Scotland and Ireland contested three days of high quality bowls at the National Centre for Bowling, Ayr on Sunday, as both countries get prepared for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Friday and Saturday were both hotly contested with three highly competitive sessions of play on day one of their three-day test series on Friday.

Saturday was much of the same, with all still to play for going in to day two, with Scotland’s men starting off the day in impressive fashion with comfortable victories in both the singles and fours to secure victory in their second test series

The Scots got off to a near perfect start in the Sunday morning session with three wins and a draw being registered across the men’s and women’s disciplines.

Dee Hoggan maintained her 100 per cent record in the women’s singles with a 21-12 victory over Ireland’s Catherine Beattie. The women’s fours was a much tighter affair as Claire Johnston’s rink battled back from 4-7 down to secure a 14-11 win. In the men’s pairs, Martyn Rice and Paul Foster MBE put in a strong display to come out on top against Stuart Bennett and Martin McHugh. The men’s triples was an extremely close encounter as neither team could gain the upper hand and it ended in a 14-all draw.

In final session, Scotland’s women rounded off their weekend with another two strong victories in both the pairs and triples. Hannah Smith and Claire Johnston found themselves trailing by one shot in the pairs but impressively won the last six ends of the match to secure a 22-13 victory. Dee Hoggan, Megan Grantham and Carla Banks all played their part in a comfortable 21-9 victory in the triples.

Scotland’s men only needed to win one game in the last session to clinch the fourth test series, however, the Irish side had other ideas.

Darren Burnett raced into a 7-2 lead in the singles against Ireland’s Martin McHugh but lost 14 shots on the bounce to trail 7-16, eventually losing out 13-21.

The men’s fours lost out 5-13 in a close match where neither nation scored more than two shots on a single end. These two defeats meant that Ireland’s men came out victorious in the final test series.

Ayrshire’s was well represented in the series, with Claire Johnston & Hannah Smith in the women’s team, who both play at Auchinleck Bowling Club, while Paul Foster MBE in the men’s team plays at Troon Bowling Club.

Congratulations to all Scotland’s players for their impressive performances and results over the weekend, and Bowls Scotland wanted to pay a huge thank you to the Irish Bowls Federation for making the trip over.

Next up for the High Performance squad is the Home Nations at Royal Leamington Spa from Thursday, July 29 – Sunday, August 1.