Two-times Paralympian Scott McCowan took gold for Scotland at the UK Boccia Championships ©Boccia UK

Gold medals for Scotland’s Scott McCowan and Stephen McGuire ensured their country topped the medal table when the two-day United Kingdom Boccia Championships came to a close in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

In the BC3 category, two-times Paralympian McCowan had finished second in his pool which meant he was pitted against younger brother Jamie in the semi-finals.

In a tight match, Scott won 4-3 and set up a meeting with England's Matt Berry, who had recently ssecured the silver medal at the Boccia England Cup in Sheffield in May.

However, even though Berry forced a tiebreak, it was the more experienced Scott McCowan who claimed gold.

It was Scotland against England again in both medal matches in the BC4 category. 

Scotland’s McGuire beat England’s Louis Saunders 7-2 in the gold medal match, maintaining his 100 per cent record in these Championships.

The battle for bronze also went Scotland’s way, with Ross Munro beating Evie Edwards 6-3.

Stephen McGuire also won gold to ensure Scotland topped the medal table ©Getty Images
Stephen McGuire also won gold to ensure Scotland topped the medal table ©Getty Images

However, the standings were reversed in the BC1 category with reigning world and Paralympic champion David Smith in commanding form, winning his semi-final 11-0 against fellow Englishman Dan Bentley, a score which he repeated in the final against Scotland’s Reegan Stevenson.

In the all-England bronze medal match, it was Daniel Wain who came out on top, beating Dan Bentley 6-4.

However, Northern Ireland’s Claire Taggart got the biggest cheer from the home crowd when she beat England’s James Clowes 4-0 in the BC2 gold medal match.

The home crowd had also hoped Scott Cromie could bag a medal in the bronze medal match, but it was not to be as England’s Reshad Saraj triumphed 3-2.

Boccia UK performance director Helen Nicholls said: ”We have seen some outstanding boccia played and I’ve been really impressed with the performances and the attitudes of the players.

"Playing against world-ranked players has been a great experience for the pathway players and they have shown they are pushing hard to improve.

"With little more than a year to go to Tokyo, being tested on home soil is great for the World Class Programme athletes, too.

“The Championships were played in a great spirit so a huge thank you to the volunteers and Disability Sport Northern Ireland for all their hard work in making it such a success.”