East Lothian men’s side have found a new lease of life in their Scottish Premier League campaign after suffering a catastrophic opening three defeats in a row.

Their latest success, a battling three-shot victory (65-62) at home against previously undefeated Aberdeen, completed four consecutive wins that has pushed them to within four points of the B section leaders.

The Garden County now have the bit between their teeth and are showing a level of form that inspires a confidence of winning all three of their remaining games in the New Year.

However, Aberdeen remain in a very strong position but still have tough visits to Ardrossan and Paisley to contend with in their remaining schedule.

“Even with home advantage we were considered to be the underdogs against a strong Aberdeen team but I asked the guys for a maximum effort and their response was magnificent and mental toughness under pressure admirable,” reflected team captain Mark Johnston.

“The match was fought out on a tightrope situation but we stayed resolute and a combination of strong team spirit and numerous exciting individual performances earned us two precious points that will now have Aberdeen looking over their shoulders.” Wins for the rinks skipped by Jamie Higgins and Derek Oliver, plus a peel for Billy Mellors, were achieved in excellent fashion and were big enough to cover the narrow defeat sustained by Scott Kennedy.

Higgins has taken to his new skipping role like a duck to water and he was the headline contributor as he skipped team captain Johnston, Calum Darling and Andrew Jeffrey to a 20-16 win over Gary Forbes.

The home side were also served well by Oliver and his front-three of Gary Muir, Andy Burt and Graham Robertson, who produced a tip-top performance to score a 19-16 win over Mike Stephen.

Mellors counted at 12 of his 21 ends completed but 10 of them were singles in a hard-fought battle that saw him skip Calvert Allison, Dougie Berwick and Willie Wood to a valuable 16-16 share of the spoils against Alan McKay.

Kennedy and his front three of Lessel Middler, Gary Darling and Stuart Thomson were once again slow out of the traps and were under immense pressure at 11-3 down after 10 ends but then showed great character to fight back before slipping to a 14-10 defeat from Eric Gallan.

The side now enjoy an extended break over the festive period and are not back in action until Saturday, January 10, when they host Lanarkshire.

The ladies of East Lothian IBC stayed in the driving seat in Division 1C of the Scottish Ladies League after a nerve-jangling 68-68 draw away to Teviotdale.

Despite dropping a point, East Lothian still lead the way and will go into the festive break one point ahead of nearest challengers Balbardie with two games to play.

“We were hit by a late call-off from Yvonne Veitch and, with Emma Brown already an absentee, we were two regular skips down and we struggled to replace them with the resources we had available,” said team manager Sheena Currie.

Wins on the rinks skipped by Nancy McNeil (+14) and Janet Fairnie (+8) kept them in the picture, though, and balanced setbacks suffered by stand-in skips Cathy Ward (-5) and Cathy Jones (-18).

The ladies return to action on Saturday, January 10, and face another trip to the Borders, this time to face Tweedbank.

The national indoor bowls calendar this weekend is devoted to the playdown action of the gents’ and ladies’ National Triples.

The multi-talented trio of Mark Johnston, Billy Mellors (deputising for the unavailable Willie Wood) and Derek Oliver carry local hopes in the gents’ discipline at Perth IBC and they launch their qualifying challenge against Coatbridge in the preliminary-round action at 9.30am.

Also at Perth, the East Lothian banner in the ladies event is represented by Agnes McLeod, Jean Russell and Janet Fairnie and they enter the fray on the 2pm session with a first-round clash against East Fife.

The all-conquering senior side extended their unbeaten run to seven games in the East B section of the Scottish Senior League, with their latest success being a comfortable 92-45 home win over Tweedbank last Wednesday.

The Garden County ‘auld yins’ rounded off their qualifying campaign on Wednesday when they made the short trip into Edinburgh to tackle Bainfield.

It has been confirmed East Lothian will face East A section winners Falkirk in the knockout quarter-final stage at West Lothian IBC in Livingston on Wednesday, January 21, and it is hoped that icon figure Willie Wood will be fit in time for the clash but he is now set for a lengthy break from the sport as he recuperates following hospital treatment earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the ever-popular Jock Brodie Senior Championships will get under way this coming Wednesday. The popular tournament for the ‘auld yins’ is now into its 17th year and this year again it has attracted a healthy total of 12 teams from the length and breadth of Scotland, with the host club (East Lothian) entering two sides (A and B) into the draw.

For the 14th successive year, well-known Haddington businessman Norman T Craig has kindly agreed to sponsor the tournament, while Co-operative Funeralcare also confirmed they will give the tournament financial backing for an 11th successive year. The opening week’s action featured East Lothian B against Perth and Teviotdale versus Berwickshire.

A side from East Lothian IBC progressed to the second round of the Scottish Mixed Team Championship event following a hard-fought win over Falkirk in Sunday’s opening-round action at West Lothian IBC. The points were shared 4-4 but, thanks to a better shot margin of 83-67, it was the Garden County that progressed.

The side tackle West Lothian at Balbardie IBC in Bathgate on January 18.

Calum Darling’s reign as National Under-18 Singles champion is over after he lost out in this year’s event to East Fife’s Alister Nimmo in Sunday’s regional final at Abbeyview IBC in Dunfermline.

At the same venue, Kieran Simants was participating in the National Under-21 Singles championships; he also reached the final before losing to Abbeyview.

The youth side is in East of Scotland Junior League action tomorrow (Saturday) morning when they visit Stirling. On Sunday, Megan Kivlin, Lewis Betts, Dean Riva and Craig Mackintosh join forces to represent East Lothian in SYIBA Dales Fours Championships at Blantyre IBC.

East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club is now offering half-season memberships at a cost of £35 for full members and £20 for junior members, effective from January 1.

Call into Meadowmill or apply online at www.elibc.co.uk