West Barns Bowling Club attracted a big crowd to their staging of the finals of the Belhaven Brewery-sponsored East Lothian BA County Championships on Saturday and it was Colin Glen of East Lothian Co-op who grabbed the main headlines after he landed the blue riband singles event.

Glen capped off his outdoor season in tremendous fashion after he etched his name on the prestigious trophy with a convincing 21-9 win over Steven Thomson of Castlepark in the 16-end final.

EL-Coop celebrated another title success when Steven White, Gordon Pryde and Craig Brogan landed the triples title with a hard-fought 14-11 win over Stuart Cymber, Ross Marwick and Stevie Greenan of Prestongrange.

Tranent also stamped their mark on the championships by winning two titles.

John Robertson, son of former world-stage star Graham Robertson, etched his name on the junior singles trophy following a thrilling 21-20 success over Aberlady’s Gordon White, while Davie Whitson skipped Simon Blyth, George Duncan and Bryan Hoggan to an eye-catching success in the fours after defeating the strongly formed Haddington rink of Stewart Thomson, Gary McNab, Billy Dunleavey and Angus Blair 14-9.

Ormiston collected the pairs title when Darren Rowley and Stuart Johnston produced a powerful performance to beat the strong-looking Haddington partnership of Jamie Blair and Glenn Blair.

A glorious double for Ormiston was completed when their senior four of Alex Renton, Bill Christie, Rob Fulton and David Temperley produced a tremendous display to inflict 21-9 pain on Peter Murray, John Inverarity, George Clydesdale and Jim McGimpsey of Elphinstone.

Longniddry’s Chris Gordon enhanced his reputation as a young player with a very bright looking future when he held all the aces in a 21-10 win over Aberlady’s Craig Notley, while the youth fours title went to the Aberlady rink of Hamish Thomson, Bruce Kellagher, Connor Lynn and Matt Kellagher following a 16-10 win over Robbie Shields, Kieran Dodds, Megan Kivlin and Robbie Buchanan of EL-Coop.

Meanwhile, Haddington dropped two points at third-bottom Gifford last Friday night but the Division 1 leaders of the East Coast Carpets-sponsored East Lothian Leagues are happy with the six they picked up.

The result leaves the Hi Hi’s now nine points clear of chief rivals West Barns, whose home match against Castlepark was abandoned due to a waterlogged green.

West Barns needed a big result to narrow the gap when they tackled Castlepark last night (Thursday) but their visitors could be dangerous as they will be in relaxed mood as they have nothing now to play for.

Cockenzie & Port Seton landed a good 6-2 away win at East Linton but the former five-in-a-row champions are now out of the title race picture as they trail the leaders by 11 points with just one fixture to fulfil.

In the second Belters derby of the campaign it was again Tranent who again came out on top as they inflicted 6-2 pain on neighbours EL-Coop, while in the clash of the relegated sides Prestongrange defeated Aberlady 6-2.

There are congratulations to all concerned at Castlepark Bowling Club after they became only the second club to have two sides in the top league after their second-string side secured the Division 2 title with an emphatic 8-0 home win over Macmerry. Joining them in Division 1 next season will be Dunbar. The stakes are massive for Haddington tonight (Friday) with the Division 1 leaders probably defending a slender lead in pursuit of a first title success in the new set-up.

They face a tricky away fixture at middle-of-the-table Tranent, while chasers West Barns still entertain hopes of stealing the title but to stand any chance they must pull off a great result at second-bottom Prestongrange.

The other fixtures are Cockenzie & Port Seton v Aberlady, East Linton v EL-Coop and Castlepark v Gifford.

The most prestigious ELBA cup competition on the domestic outdoor calendar will reach its climax tomorrow (Saturday) as Gifford BC and Haddington BC host the ELBA Top 10 Championships (Jubilee Cup) finals day.

The line-up in the semi-finals is defending champions West Barns versus 2012 champions Cockenzie & Port Seton at Haddington, while at Gifford Division 1 champions-elect Haddington tackle Castlepark, with both ties commencing at noon. The final will be staged at Gifford BC at about 3pm, with the eventual winners going on to represent East Lothian in the national equivalent next season.

Meanwhile, East Lothian champions West Barns are in quarter-final action in the Inter-County Top 5 singles on Sunday when they face a stern away test at Dumfries and Galloway champions Gretna (2pm).

Alister Kennedy, Scott Kennedy, Ian Thorburn, Scott Thorburn and Calum Gordon are the players given the responsibility of trying to book a place in the semi-final.

Ross Marwick is celebrating etching his name on the championship singles board at Prestongrange for a second successive year thanks to defeating Michael Greenan 21-14.

Peter Fallen is a first-time champion at Elphinstone, coming from behind to beat Kevin Gordon 21-16 in the final. John Carpenter Jnr is the new champion at Athelstaneford after he beat Luke Newlands.

The championship singles final at Cockenzie & Port Seton was set to be staged on Wednesday evening and club stalwart figure Steven ‘Stretcher’ Morgan was hoping it would be a case of eighth-time lucky when he tackled six-times champion Derek Oliver. The final at East Linton was to be played on Tuesday evening and was contested by George Cowan and Keith Fender.

The senior team from the East Lothian Purdie Trophy had a great day at sunny Dunbar on Monday for the end-of-season presentation day.

Following a hard-fought but disappointing season, the seniors relaxed a bit with the round robin format, with the eventual winners being Bobby Scott, JP Hamilton and skip John Holmes, who were presented with the AB SPLASH Shield, plus keepsakes.

The winner of the Player of the Year was Banger Strang and a big thanks was passed on to Dunbar BC for hosting the event.

Also thanked were M and B Motors, Haddington, for their sponsorship and to A and J Catering for supplying breakfast and lunch.

Gifford Bowling & Sports Club is staging a Top Four tournament next Saturday (September 6) and entries are now being accepted by phoning 01620 810517.

And finally, turning attention to the now fast-approaching indoor season, East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club has confirmed it will open its doors for the new season next Monday (September 8) to Friday, September 12, from 10am to noon and 6.30-8.30pm for membership payments and practice games at £1 a game. No play will be possible on the evening of Wednesday, September 10, due to a prior private booking.

From Monday, September 15, onwards the club will be open full-time. The leagues are being created at the moment and it is envisaged some of them to be up and running the week beginning September 15, especially the Morning Leagues and the Top Four. All members are requested to keep an eye on the website and boards for details. Those wanting to enter any of the pre-Christmas leagues should contact Steven Clark as soon as possible.

Membership fees and rink fees remain the same at £58 and £3 (£4 non-members) respectively. There is also a new car park layout, with a one-way system in operation and spaces marked. A new bus stop has been built right outside the front door, with the Lothian Buses number 15 to and from Edinburgh stopping there, as well as the Prentice Coaches 110 service. which runs from New Winton to Prestonpans via Elphinstone, Tranent and Meadowmill.