Ayrshire North win 2023 Andrew Hamilton Trophy
Ayrshire North were crowned Andrew Hamilton Trophy champions for 2023 at the National Centre for Bowling, Ayr after triumphing over defending champions, Lanarkshire South, and then Midlothian at today’s finals.
In the final, Ayrshire North flew out the blocks and opened up a 14-0 lead after the first end across the six rinks. Midlothian were never really able to claw back the deficit from this point onwards as they trailed by 20+ shots for the majority of the match. At the 18th end the scored tightened to 104-90 to Ayrshire North and the game looked set for a photo finish.
However, the Ayrshire North rink of Tom Scalter, William Cairns, Ross Gouldstone and John McCabe, had other ideas as they scored counts of 3, 6 & 2 in their final three ends against Colin Walker to effectively secure the title for the Ayrshire men. Drew Boyd’s rink finished with the highest winning margin as they saw off David McGlynn 20-9. Paul Foster MBE defeated former international colleague David Peacock 21-19 in a blockbuster game and Ayrshire’s final rink win came via John Carswell courtesy of his 20-16 triumph over Colin McFarlane.
Congratulations to Ayrshire North on a deserved victory and their first AHT triumph since 2007. Commiserations to Midlothian, who enjoyed an excellent season winning the east section and being worthy finalists
Full Rink Scores below (Ayrshire North skips first):
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Rink 1 – Drew Boyd 20 v David McGlynn 9
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Rink 2 – John McCabe 27 v Colin Walker 18
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Rink 3 – Paul Foster MBE 21 v David Peacock 19
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Rink 4 – Chris Carswell 18 v Scott Briggs 20
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Rink 5 – John Carswell 20 v Colin McFarlane 16
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Rink 6 – Martin Williamson 16 v Colin Bonner 19
AYRSHIRE NORTH 122 – MIDLOTHIAN 101