Lothian Disability Sport News

Scottish Disability Sport  7-a-side Championships

Lothian Schools put in an impressive performance at the SDS National Championships on Wednesday 16th - claiming victory in the Junior Band B Division after defeating Carrongrange of Forth Valley 3-2 in a closely contested final.

The Lothian team comprised of players who performed well throughout the previous school year, with the winners (West Calder) and runners up (Woodlands) of the School League making up the squad of 8 players.  The Lothian youngsters recorded a hard fought 0-0 draw in their first group match (Carrongrange) before recording impressive victories against Letham A (6-0) and Claremont Colts (9-0) to proceed as group winners, leading to another match with 4th place finishers in the group - Claremont Colts.  Again the Lothian side were too strong for the East Kilbride youngsters and booked their place in the final. 

The final saw Declan Murray (Woodlands) put his side in front from the penalty spot before Carrongrange levelled the scores at 1-1.  Lothian then took the lead for a second time with a goal from West Cader's Callum Race before Murray put through his own net to level the scores once more and setting up a tense finish to the match.  The match was settled by an excellent finish from Steven Meek (West Calder) and Lothian were crowned Band B Champions.  The Lothian squad of players can be found below -

Mike Eusepi (Woodlands)

Declan Murray (Woodlands)

Matthew Power (Woodlands)

Ben Thompson (Woodlands)

Dan Fletcher (West Calder)

Steven Meek (West Calder)

Callum Race (West Calder)

Scottish Disability Sport National Carpet Bowls Championships

Dundee International Sports Centre (DISC), Dundee

Saturday 31st January 2015

After successfully qualifying from the Regional Carpet Bowls Competition held in November , thirteen players represented the Lothian Branch at the annual SDS National Carpet Bowls Championships in Dundee yesterday.

After some last minute call off's due to the adverse weather in some areas of the country, many of the Lothian team had to wait until just before lunch time to play their first match - this may have affected concentration as results were frustrating, especially in comparison to the great success the Branch experienced this time last year.  Stewart Martin, winner of the Regional competition, Gordon Graham and Scott Bruce successfully navigated  their way into the third round, only to be knocked out at this stage and end the Lothian interest in the Men with a Learning Disability Section.  Last year's section semi finalist, Euan Wright had been knocked out in the previous round to eventual winner, Stanley Robb of South Lanarkshire.

The ladies from Lothian never fared much better in the equivalent section, with Christina McSherry and Jacqueline Vickers losing in the first round with Susan Drummond tasting defeat in the second.  Defending champion Amanda Craig was unable to retain the trophy, unfortunately losing by the odd shot to her opponent in the same round while Phillipa Robinson went one better and was unfortunate to lose in the third round on her debut at the competition.

The players with a Physical Disability tasted a little more success in the Mixed Ambulant & B3 Bowlers (Unrestricted) as Jimmy Restorick reached the final after topping his section, winning all three group games.  Neil Shirley, winner of the Regional section was extremely unlucky not to reach the final after losing by one shot in his group decider while Robert Harvey and Eileen Restorick both won games in their group but were unlucky to progress any further.  The final was a repeat of last year as Jimmy Restorick locked horns with Mark Phairs of South Lanarkshire - and the result was the unfortunately the same for the Lothian bowler as Phairs re-claimed the title by one shot.

Well done to all bowlers for representing the Branch superbly throughout and I'm sure the future will hold more success for Lothian.  Thank you to the organisers at SDS for providing another excellent competitive opportunity.

If you are interested in getting involved with bowling, Carpet or Lawn, then please get in touch on 0131 475 2364 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..