Year	WINNER		Year	WINNER
2008	A. Irving		2007	A. Irving
2006	A. Irving		2005	A. Irving
2004	J. McKenzie		2003	J. Nightingale
2002	A. Irving		2001	H. J. Hastie
2000	J. Nightingale		1999	J. Smith
1998	R. Brown		1997	J. Smith
1996	J. Hurst		1995	J. Hurst
1994	C. Dolan		1993	W. Ramage
1992	R. Brenchley		1991	T. Stewart
1990	C. Dolan		1989	J. R. Brodie
1988	J. B. Linton		1987	J. R. Brodie
1986	T. Stewart		1985	A. Brooks
1984	C. Kinnear		1983	G. Brenchley
1982	W. H. Hay		1981	A. McMahon
1980	A. McMahon		1979	J. Mitchell
1978	J. Williamson		1977	W. A. Tait
1976	G. Brenchley		1975	T. Y. L. Smith
1974	C. Harley

CLOSED OUT

Seniors closing day turned out to be a very successful one, and no more so because of the fact that we were very much honoured by the presence of the Northern's oldest member, Albert Grant. Albert is a sprightly 99 years young and it was fanstastic to see him attend the club on this day, or any day for that matter. Albert agreed to present the Senior section prizes and he was well looked after by Jim Hansen and Seniors Chariman, Angus McKenzie.                                                     We had decided to to combine closing day with the 'Albert Trophy' although this particular trophy is in honour of one of our other members named Albert and not Mr Grant. Due to the rather 'damp' summer we had experienced, this trophy had to be postponed from earlier in the season, so it was good to be able to get this played.  We had 20 members playing and the eventual winner was a triple skipped by the ever 'popular' Harry Hastie.                                                                           The club President, Willie Porterfield, and his Vice President Garry Harrison, also attended and both seemed to enjoy their day.  Garry was kind enough to prepare a buffet meal for us all, which involved a lot of work on his part, but his efforts were well appreciated by everyone. 

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A KNOCK OUT BLOW

After winning the Top Ten, hopes were high of recording the League KNOCK OUT RINKS title to our honours list for the season. We faced Willowbrae, the recent League Winners, in the first round and managed what many might consider to be a surprise 7-2 victory.  This was followed by another 7-2 victory in the semi-final against Maitland.  As it was the Northern's turn to host the final, we went into the match fullof confidence against our opponents Leith.  However, all credit to our opposition  as they managed to beat the Northern 5-4, and went away with the trophy. We were certainly not disgraced though, and after finishing in 2nd bottom place in the league, we have surprised quite a few of our friends with our performances and this can only give us a boost for next season.

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IT'S ANDY TO THE FOUR

The Seniors singles Final resulted in an overwhelming victory for ANDY IRVING against Alex Young. Spectators reckoned that Andy had produced his best bowls of the season and no matter what Alex did, Andy always had the answer. This Andy's 5th Seniors singles title and has now won it for the FOURTH consecutive year. He must be considered for the title of the best senior ever in the annuls of the Northern Bowling Club. As for Alex, he is claiming the undisputed title of 'Always the Bridesmaid'

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The final of the Seniors Pairs was played in the afternoon of Monday July 21st and it turned out to be a resounding victory for Bob Bain and Bob Meldrum by 19 shots to 7 against Alex Young and Mike Morrison. The winners, as the scoreline suggests, played very well indeed and gave Alex & Mike very few chances throughout the game. Alex is claiming a wee piece of bowling history, though maybe not the type he will want to remember fondly, as the result meant he had lost his third Pairs Final in three consecutive days.

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After finishing in third place in the senior league last season, the addition of Bob Bain, Ronnie McDonald and Willie Rae to our ranks, gave us some hope of a better performance in 2008.  However, in typical bowling fashion, we have slumped to 6th place with only four games to go.  We still look forward to the Top Ten and knockout Fours, in which we have been very successful in past years.  They commence after the finish of the league matches.

Our championship singles have reached the semi-final stages.  Andy Irving, a four times winner, playes Robert Bell, and Alex Young plays Bob Bain.

The pairs have Mick Morrison and Alex Young in the final against either Ian Smith & Jim Hansen or Bobby Bain & Bob Meldrum.

A not so amusing incident for Jimmy Porter occurred last week. PLaying against Wardie with a new set of smaller bowls, he somehow managed to put his stickers on the wrong way round. He threw a couple of 'wrong bias efforts before he twigged, but this resulted in shattering his confidence for the rest of the game. Jimmy went back to using his old bowls and ignored the advice of his senior skip to set his bowls on fire.