Balerno Bowling Club celebrates a Premiership title and a fifth men's championship for Grant Wilson

It has been a golden summer on the green at Balerno Bowling Club, with a league title, a fifth club championship for one of its stalwarts and another seniors crown for one of its most consistent players.

Balerno B secured the George Aitken Construction Premiership title in their debut season in the division, run by the West Edinburgh Seniors Bowling Association. It completed back-to-back titles, having won the Championship the season before. The two rinks, skipped by Phil Marshall and Ferguson McBeath, won 14 of their 18 matches and finished with 60.5 points, well clear of Bainfield A on 53 and Currie on 52. Balerno A finished a creditable fourth, making it a strong season for the club as a whole.

In the club championship, Grant Wilson became men's champion for the fifth time, beating two-time winner Steven Watson 21-15 in a two-hour final. The match was level at ten, and Watson went 13-10 ahead before Wilson rallied to lead 18-13 and closed it out at the 20th end. Wilson, a Balerno resident, previously won the title in 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2019, and is now third on the club's all-time list behind Willie Dyet and Laurie McMorran.

He started bowling at 13, and his first club was Fountain Brewery on Slateford Road. He credits people like Jimmy Mitchell, who encouraged juniors into the game, for giving him the bug. Remarkably, the bowls he used in the final are the same set he bought 26 years ago, when he first moved to Balerno and joined the club.

Tom Murray, meanwhile, won the seniors title for the third time in six years, beating Kenny Girdler 21-13. The pair were level at 7-7 and 11-11 before Murray pulled away, taking three shots at the 18th end. He has reached the final in five of the last six years and has also been club champion three times. He praised his opponent afterwards, saying Kenny had enjoyed a good season.

Club president Brian Buckner was on hand for the finals at the end of a season the club will remember fondly.

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