CHAMPAGNE corks were popping at Prestongrange Bowling Club on Saturday evening after they claimed the ELBA Trophy.

Prestongrange defeated West Barns in a closely-contested final at EL-Coop BC, Tranent.

Earlier in the day, they saw off a spirited Dunbar side in the semi-finals, where West Barns were victorious over last year’s champions, Aberlady.

Meanwhile, the Garden County’s under-25 side kicked off their campaign in the East section of the Scottish Under 25 League Cup with a 110-110 draw against Midlothian on Sunday.

Gordon Pryde, team manager, said: “We started the game very well and looked in complete control of proceedings but a few slack ends of play at around the halfway mark by the whole team opened the door for a Midlothian comeback. At the end, I was happy to take the draw.”

Rinks skipped by Reece Cochrane and Ross Thomson claimed four-shot wins while Kieran Simants scored two consecutive singles on the final two ends to snatch a peel.

Rinks skipped by Joe Mower (-2), Declan French (-3) and Calum Darling (-3) were all outgunned by their opposition.

The side now face a must-win game on Sunday against Edinburgh & Leith at Haddington BC and they will go into the clash without host club ace figure Joe Mower.

In come Castlepark duo James Burnett and Stewart Robertson along with Kieran Whitson (Tranent) and Robbie Shields of EL-Coop at the expense of Mower, Sean Mackie, Daniel Peart and Cameron Shaw.

Team: S.Robertson (C/P), K.Whitson (Tra), P.Gray (C/P), J.Burnett (C/P) skip; C.Allison (E/L), J.Ferguson (Long), L.Gallagher (Dun), K.Simants (Dun) skip; M.Kivlin (ELCO), R.Shields (ELCO), L.Newlands (Hadd), Dec French (Elph) skip; D.Young (ELCO), C.Gordon (Long), M.Martin (Tra), R.Cochrane (P/G) skip; C.Brock (Hadd), R.French (Elph), D.Riva (ELCO), C.Darling (Hadd) skip; D.Stevenson (ELCO), E.Leith (Aber), Dean French (Elphi), R.Thomson (Elphi) skip/capt.

Reserves: J.Robertson (Tra), S.Johnston (Orm), S.Mackie (ELCO), K.Yule (P/G), D.Peart (Long), C.Shaw (ELCO).

Any player selected who is unable to play is requested to contact Gordon Pryde immediately on 07712 277681. Players report at Haddington BC by no later than 1.30pm.

Elsewhere, East Lothian begin their quest to win the Andrew Hamilton Trophy on Saturday.

The seven-time former champions travel to West Fife at Inverkeithing BC but the team will no longer be under the management of Ormiston legend Stewart Johnston after he decided to call it day after two years in the post.

Selection is now in the hands of Brian Young (EL-Coop), Scott Kennedy and Steven Morgan (both Cockenzie & Port Seton) and they have to do without John McCrorie (Tranent), Alistair Kennedy and Glenn Blair (both Haddington), while also missing are Craig Valentine, John Carpenter Jnr, Stephen Cochrane, Joe Mower and Steven White.

Four new faces – Colin Dick (Haddington), David Young (EL-Coop), Steven Anderson (Dunbar) and Michael Greenan (Cockenzie & Port Seton) –are brought in while Colin Glen (Elphinstone), Tommy Young (Dunbar), Gordon Baillie (Cockenzie & Port Seton) and Jamie Blair (Haddington) are recalled. Haddington’s Malcolm Higgenbotham has been appointed team captain.

Team: C.Dick (Hadd), T.Young (Dun), B.Dunleavie (Aber), B.Young (ELCO) skip; D.Young (ELCO), D.Riva (ELCO), D.Sked (Hadd), B.Mellors skip; S.Anderson (Dun), G.Baillie (C&PS), S.Mackie (ELCO), S.Morgan (C&PS) skip; C.Johnston (Win), M.McCormack (Win), C.McLeod (Win), S.Kennedy (C&PS) skip;

R.Thomson (Elph), G.Pryde (ELCO), G.White (Aber), C.Glen (Elph) skip; M.Greenan (C&PS), J.Blair (Hadd), S.W.Thomson (Hadd), M.Higgenbotham (Hadd) skip. Reserves: D.Whitson (Tra), K.Cunningham (Tra), A.Martin (Tra), A.Burt (Hadd), C.Allison (E/L), C.Valentine (C&PS)

Any player selected who is unable to play is requested to contact team captain Malcolm Higgenbothan immediately on 07761 101438. Players report at Inverkeithing BC by no later than 1.20pm. Any player requiring a team polo shirt or unsure of travel arrangements should also contact Malcolm.

Elsewhere, Cockenzie & Port Seton represent East Lothian in the 2018 Scottish Inter-County Top Ten Championship.

They face a trip to Dumfries in Sunday’s preliminary round with international figure Scott Kennedy leading the Cockenzie & Port Seton charge in the role of Singles player.

Commonwealth Games hero Derek Oliver skips Jamie Higgins in the Pairs; Steven Morgan skips Martin Munro and Jamie Gordon in the Triples while the rink comprises Michael Greenan, Gordon Baillie, Steven Thomson and Craig Valentine.

The club is running a coach to Dumfries and there are still some seats available – anyone interested should contact Scott Kennedy, club secretary on 07920 066099.

And in the East Coast Carpets-sponsored East Lothian Leagues, Cockenzie & Port Seton’s bid to retain the Division 1 continued apace last Friday.

The defending champions registered their second consecutive 8-0 win, this time away to Dunbar.

Former champions Haddington continued their good start with a 6-2 home win over East Linton.

Elphinstone have made an encouraging start and scored a 7-1 home win over 2015 champions Tranent, while EL-Coop were 8-0 winners at Castlepark and West Barns banked their first points of the season with a 6-2 win at home to Haddington A.

Tomorrow (Friday) sees the fourth round of fixtures – the third round was due to be played on Wednesday evening. The reigning champions visit Castlepark; Haddington welcome EL-Coop; Elphinstone entertain Haddington A; East Linton host Tranent ; and Dunbar take on West Barns.

All games commence at 6.30pm and club secretaries are requested to ensure that all league and cup results, including shots aggregate score, are phoned into Keith Fender, ELBA match secretary, on 01620 860217 or via text message 07786 110416 immediately after each match.

For more information, visit the ELBA website, www.eastlothianbowls.com