Billy Mellors brought great honour to the East Lothian bowling banner as the 40-year-old paraded his skills to capture the coveted Scottish Indoor Singles title.

Wins over Ronnie Duncan of Midlothian and former champion Mike Stepney of Elgin in the semi-final and final respectively in the national finals at Fraserburgh IBC at the weekend brought the former captain of ELIBC another outstanding career highlight.

Mellors became the fourth ELIBC player to be crowned national champion, following in the footsteps of Graham Robertson, Mark Johnston and Scott Kennedy.

He is no stranger to national indoor title glory, though, having skipped Andrew Jeffrey and Scott Kennedy to the Scottish Triples title in 2007 and he already has the national outdoor singles to his credit.

“My form was very patchy in the early stages of both matches but thankfully I found good form when it really mattered and I’m absolutely delighted to win two epic matches against two top-quality players,” said a delighted Mellors.

“I’m now looking forward to having a crack at the British and World Indoor Bowls Council titles later on this year.” It was a close call in the semi-final and there was sweat on the Mellors brow as his clash with Ronnie Duncan went right down to the wire before the East Lothian challenger edged a tense 21-20 victory.

The final pitched Mellors against 2010 champion Mike Stepney, a player of great international experience with Scotland. Mellors was asked lots of questions by his talented opponent but always came up with the answers in impressive fashion to clinch another 21-20 thriller.

Expectations of an East Lothian IBC title double were high ahead of the finals, with Emma Brown parading her exciting skills in the ladies’ junior singles, but she crashed out to a 21-11 semi-final defeat from Michelle Keenan of Dumbarton.

The talented senior side from East Lothian IBC are in the midst of cup final fever after they clinched a place in the Scottish Senior League Cup final following a nail-biting two-shot victory over Aberdeen in last Wednesday’s semi-final action at Dundee IBC.

The five-times champions earned the chance to capture the title for a record-extending sixth time with a 60-58 triumph.

The rink skipped by Peter Laidlaw lost by nine shots but wins for Tommy Young (+6) and Ronnie Douglas (+5) plus a peel for Alister Russell just carried the day for the Garden County ‘auld yins’.

“With only one rink left on the green we were one shot up overall but Ronnie [Douglas] had two shots against him playing his last delivery, but thankfully he managed to cut it down to just a single shot and potentially take the game into an extra end,” reflected team co-ordinator John Hamilton.

“But the Aberdeen skip decided to try and draw another shot with his final delivery but unluckily for them he moved the jack and gave the shot away to give us the victory.” East Lothian will tackle four-time previous winners Coatbridge in the final on Saturday, March 7, at West of Scotland IBC in Glasgow. The club will be a running a coach to the final and anyone interested in booking seats is requested to contact John Hamilton at the club on 01875 614166.

The senior side was back in action on Wednesday when they tackled Alloa at Falkirk IBC in the preliminary round of the Senior Scottish Cup.

The talented East Lothian trio of Ewan Fallen, Emma Brown and Dee Hoggan are on international duty this weekend when there all part of Scotland Under-25 sides looking to regain the British Isles International Under-25 series. Fallen will be in action at Stanley IBC in County Durham, while Brown and Hoggan face a long trek to Erewash IBC in Long Eaton, Derbyshire.

After a lengthy lay-off, the ladies’ side return to competitive action tomorrow (Saturday) as the Ladies’ Scottish Cup swings into preliminary-round action, with the elite of East Lothian IBC making the relatively short journey to Bainfield IBC in Edinburgh to tackle Stirling.

Emma Brown is a non-starter due to international duty but better news for team manager Sheena Currie is top skip Nancy McNeil is available after recovering from a leg injury.

Team: M. Kivlin, P. Turner, M. Thomson, J. Fairnie skip. J. McFarlane, R. Mackintosh, I. Gray, M. Hamilton skip. M. Devine, J. Russell, C. Ward, Y. Veitch skip. M. Murray, I. Combe, G. Mackintosh, N. McNeil skip.

A rejigged East Lothian side is in second-round Scottish Mixed Team Championship action on Sunday against Balbardie at the neutral venue of Falkirk IBC.

Former outdoor national singles champion John McCrorie will spearhead the Garden County challenge in the all-important singles event, while Janet Dickson and Peter Fallen forge a partnership in the pairs. Megan Kivlin, Andy Burt and Tommy Young will be the representatives in the triples, while in the fours it’s Yvonne Veitch, Gordon Pryde, Janet Fairnie and Dougie Berwick.

The qualifying action in the Jock Brodie Senior Challenge Cup continued last Wednesday at East Lothian IBC and Falkirk and West Lothian both recorded 6-2 points wins over Abbeyview and Headwell respectively. The action continued on Wednesday when East Lothian B played Berwickshire, while Falkirk were back in action again, this time against Tweedbank.

The youth side were in action in Dunfermline on Sunday as they participated in the Abbeyview Top Ten tournament. The triple of Aaron Betts, Kieran Dodds and Dean Riva battled through from their qualifying section before losing to Abbeyview in the semi-final and it was the same scenario for Beth Riva, Robbie Reay, Robbie Shields and Robbie Buchanan in the fours as they lost out to Midlothian.

On the domestic front, Lewis Betts booked his place in the youth singles final after beating Dean Riva in Saturday’s semi-final encounter.

