East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club’s rising star Calvert Allison was in international action for Scotland at the weekend as he played second in the fours and lead in the pairs in the British Isles Under-18 Mixed Championships, played at Abbeyview IBC in Dunfermline.

In the pairs he teamed up with Auchinleck’s Carrie McLean but they suffered a miserable start to their qualifying section campaign and failed to progress to the knockout stages.

But it got a whole lot better for Allison in the fours action as, along with Lee McCormack (Stirling), Blaine Notman (East Kilbride) and Kieman Ward (Dumbarton) they defeated England 1, Wales 2 and Scotland 1 to claim the gold medal.

“I had a brilliant weekend and it was an incredible experience to represent my country and to end up with a gold medal just topped it off,” reflected Allison.

East Lothian IBC’s men’s side made a disappointing start to their campaign in the B section of the Scottish Premier League when last season’s runners-up suffered a shock four-shot home defeat (82-78) against Paisley on Saturday.

Wins for the rinks skipped by Graham Robertson (+3) and Billy Mellors (+2) paled into insignificance as their international colleagues Scott Kennedy (-4) and Derek Oliver (-9) tumbled to damaging defeats.

“It’s a very disappointing result to lose at home in the first game of the season,” reflected newly appointed team captain Mark Johnston.

“We started poorly but showed real character to get our noses in front with only a few ends remaining and I thought we would push on from there to close the game out.

“Unfortunately the rub of the green went against us at important stages.

“However, there’s no excuses, we must take it on the chin and give credit to Paisley for a very good performance.” Their mission to achieve a quick return to winning ways starts tomorrow (Saturday) when they make the long trip up north to tackle an Aberdeen side that will be in buoyant mood after they scored a great opening-day win at Falkirk.

And to make the situation even more challenging for the Garden County elite, they make the trip without prominent team members Derek Oliver, Billy Mellors, Andrew Jeffrey and Gary Muir, all unavailable.

So opportunity knocks for several new faces in the shape of Andy Burt, Matt Osborne and Calvert Allison, while Lessel Middler is recalled to the side.

The line up reads: L. Middler, S. Logan, G. Darling, S. Kennedy skip. K. Simants, A. Burt, D. Berwick, G. Robertson skip. E. Fallen, M. Osborne, S. W. Thomson, J. Higgins skip. C. Darling, C. Allison, M. Johnston capt, W. W. Wood skip.

Meanwhile, the East Lothian star pairing of Alex Marshall and Derek Oliver are on international duty this weekend as they’re part of a Scotland side competing in a gents’ test match against Auld Enemy England at Stanley IBC in County Durham.

Oliver and Marshall will join forces with fellow Scots Paul Foster (Prestwick Ambassador), Iain McLean (Blantyre), Mike Stepney (Elgin) and Colin Walker (Midlothian).

The East Lothian ladies’ side have a favourite look in Division 1C of the Scottish Ladies League and the Garden County elite lived up to that promise with a tremendous first away victory over chief rivals Bainfield on Saturday.

Wins on the rinks skipped by Nancy McNeil (+12) and Janet Fairnie (+10) carried the day and just covered the defeats sustained by Emma Brown (-9) and Yvonne Veitch (-10) as East Lothian registered a nail-biting 85-82 shot victory.

“We looked in total control of the game when we led by 13 shots with only a few ends remaining, but to Bainfield’s credit they fought back gamely and in the end we were delighted to get over the line with a very hard-fought win,” said team manager Sheena Currie.

It’s a free weekend for the ladies as the National Singles playdown action takes centre stage and club champion Dee Hoggan is in action at Coatbridge IBC. She faces a tough-looking preliminary-round encounter tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 10am against well-known Balbardie champion Sharon Leitch.

Meanwhile, in Sunday’s national 2-Bowl Pairs, it was a case of so near yet so far for the strong East Lothian partnership of Andrew Jeffrey and Scott Kennedy after they lost out in the section final of the gents’ playdown action at Lanarkshire IBC in Wishaw.

In the ladies’ playdown action at Midlothian IBC in Dalkeith, the solid-looking pairing of Emma Brown and Janet Fairnie also enjoyed an excellent run in the tournament before losing out to East Fife in the third round.

The senior side got their Scottish Senior League campaign off to a tremendous start by inflicting 89-32 misery on Border rivals Teviotdale in the opening match in the East B section.

Wins on four rinks – skipped by Tommy Young (+20), Peter Laidlaw (+15), Willie Wood (+11) and Jock Brodie (+11) – reflects an awesome overall performance from the Garden County ‘auld yins’, especially on away terrority.

Not surprisingly, the selectors named an unchanged line-up for Wednesday’s home match against local rivals Midlothian.

On Sunday, the playdown action in the National Senior Singles, Pairs and Triples takes place at various venues.

Representing East Lothian in the singles will be senior club champion Alan Morgan and he faces an opening-round clash at West Lothian IBC against Midlothian at 10am.

Lessel Middler and Jim Robertson are the representatives in the pairs and they make the short trip to Midlothian IBC and tackle Balbardie at 10am, while Jim Neilson, Billy Higgins and Alister Russell clash with Falkirk at Bainfield IBC in the opening round of the triples action at 2pm.

Youth coaching at East Lothian IBC continues tomorrow (Saturday) morning and every other Saturday between 8am and 10am, where new members and anyone interested in taking up the sport are more than welcome.

On the domestic front at East Lothian IBC, the East Coast Carpets-sponsored Top Club tournament will run from November to April. It will be played in a league format initially, with the top two teams in each group qualifying for the semi-finals. Games will be played on Friday nights and teams may consist of gents, ladies and youths. Contact the club or match secretary via the website to enter a team.

Cockenzie & Port Seton BC stage their annual Presentation of Prizes evening next Saturday (October 25) from 6.30pm. Tickets are now on sale to members and guests priced at £7.50 (includes two-course meal and live entertainment) and can be purchased by contacting club vice-president Steven Morgan on 07861 672123.