East Lothian Courier | Sport | County title hopes dashed

Saturday, 30th August, 2008

Published: Thursday, 17th July, 2008 10:00

County title hopes dashed

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East Lothian’s hopes of a sixth Scottish Counties Championship title were ended last Sunday as they made a disappointing semi-final exit to Lanarkshire South in Glasgow.

In the end, the difference was only 12 shots (120-108), but in truth the East section runners-up were chasing their rivals from the opening ends.

The East Lothian line-up had World Indoor Champion Alex Marshall back as skip. However, the absence of a number of first team regulars due to holidays may have been the difference between defeat and victory.

Whilst Lanarkshire South’s triump may be a surprise to many, the fact is that they defeated East Lothian on four of the six rinks and were worthy winners.

Alex Marshall kept the county’s sides’ heads up as he skipped Chris Fallen, David Sked and Steven Glen to a 25-15 victory over Robert Grant.

East Lothian’s only other success came from Derek Oliver as he skipped Mark Taylor, Ian Bell and Colin Glen to a battling 18-13 win over Steven Forrest.

The disappointments for East Lothian were Richard Black losing 23-11 to John Simpson, Alister Kennedy going down 27-18 to Andy McIntyre and Willie Wood edged out 20-19 by Ian Campbell. Struan Robertson lost 22-17 to Jim McCann having fought back from 15-1 down after a damaging 12 ends.

Title holders Port Seton were the high- flyers in the Division 1 action of the East Lothian Leagues last Friday night with the record five-in-a-row champions rocketing to the top of the table with an 8-0 blitz of Aberlady. They now move three points clear with only four rounds of the fixtures to complete.

Former leaders Tranent, who had their idle week, slipped from top to third as they were also overtaken by East Linton who had a tremendous 7-1 away win at relegation-threatened Macmerry. With three of their final four fixtures at home, they can now be regarded as serious title contenders.

Castlepark continue to recover after a very slow start and managed to inflict a damaging 6-2 defeat on second-placed EL Co-op who drop from second to fourth in the table.

West Barns’ title challenge is well and truly back on track as they crushed foot of the table Ormiston and are now only six points off the pace.

The latest positions in the Division 1 table are as follows: 1 Port Seton 60pts, 2 East Linton 57pts, 3 Tranent 55pts, 4 EL Co-op 55pts, 5 West Barns 54pts, 6 Castlepark 50pts, 7 Aberlady 47pts; 8 Macmerry 42pts, 9 Ormiston 26pts.

Tonight’s (Friday’s) fixtures could prove pivotal as the race for the title hots up with some cracking encounters in prospect.

Match of the night is the mouth-watering clash between fifth placed West Barns and leaders Port Seton.

The visitors look set to welcome back the influential pairing of Steven Morgan and Ronnie Branley into their line up; while the home side are boosted by the return of Scott Kennedy.

A tight match is expected at Polson Park where Tranent entertain high flying Castlepark.

Second-placed East Linton play host to EL Co-op, with both sides missing key players due to various circumstances.

Third bottom Aberlady welcome foot of the table Ormiston and a win for the home side could put comfortable daylight between them and Macmerry who have a free week.

West Barns’ star Scott Kennedy was on cloud nine last weekend after he captured the prestigious Whitehall Invitation Pairs event in Aberdeen with world pairs’ runner-up Darren Burnett.

After coming through a tough qualifying section unscathed. they then defeated a local pairing in the semi-final before defeating outdoor internationalists Colin Peacock and Graeme Campbell in a high-class final.

East Lothian veteran campaigner Willie Wood has been named number one seed for the inaugural Bainfield Masters which takes place next weekend. The total prize money for the event is £1,500 and includes £600 to the winner.

The other East Lothian players who are seeded in a star-studded field are Derek Oliver (7), Scott Kennedy (8) and Alister Kennedy (11).

The two day event has a target field of 128 and entry is open to all bowlers. To enter, call Bainfield on 0131 443 5847.

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