County bowls duo prosper on their Dutch adventure

Oliver was not the only East Lothian player making the trip, however, as Gifford legend Willie Wood was the Scotland team manager for the event and he watched in delighted as Oliver skipped Midlothian star Ronnie Duncan to glory in the gents pairs discipline, while Oliver and Duncan teamed up with Anne Dunwoodie and Lynn Stein to also capture the mixed fours title.

Dunwoodie and Stein also collected first prize in the ladies’ pairs, ensuring Scotland topped the overall team table. Meanwhile, West Barns are the reigning Top Ten champions of East Lothian and they carry the county banner into the national first round action on Sunday when they travel a fair distance to face Dumfriesshire champions Marchmount.

The Barns finished runners-up to Danderhall in the 2008 national final and again have serious ambitions of capturing the national crown one year on from celebrating the club’s centenary.

The full team reads: Billy Mellors (Singles); Ian Thorburn and Scott Kennedy (Pairs); Kevin Thomson, Scott Thorburn and Alister Kennedy (Triples); and Liam Gallacher, Chris O’Brien, Calum Gordon and Gary Landells (Fours).

Club legend Douglas Kennedy said ahead of the clash: “The club is still on a high from Alister Kennedy and Billy Mellors icing the cake of our centenary celebrations by winning the Scottish Pairs for our first ever national title success and we want to build on that.” Elsewhere, the club’s Alister Kennedy played a starring role in ensuring that East Lothian’s Scottish Counties Championship campaign for the coveted Andrew Hamilton Trophy got off to a winning start in the highly competitive East section on Saturday.

The Garden County came from well off the pace to record a confidence boosting eight-shot win (120-112) win over Fife County at Windygates BC in Leven.

Fife burst out of the traps to lead 43-28 after five ends and they continued to dominate proceedings to lead 68-49 at the halfway stage.

However, a fantastic spirited fightback from East Lothian saw them first claw back the deficit and they go on to record what could be a priceless victory.

“At one stage we found ourselves 25 shots adrift on the overall scoreboard but the team as a whole showed a positive response to the pressure Fife had us under and we dug very deep to snatch a great win,” reflected team captain Craig Valentine after the match.

Wins on the rinks skipped by Alister Kennedy, Craig Valentine, Billy Mellors and Brian Young carried the day for East Lothian and cancelled out the defeats sustained by Steven Morgan and Scott Kennedy.

The major input to the Garden County success came from Alister Kennedy, with the internationalist skipping Gordon White, Mark Riding and Colin Glen to a 23-12 victory over Steven Bone.

The inspirational signal from Kennedy was picked up by captain Valentine, who transformed a 9-0 deficit into a 23-20 victory as he skipped Ronnie Branley, Jamie Gordon and Billy Dunleavey to a revival that included two 5s and a 4 against Raymond White.

Mellors and his front three of Matt Osborne, Craig McLeod and Grant Thomson finished with a flourish to beat former East Lothian star Wayne Hogg 21-13, while Billy Cormack, Stevie Greenan, Stephen Cochrane and Young edged a 16-15 win over Alan Hill.

Morgan and his rink of Calvert Allison, Gordon Baillie and John White lost 26-23 to Bruce Doig, while Chris Johnston, Stuart Johnston, Richard Black and Scott Kennedy were always against the collar in a 26-14 defeat to Jim Forbes.

The side are back in action tomorrow (Saturday) with a home clash against local rivals Midlothian at Haddington BC (2pm).

Star figures Derek Oliver and Willie Wood are welcome additions to a slightly reshuffled Garden County line-up following their return from Haarlem, while host club player Glenn Blair is also included.

The players dropping to the reserve bench are Richard Black, Stuart Johnston and Calvert Allison.

Team: B. Cormack (Mac), S. Greenan (P/G), S. Cochrane (ELCO), B. Young (Tra) skip. B. Dunleavey (Hadd), J. White (Hadd), G. Blair (Hadd), S. Morgan (C&PS) skip. G. White (Aber), M. Riding (Elph), C. Valentine (C&PS) capt, A. Kennedy (W/B) skip. R. Branley (C&PS), J. Gordon (C&PS), W. W. Wood (Giff), S. Kennedy (W/B) skip. C. Johnston (Giff), G. Baillie (C&PS), C. Glen (ELCO), D. Oliver (C&PS) skip. M. Osborne (Tra), C. McLeod (Giff), G. Thomson (E/L), B. Mellors (W/B) skip. Reserve pool: R. Black (E/L), S. Johnston (Orm), C. Allison (E/L), M. Greenan (P/G), A. O.B lair (Hadd), B. Galloway (Giff).

All players are requested to report at Haddington BC for 1.30pm.

Any player selected who is unable to play is requested to contact team admin officer Jamie Gordon on 07795 264449.

