EAST Lothian bowling ace Graham Robertson was in East Kilbride at the weekend in search of a third Scottish singles title, having won the title back to back in 1990 and 1991.

The playdowns saw the county stalwart pitched against John Cowie of Cumbernauld.

A slow start saw ‘Robbo’ (pictured right) fall 12-4 behind after nine ends.

But experience saw him pass his opponent 12 ends later, scoring a three, two, two and two and forcing a 19-16 lead.

However, Cowie had his own ambitions of a comeback and turned the match on its head, scoring five without reply to see out the tie 21-19 and a place in round two.

Sister duo Dee and Kim Hoggan headed south to Tweedbank in the two-bowl pairs playdowns.

Early-morning success saw the Hoggans dispatch the pairs of Tweedbank, Stirling and Abbeyview to set up a quarter-final clash with Midlothian’s Megan Grantham and Stacey McDougall.

The East Lothian duo narrowly lost out in the first set before the Midlothian pair really got their rhythm going in the second to seal their place in the national semi-final later in the year.

Meanwhile, the East Lothian seniors travelled to Dalkeith in a top-of-the-table clash with nearby rivals Midlothian, looking to solidify their top spot in the East Division.

After 10 ends, all seemed well for the gents to register their third successive win of the league campaign.

Unfortunately, a poor second-half display, coupled with a strong home fightback, meant they went on to lose 44 shots with only a reply of eight of their own to slide to a 74-45 defeat and slip to second in the table.

The ever-popular Jock Brodie tournament returns to Meadowmill this Wednesday.

The semi-finalists from the 2019/20 season return to action in search of the coveted prize.

In the first semi-final, East Lothian ‘A’ take on East Lothian ‘B’, while Midlothian face off against Perth in the second.

Play is scheduled to start at 10am, with the winners meeting in a 1.30pm final and the losers in a third/fourth play-off.

Seniors’ convener John Hamilton said: “With four teams in the stadium and both semi-finals played off in the one day for the first time, it should be a good day for spectators to come down and support our seniors in this well-sponsored event.”

Finally, play resumes at the Alex Marshall Arena this coming Saturday.

East Lothian gents look to continue the momentum they have gathered at the start of the campaign as they welcome top rivals Blantyre to the east coast.

With a full-strength squad at their disposal, hopes are high of maintaining the unbeaten start.