PARKSIDE went head-to-head with chief rivals Pilrig in last night's Division 1 action of the Alpha Trophies Edinburgh Bowls League and the defending champions increased their lead at the top of the table with an exciting 5-4 away win.
It was Pilrig's chance to narrow the gap but with two fixtures left they now trail Parkside by four points, however, with 18 points still to play for, the losers may feel they still have a fighting chance of snatching the title.
Wins for Parkside
skips Robert Donaldson and Bob Ramsay also earned the bonus point for the visitors with the leaders edging the match aggregate 68-64.
Donaldson saw a 10-5 lead eroded to 10-10 before skipping Halley Cockburn, Ian Kay and Darren Smith to a 17-10 win with a 3, 1, 2, 1 finish against Darren McKenny. Ramsay led 13-6 at one stage but made his major impression from 14-10 with a 3, 5, 1 finish to skip Rab Gardner, Stuart Kerr and Darren Grant to a 23-10 win over Chris Steven.
Pilrig were kept in the hunt by Keith Taylor who skipped Gavin Rogers, Graeme Ward and Scott Rogers into a 17-5 lead then on to a 26-16 win over Willie Watson.
And David Poole kept the match alive by skipping John Kay, Darren McCardle and John Geddes from 7-8 to an 18-12 win over Paul Veitch.
Craigentinny continued their late progress up the table with a 7-2 win at Dean that consolidates them in third place and entrenches the home team deep in the relegation zone.
In foot of the table ties, Tanfield lost 5-4 to Leith at home and Queensberry arrested their recent slide with a 5-4 home win over Hillside.
The full article contains 306 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
