team-mate Rhona Dove. Redcraig and Pathhead scrap it out for second place in the league next week in the division’s last match of the season.
26/03/2012: Pathhead B v Redcraig. Pathhead left the best till last and recorded their highest total of the season in this easy victory over their visitors from the West. This win leapfrogs them over Redcraig to take second place in the league. Star of the match was the home team’s Bruce Forrest with a stunning 199, while the best for Redcraig in a somewhat struggling team was Allan McConnell with 188. It was 6-2 in the Matchplay for Pathhead, but it was Redcraig who finish runners-up in that competition.