East Lothian hit the campaign trail in the Scottish Under-25 Counties Championship on Sunday as they open with a home fixture against Fife County at Prestongrange BC.

Team co-ordinator Keith Fender has settled on their line-up for the opener.

Team: C. Bell (Hadd), D. Riva (Giff), S. White (ELCO), E. Fallen (ELCO) skip. K. Simants (Dun), M. McWilliams (Hadd), A. Martin (Athel), G. Blair (Hadd) skip. C. Allison (E/L), B. Inglis (Aber), G. White (Aber), G. Thomson (E/L) skip. S. Gray (C/P), H. Robertson (C/P), S. Newlands (Athel), C. Johnston (Giff) skip. S. Robertson (C/P), D. French (Elph), R. Thomson (ELCO), R. Irvine (P/G) skip. C. Darling (Giff), B. Forbes (ELCO), L. Newlands (Athel), S. Mackie (ELCO) skip. Reserve pool: C. Brock (Hadd), C. Fairgrieve (Hadd), J. Blair (Hadd), S. Clark (C/P), R. Cochrane (P/G).

All players are requested to report at Prestongrange BC for 1.30pm.

Any player selected who is unable to play is requested to contact Keith Fender immediately on 07786 110416.

The champagne cocks were popping at EL-Coop BC on Sunday evening after they claimed the first silverware of the domestic season when they lifted the ELBA Trophy with a convincing win over Haddington in the final at Longniddry BC.

In the semi-final action, EL-Coop saw off the spirited challenge of Longniddry at Port Seton, while Haddington were made to fight all the way before seeing off the ambitions of Gifford at Longniddry.

Last Friday night’s action in the East Coast Carpets-sponsored East Lothian Leagues saw West Barns register the best win of the night as the away side served up a terrific performance that left Haddington with a bloody nose, having landed a 7-1 blow on the previously unbeaten side.

Former five-in-a-row champions Port Seton are the new early-season pace setters as their hard-fought 5-3 away victory at Prestongrange saw them move two points clear of the chasing pack.

Defending champions East Linton suffered their second defeat of the season when they went down 6-2 at Gifford, while Tranent returned to winning ways with a comfortable 7-1 home win over Aberlady. Castlepark collected much-needed points as they drew 4-4 at home against EL-Coop.

In tonight’s (Friday) Division 1 action, leaders Port Seton are boosted by the return of Derek Oliver when they play host to a Gifford side who welcome legend Willie Wood back into their line-up.

Former world stage figure Graham Robertson returns to the Tranent line-up who make the trip up the A1 to tackle West Barns, while EL-Coop will hope home advantage can enable them to land the spoils when Prestongrange come calling.

Defending champions East Linton will be confident of getting back on a winning note when they visit struggling Aberlady. 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 on 07786 110416 immediately after the conclusion of each match.

Meanwhile, the draw for the Wood and Hay Funeral Directors over-55 years senior triples has been made.

This year’s competition sees no fewer than 12 triples coming from outwith the county to try and win one of the most valuable and prestigious competitions in seniors bowls in Scotland.

The competition promises to be a tight one as they as they battle it out with the local sides on the Haddington green on Monday, starting at 9am.

Spectators are welcome and refreshments are available for them if required.

Numbers 1-12 start at 9.15am, reporting for a breakfast roll with tea/coffee at 8.30am The draw for those teams is: 1 Eric Denholm (Gifford), 2 Charlie Sobolewski (Haddington), 3 Andy Burt (Haddington), 4 Wallyford, 5 Dirleton B, 6 George McLeod (Aberlady), 7 George Lunn (Haddington), 8 Dirleton A, 9 Ken Brown (Haddington), 10 Mike Hunter (Gifford), 11 Colin Kennedy (East Linton), 12 Sandy Delaney (Haddington).

All other teams, 13-24, will start at 10am, reporting for a breakfast roll with tea/coffee at 9.30am The draw for those teams is: 13 JP Hamilton (West Barns), 14 Davie Watson (Berwick), 15 Dick Brown (Kinnoull), 16 Mrs McRae (Lauder), 17 Robert Philp (West End), 18 Jim Wallace (Dean), 19 John Ross (East Kilbride), 20 Gala Waverley, 21 Muriel Hamilton (Gifford), 22 Peter Laidlaw (Berwick), 23 Sandy Todd (Haddington), 24 Available.

Chris from Wood and Hay will be available throughout the day and will join the players for lunch,which is also incorporated in the entry fee of £30 per triple.

Finally, bowls fans can now keep up-to-date with all that is happening on the outdoor bowling scene in the Garden County by following the website by East Lothian Bowling Association.

All bowlers are urged to view by visiting www.eastlothianbowls.co.uk