ALAN Young was in Scottish Masters finals action on Sunday, having qualified earlier in the season.

Internationalist Andrew Thomson, from Aberdeen, was Young’s opponent in an excellent, high-quality quarter-final.

Young won a tight first set 9-7 before losing out 7-11 in the second set having to chase a two at the last end.

The standard of bowls only improved in the tie-break and it was Young who prevailed 2-0 following a precision final bowl on the first end to move the jack a matter of inches, and then a back-toucher on the second end.

Young then faced John McHutchison, from Falkirk, in the semi-final and unfortunately could not repeat his level of performance from the quarter-final and lost out to an impressive display from the eventual winner by a 4-8, 3-8 scoreline.

Meanwhile, the East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club gents’ team atoned for their heavy defeat at Blantyre and got back on the winning trail at home to Lanarkshire in Premier League action on Saturday with an 86-65 win.

The gents opened up an early double-figure lead and, despite Lanarkshire fighting back strongly on more than one occasion as they fought for their Premier League survival, they were never able to get within single figures and threaten the Garden County men.

Top scorers on the day were the rink of Scott Kennedy, who recorded a nine-shot win over John Simpson, closely followed by Billy Mellors and his rink, who defeated Robert Gordon by eight.

The rink of Derek Oliver were involved in a tight tussle with Gary Neilson but came out on top by four shots, while Joe Mowers’ rink found themselves five down with three to play; however, a strong finish saw them peel their game.

The gents are next in action at home to Abbeyview next Saturday (November 30) as the Scottish fours play-offs take place this week, when the four of Jamie Higgins, Scott Kennedy, Derek Oliver and Billy Mellors travel to Lanarkshire aiming to qualify for the national semi-finals. They commence their campaign in the first round at 2pm on Saturday against Balbardie.

It’s congratulations to Derek Oliver, Billy Mellors, Joe Mower and Scott Kennedy who have been selected for an international trial on December 1 at Stirling. Alex Marshall is unavailable for the trial but will be considered for the team.

The East Lothian IBC ladies’ team were also in action last week and recorded a 67-46 victory away to Bainfield to atone for their opening-game defeat. Joint top scorers were the rinks of Dee Hoggan and Janet Fairnie, who produced excellent 10-shot wins and the clean sweep of rink wins was confirmed when Yvonne Veitch and her rink scored a four at the last end to win by a shot.

The ladies are not in action again until December 14 due to them having a free week as well as Scottish fours and triples play-offs.

The ladies’ four in action this weekend are Hazel Fender, Mags Thomson, Yvonne Veitch and Janet Fairnie and they also travel to Lanarkshire for a 2pm start against the home four.

The ladies’ international trial also takes place next Sunday (December 1), with Dee Hoggan the only East Lothian player involved.

The Garden County seniors were due to be in action yesterday (Wednesday) when they travelled to face Midlothian to try and avenge the defeat they suffered earlier in the season.

Midlothian’s defeat to Falkirk means that East Lothian now top the table from Midlothian on shots, therefore a win would obviously go a long way in helping them win the section.

The team selected for this crucial fixture is: P Fallen, K Fender, G Gray and T Young (skip and captain); L Middler, R Steele, D Berwick and G Robertson; BJ Smith, D Pryde, A McKenna and A Burt; R Douglas, B Johnston, A Russell and WW Wood. Fifth rink: K Boyd, D Hogg, JP Hamilton and D McGill. Reserves: A Valentine, R Maguire and J Neilson.

On Saturday, East Lothian’s youths look to make it three titles in a row as they take part in the Midlothian Tournament at Dalkeith and the two rinks selected to retain the trophy are: L Kennedy, E Gillies, L Rafferty and A Betts (skip); and C Henderson, L Cowan, B Riva and K Dodds.

Due to the unavailability of coaches and the above tournament, there is no youth session at 8am on Saturday.

Several of the county’s youths have also been successful in international trial selection, with Aaron Betts, Kieran Dodds, Beth Riva, Callum Henderson, Lennon Rafferty and Logan Kennedy all travelling to Abbeyview on Sunday hoping to make it through to a second trial for the SYIBA national team.

The popular hat games are in full flow at Meadowmill and are open to both members and non-members.

They are held on Monday mornings at 10am to noon, Tuesday afternoons at 2-4pm and Saturday afternoon at noon to 2pm (£3.20 to members and £4.20 to non-members, including 20p towards the prize pot).