COUNTY bowls legend Alex Marshall secured Team Scotland a record-breaking gold medal in the Commonwealth Games men’s pairs on Monday.

Tranent’s Marshall, alongside best friend and former East Lothian team-mate Paul Foster, won the men’s pairs after an emphatic victory over Malaysia in the gold medal match at Kelvingrove, and secured the host nation their 12th gold of the Games.

That took the Scots over the previous best, registered in Melbourne in 2006, a feat which delighted Mike Whittingham, the director of high performance at sportscotland.

He said he was “absolutely delighted” with the record, adding: “Alex and Paul have dominated world bowls over the last few years and to add another Commonwealth title to their collection, especially one as historic as this, is extremely fitting.” Victory for Tranent’s Marshall, known as ‘Tattie’, was his third Commonwealth Games title, after successes in 2002 and 2006, but he admitted this was the most special, with friends and family cheering him on at Kelvingrove.

It was not all plain sailing for the Scottish duo, though, as they were made to work for victories earlier in the tournament, edging out South Africa and England before clinching an emphatic win in the final.

A jubilant Scotland Bowls posted on Twitter after the England win: “Mere mortals can only dream of playing the last two bowls of that game by Tattie Marshall.” Marshall later said the two final bowls against England had been the best of his life.