East Lothian record five-time world champion Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall’s hopes of landing a first ever title success in the Co-operative Funeralcare-sponsored Scottish International Open lay in tatters after he was a shock first-round casualty on Monday afternoon, losing to WBT newcomer Duncan Christie, a qualifier from England.

Commonwealth Games hero Marshall lost the opening set but immediately reclaimed the initiative to win the second set by an 11-shot margin.

After the first two ends of the three-end tie-break were shared, it was Christie who held his nerve to win the sudden death end and claim a shock 12-6, 13-2, 2-1 victory.

A dejected Marshall said afterwards: “Playing long jacks on that surface was near impossible; there were ridges on the carpet that had been evident since the end of last week, but unfortunately nothing was done about it until Monday night when the surface was lifted and some serious issues were detected.” He added “Comments were made that I had a bad day at the office against Duncan, which was not the case. If I had won the game I would have still mentioned how bad the surface was.” The men’s side from East Lothian IBC travelled to Wishaw on Saturday to face fellow early-season strugglers Lanarkshire with high hopes of claiming their first victory of this Scottish Premier League campaign, but were sent home licking their wounds, with a 21-shot defeat (91-70) causing continued misery for the Garden County, who now sit bottom of the pile in the B section following three consecutive defeats.

“Although it was a difficult away fixture, we are very disappointed with this defeat,” said team captain Mark Johnston.

“For the first time this season we started the match well but unfortunately could not maintain that standard and consistency for the full game.

“Individually and as a team we are simply not playing to the levels we are capable of and as a result confidence is low.

“However, we cannot feel sorry for ourselves and must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and show some real team character for what is a must-win game against Falkirk.” Scott Kennedy clocked up his first triumph of the campaign as he skipped Lessel Middler, Gary Darling and Jamie Higgins to an impressive 22-14 success over fellow internationalist Rab Grant, while Graham Robertson came from off the pace to skip Calum Darling, Dougie Berwick and Andrew Jeffrey to a 17-17 share with Mark McGowan.

Billy Mellors lost by 8, while Willie Wood suffered a disastrous 21-shot defeat.

The side has an exciting new look to it for tomorrow’s (Saturday) home match against Falkirk, with star figures Alex Marshall and Derek Oliver and another major talent in the shape of Kieran Simants returning to the line-up. To accommodate them, Calum Darling, Calvert Allison and Matt Osborne are all switched to the reserve bench.

Hopes will be high that the much-changed line-up will give an inspired performance and get the much-needed first win of the campaign.

The team reads: L. Middler, G. Darling, J. Higgins, S. Kennedy skip. K. Simants, A. Burt, G. Robertson, D. Oliver skip. E. Fallen, S. Logan, W. W. Wood, B. Mellors skip. M. Johnston (capt), D. Berwick, A. Jeffrey, A. Marshall skip.

The ladies side’ continued their whirlwind start to their campaign in Division 1C of the Scottish Ladies League as they chalked up win number four with an impressive 25-shot (85-60) home win over Tweedbank on Saturday.

“It was another good win and it was made even sweeter when the news came through that our chief rivals Balbardie had lost to Bainfield and that leaves us two points clear at the top,” said team manager Sheena Currie.

Their resounding triumph over Tweedbank was achieved by good wins on three rinks – skipped by Nancy McNeil (+16), Janet Fairnie (+10) and Yvonne Veitch (+5) – while Emma Brown suffered a narrow defeat (-6).

The side is back in action tomorrow when they travel to Bathgate and face a testing clash against Balbardie. The absence of regulars Yvonne Veitch and Muriel Hamilton is a blow to the hopes of the Garden County travellers but team manager Sheena Currie is very hopeful her slightly reshuffled side can still land the spoils.

The team reads: M. Kivlin, A. Berwick, M. Thomson, J. Fairnie skip. A. Barclay, M. Devine, D. Rowan, C. Ward skip. J. McFarlane, J. Russell, R. Mackintosh, E. Brown skip. M. Murray, I. Combe, G. Mackintosh, N. McNeil skip.

The senior side continued their dream start to their campaign in the East B section of the Scottish Senior League following a comfortable 84-50 triumph over Tweedbank at Galashiels last Wednesday. The Garden County ‘auld yins’ had the measure of the Borders opposition on three of the four rinks with Willie Wood, Peter Laidlaw and Jock Brodie producing the goods with wins that kept the visitors in the driving seat. The side was back in action on Wednesday when they played host to Edinburgh rivals Bainfield.

Meanwhile the playdown action in the gents’ National Senior Fours Championship took centre stage at Falkirk IBC on Sunday and the East Lothian rink of George Gray, Gordon Good, John Hamilton and John Holmes suffered a disappointing first-eound exit after losing 21-10 to East Fife.

This Sunday the trio of Jim Neilson, Billy Higgins and Alister Russell travel to West Lothian IBC in Livingston to tackle Midlothian in the third round of the National Senior Triples. Should they win the 10am encounter they will face either Abbeyview or Stirling in the quarter-final at 2pm.

East Lothian IBC’s participation in the Scottish Under-35 League Cup was very much a short-lived affair after they suffered a heavy 8-2 points defeat against a Stirling/Falkirk IBC select side in Sunday’s first-round action at West Lothian IBC. The youth side play their opening fixture in the East of Scotland Junior League tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 8am when they play host to local rivals Midlothian.

Members of East Linton Bowling Club are advised that this year’s presentation of trophies will be held in the clubhouse tomorrow (Saturday) at 7.30pm.

Finally, the East Lothian bowling community is in mourning following the recent sudden death of Arthur Duncan following a short illness. Arthur was crowned senior singles champion at East Lothian IBC in 2013 and was a key member of the very successful indoor senior side. He also played outdoor and was a vital part of the Cockenzie & Port Seton side who won the Division 1 title a remarkable eight times in 10 years.

A funeral service was being held at Chalmers Memorial Church, Port Seton yesterday (Thursday) at 10am, thereafter to Portobello Cemetery, Milton Road at 11am. Arthur is survived by his wife Helen and sons Arthur and Garry.