Scotland’s David Gourlay MBE found himself up against Lincoln’s Kevin Rands in his first round match in the Scottish International Open. Rands had come through one of the toughest qualifying fields having to place 6 hard matches in one day to get here. Gourlay knew he was up against a tough opponent and used all his knowledge and skills to hold off Rands as best he could.
First set and neither was really getting the better of each other and by end 6 it was a tight 5 each. Gourlay dug in deep and managed to take away a count of 3 in end 7 with some really clever bowls. He followed this up with a further double in end 8 and took the first set with a scoreline of 10,5. The scoreline though does not do justice to the bowls played.
The second wet was a really tight affair, gripping bowls and shot for shot counts. By the 6th end again it was a 5 all scoreline, Gourlay taking a single on end 7 but Rands retaliated taking a double in end 8 to go one shot ahead. The dreaded tie break loomed and in end 9 it was Rands that lay shot, until Gourlay played a brilliant bowl to take a single and level the set at 7 all. Match to Gourlay. This match is well worth a watch on the WBT youtube of facebook pages - you will not be disappointed.