Billy Mellors brought great honour to the East Lothian bowling banner as the 40-year-old paraded his skills to capture the coveted Scottish Indoor Singles title.

Wins over Ronnie Duncan of Midlothian and former champion Mike Stepney of Elgin in the semi-final and final respectively in the national finals at Fraserburgh IBC at the weekend brought the former captain of ELIBC another outstanding career highlight.

Mellors became the fourth ELIBC player to be crowned national champion, following in the footsteps of Graham Robertson, Mark Johnston and Scott Kennedy.

He is no stranger to national indoor title glory, though, having skipped Andrew Jeffrey and Scott Kennedy to the Scottish Triples title in 2007 and he already has the national outdoor singles to his credit.

“My form was very patchy in the early stages of both matches but thankfully I found good form when it really mattered and I’m absolutely delighted to win two epic matches against two top-quality players,” said a delighted Mellors.

“I’m now looking forward to having a crack at the British and World Indoor Bowls Council titles later on this year.” It was a close call in the semi-final and there was sweat on the Mellors brow as his clash with Ronnie Duncan went right down to the wire before the East Lothian challenger edged a tense 21-20 victory.

The final pitched Mellors against 2010 champion Mike Stepney, a player of great international experience with Scotland. Mellors was asked lots of questions by his talented opponent but always came up with the answers in impressive fashion to clinch another 21-20 thriller.

Expectations of an East Lothian IBC title double were high ahead of the finals, with Emma Brown parading her exciting skills in the ladies’ junior singles, but she crashed out to a 21-11 semi-final defeat from Michelle Keenan of Dumbarton.

The talented senior side from East Lothian IBC are in the midst of cup final fever after they clinched a place in the Scottish Senior League Cup final following a nail-biting two-shot victory over Aberdeen in last Wednesday’s semi-final action at Dundee IBC.

The five-times champions earned the chance to capture the title for a record-extending sixth time with a 60-58 triumph.

The rink skipped by Peter Laidlaw lost by nine shots but wins for Tommy Young (+6) and Ronnie Douglas (+5) plus a peel for Alister Russell just carried the day for the Garden County ‘auld yins’.

“With only one rink left on the green we were one shot up overall but Ronnie [Douglas] had two shots against him playing his last delivery, but thankfully he managed to cut it down to just a single shot and potentially take the game into an extra end,” reflected team co-ordinator John Hamilton.

“But the Aberdeen skip decided to try and draw another shot with his final delivery but unluckily for them he moved the jack and gave the shot away to give us the victory.” East Lothian will tackle four-time previous winners Coatbridge in the final on Saturday, March 7, at West of Scotland IBC in Glasgow. The club will be a running a coach to the final and anyone interested in booking seats is requested to contact John Hamilton at the club on 01875 614166.

The senior side was back in action on Wednesday when they tackled Alloa at Falkirk IBC in the preliminary round of the Senior Scottish Cup.

The talented East Lothian trio of Ewan Fallen, Emma Brown and Dee Hoggan are on international duty this weekend when there all part of Scotland Under-25 sides looking to regain the British Isles International Under-25 series. Fallen will be in action at Stanley IBC in County Durham, while Brown and Hoggan face a long trek to Erewash IBC in Long Eaton, Derbyshire.

After a lengthy lay-off, the ladies’ side return to competitive action tomorrow (Saturday) as the Ladies’ Scottish Cup swings into preliminary-round action, with the elite of East Lothian IBC making the relatively short journey to Bainfield IBC in Edinburgh to tackle Stirling.

Emma Brown is a non-starter due to international duty but better news for team manager Sheena Currie is top skip Nancy McNeil is available after recovering from a leg injury.

Team: M. Kivlin, P. Turner, M. Thomson, J. Fairnie skip. J. McFarlane, R. Mackintosh, I. Gray, M. Hamilton skip. M. Devine, J. Russell, C. Ward, Y. Veitch skip. M. Murray, I. Combe, G. Mackintosh, N. McNeil skip.

A rejigged East Lothian side is in second-round Scottish Mixed Team Championship action on Sunday against Balbardie at the neutral venue of Falkirk IBC.

Former outdoor national singles champion John McCrorie will spearhead the Garden County challenge in the all-important singles event, while Janet Dickson and Peter Fallen forge a partnership in the pairs. Megan Kivlin, Andy Burt and Tommy Young will be the representatives in the triples, while in the fours it’s Yvonne Veitch, Gordon Pryde, Janet Fairnie and Dougie Berwick.

The qualifying action in the Jock Brodie Senior Challenge Cup continued last Wednesday at East Lothian IBC and Falkirk and West Lothian both recorded 6-2 points wins over Abbeyview and Headwell respectively. The action continued on Wednesday when East Lothian B played Berwickshire, while Falkirk were back in action again, this time against Tweedbank.

The youth side were in action in Dunfermline on Sunday as they participated in the Abbeyview Top Ten tournament. The triple of Aaron Betts, Kieran Dodds and Dean Riva battled through from their qualifying section before losing to Abbeyview in the semi-final and it was the same scenario for Beth Riva, Robbie Reay, Robbie Shields and Robbie Buchanan in the fours as they lost out to Midlothian.

On the domestic front, Lewis Betts booked his place in the youth singles final after beating Dean Riva in Saturday’s semi-final encounter.