Kilspindie bounced back to the top of Division 2 on Sunday after a successful trip to Musselburgh for their rearranged match against the Old Course club, whilst Haddington moved into a share of second place when they won at Thorntree.

And in truth neither of the promotion contenders was seriously troubled, despite being the away side.

At the racecourse Ross Colquhoun and John Hall led the attack for Kilspindie, and their 7/5 demolition of Euan Glen and Matty Craigie was soon followed by wins, albeit by lesser margins, for each of their teammates.  Just a few miles up the road Thorntree managed to avoid the whitewash when Brian Fairgrieve and Lindsay Shepherd held on for a last hole win at the expense of George Blair and David Warner.  Visitors Haddington had to make do without star player Keith Nicholson, away on county duty, but nevertheless dominated the remaining ties and ran out comfortable 4-1 winners.

The Castle Park vs Gifford match fell victim to the weather once again, and with fixtures starting to pile up this one will not now be played before February at the earliest.

So a divide is opening up in Division 2 with the bottom four now out of the running for two promotion spots available.  And crunch time arrives for Gifford this Sunday when they travel to the Glen.  Kevin Murphy’s team have lost only once this term, but surely need to take something from this outing to retain an interest.

Dunbar have a game in hand and won’t catch up until they visit Gifford on 20^th January, but Gary Queen’s side will be looking to reassert themselves before then as they entertain Kilspindie and Haddington either side of Christmas.

Meanwhile Whitekirk will be expected to take both points when Thorntree come to visit this week, ahead of their key match when they travel to the Glen early in the new year.

But if Innes Christie’s Glen side can emerge successful from their next two ties, at home to Gifford and Whitekirk respectively, their comparatively easier run in will see them installed as title favourites.

However Kilspindie currently have the advantage, and will be hot favourites at home to Castle Park on Sunday.  They face a much tougher test when they go to Dunbar on 6^th January, although skipper Gordon Lynch will be quick to remind his team of the result the last time Kilspindie made that particular trip, when they knocked Dunbar out of the cup one year ago this week.

What is certain is that something has to give in this year’s promotion race, and there will surely be a few more twists and turns before the season is out.