The highly talented senior brigade from East Lothian only fired on one of its four cylinders but showed enough improved form to score a welcome 52-50 win over West Lothian at Newbridge BC on Monday in fixture number 3 in the Inter-County Senior League Cup for the Matt Purdie Trophy.

The win saw East Lothian step into second place in the section, but unfortunately Fife won again by five shots over Edinburgh and Leith and stay at the top.

There was a great performance by Tommy Young’s rink of Mike Hunter, George McLeod and Banger Strang, going from 6-1 down after five ends to a great win 21-7 against Gordon Logan and that was sufficient to tip the scales in the Garden County’s favour, despite defeats on all three of the other rinks.

Gordon Blyth went down 13-12 in a tight-fought game which ebbed and flowed both ways and it was the same for Billy Higgins, going down 13-10.

Dougie Kennedy’s rink fought and played well throughout the game but lost 17-10 to G Marshall, who was inspired and basically won the game on his own.

Selector Andy Burt said: “The guys knew they had to win to keep their chances alive of qualifying from the section and showed real fight and character after last week’s bad defeat.

“The games to come in the return fixtures will be difficult but we are heading in the right direction.

“West Lothian have lost all three games by 1, 3 and 2 shots so might do us a favour against our rivals in the second half of the campaign.” East Lothian face another major confrontation on Monday when they tackle Edinburgh & Leith at Hillside BC and one change in personnel sees team manager Burt lose the services of Aberlady legend Jackie Greenwood, so he introduces EL-Coop star Duncan Hogg into his line-up.

Team S. Fitzsimmons, S. Delaney, A. Russell, B. Higgins skip. K. Boyd, J. P. Hamilton, J. Holmes, D. Kennedy skip. M. Hunter, G. McLeod, R. Strang, T. Young skip. D. Hogg, B. Fotheringham, G. Gray, G. Blyth skip. Reserve Pool: B. Martin, JM Hogg, D. Malcolm, B. Scott, B. Brunton, T. Moffat.

All players are requested to report at Hillside BC by no later than 11.15am. Any player selected who is unable to play or unsure of travel arrangements is requested to contact Andy Burt immediately on 07783 323079.

Division 2 champions Haddington continue to set the pace in the race for the coveted Division 1 title of the East Coast Carpets-sponsored East Lothian Leagues and last Friday night’s tremendous 6-2 away win at Castlepark keeps them two points ahead of West Barns and Cockenzie & Port Seton. West Barns conceded ground on the leaders after they could only manage a 4-4 share of the spoils at Tranent but their cause was hindered yet again, with key players being unavailable for selection.

Former five-in-a-row champions Cockenzie & Port Seton are very much back in the title frame following their 8-0 away win at Gifford.

EL-Coop’s title hopes were severely dented when they suffered a shock 6-2 defeat at relegation-zoned Prestongrange, while East Linton continue to fail to live up to expectations, with the defending champions only managing a disappointing 4-4 draw at home against foot-of-the-table Aberlady.

The race for the Division 2 title is a two-horse one between Castlepark A and Dunbar, with only four points separating the sides entering the home straight.

East Lothian Labour look in pole position to secure the Division 3 title as they hold a healthy-looking eight-point lead over nearest challengers Haddington A.

Cockburnspath are the pace setters in Division 4 and last Friday night’s 6-2 away win at Dirleton kept them seven points ahead of Prestongrange A.

In the Thursday afternoon senior leagues, the ‘auld yins’ from East Lothian Labour look on course to land the Division 1 title for the first time as they are eight points clear of the chasing pack, while in Division 2 Dunbar are at the head of affairs but second-placed Cockenzie & Port Seton remain within touching distance.

Ormiston lead the way in Division 3 and currently hold a four-point advantage over second-placed Aberlady. In tonight’s (Friday) action Division 1 leaders Haddington face another away trip to Prestonpans, this time to face Prestongrange. West Barns will be hoping they have all their key players available when they play host to defending champions East Linton.

Cockenzie & Port Seton will be missing influential figure Craig Valentine but do welcome back fellow skip Steven ‘Stretcher’ Morgan when they face a testing away fixture at EL-Coop.

Tranent entertain Castlepark at Polson Park without the service of former world-stage star Graham Robertson, while bottom-of-the-table Aberlady play host to fellow strugglers Gifford.

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

Aberlady Bowling Club are staging a Senior (over-60) Open Triples tournament on Tuesday, August 12, and entries are now being accepted by organiser George McLeod on 01875 870735. The draw for the Cockenzie & Port Seton BC Open Pairs (3 Bowl), sponsored by Belhaven Brewery, which takes place tomorrow (Saturday), is as follows: 10am - K. Cunningham, C. Johnston (Giff), S. Morgan, G. Baillie, P. Mair (Mac), N. Kerr, D. Oliver, K. Smith (Mac), J. Gearty, S. Wilson, C. Leishman (W/Ford), D. Logan.

10.45am - D. Donnelly, A. Jamieson, W. McFarlane, Doug Fraser, S. Cochrane (ELCO), J. Bathgate (W/Ford), G. Fairgrieve (C/Park), J. Campbell (Giff), K. Morgan, M. Munro, L. Baillie, P. McDonald.

11.30am - R. Frame (C/Park), T. Flockhart, M. Osborne (Tra), R. Davidson, I. Malcolm, I. Inglis, J. Weatherhead, C. Fairgrieve.