MEMBERS of Cockenzie and Port Seton Bowling Club were celebrating as they retained the East Coast Carpets-sponsored Division 1 title.

The Seasiders – who started in third place before the final evening's action got under way on Friday – came out on top of a dramatic finale to the campaign.

Cockenzie & Port Seton went into the final match trailing co-leaders Haddington and EL-Coop by 1 point.

The seasiders entertained already relegated Haddington A knowing they needed a maximum point win to have any chance of retaining the title and they duly delivered with wins on the rinks skipped by Derek Oliver, Steven Morgan and Scott Kennedy ensuring they got the result they wanted.

That left both Haddington and EL-Coop with it all to do in their home fixtures against Castlepark and Dunbar respectively.

For the second successive year, Haddington just fell short as a 7-1 victory was not enough to overtake Cockenzie & Port Seton while EL-Coop were denied living the dream of an 8-0 winning result by a superb jack trail from Dunbar skip Steven Anderson to stop the EL-Coop rink skipped by Steven Mackie registering what would have been a title winning victory.

When the all the dust settled ELBA officials confirmed Cockenzie & Port had retained the title with a shots aggregate of +164 compared to Haddington’s +160 with EL-Coop finishing a point behind in third place.

Steven Morgan, Cockenzie & Port Seton BC president, said: "What a memorable finish to a long hard season for everyone.

"The only people to miss out on last Friday night’s unbelievable scenes throughout the county was Sky Sports, it would have been fantastic viewing."

Elsewhere in Division 1, Elphinstone rounded off their encouraging campaign back in the top flight with a 5-3 away win at East Linton while the clash between Tranent and West Barns ended 4-4.

And it's congratulations to Prestongrange after they captured the Division 2 title honours with an 8-0 win at home against Gifford, and joining them in Division 1 next season will be Winton after their 6-2 away win at Macmerry confirmed them as runners-up.

At the other end of the table Gifford and Athelstaneford were sentenced to life in Division 3. East Lothian Labour won the title honours in Division 3 a few weeks ago and following them into Division 2 next season is East Linton A.

Falling through the dreaded relegation trap door was Aberlady A and Cockenzie & Port Seton B. North Berwick was crowned Division 4 champions an eternity ago with Macmerry A finishing a very distant second but gained promotion all the same.

Meanwhile, East Lothian champions Tranent are in quarter-final action in the Inter-County Top 5 singles on Sunday when they face a stern away test at Perthshire champions Glencarse (2pm).

The team of Kevin Jones, David Whitson, Matt Osborne, Adam Martin and club talisman John McCrorie are the players given the responsibility of trying to book a place in semi-final.

The club is running a minibus and there are still a limited number of seats available for anyone wishing to go.