COMPETITORS took to the carpet at East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club in search of glory last Friday.
After a fortnight featuring dozens of finals, the singles events took centre stage.
Billy Mellors showed every part of his singles class as he claimed yet another indoor title, dispatching an impressive Alan Young 21-14 in the gents’ singles.
In a high-quality encounter, there was little to split the players over the opening exchanges before a string of high-scoring ends saw Mellors make a dash for a seventh title in just nine years.
The new champion said after the match: “The final was always going to be very tough and to be fair the scoreline flatters a little.
“Alan was playing some great stuff early doors and I was happy to stay in touch. My touch improved as the game went on and I applied more pressure.
“Since stepping away from the international scene, I was keen to stay in the mix at county level and winning the championship for the seventh time is very pleasing.
“There is an abundance of talent at the club and it won’t be long before the young stars will be picking up these titles.”
Meanwhile in the ladies’ singles final, in the battle of the Hoggan sisters, Dee, in a similar pattern to Mellors, could not shake her younger sister Kim in the opening phases of play.
However, she quickly found the form that has seen her included in the most recent high-performance squads and dreaming of another Commonwealth Games as she won to claim the title.
Good friends Danny Stevenson and Robbie Shields contested the under-25 gents’ singles title.
Shields raced out to a 15-5 lead but a change in length saw Stevenson work his way back into the tie.
A misplaced jack at 17-11 allowed Shields to return to a scoring pattern and onto a 19-12 lead.
The pair shook hands moments later as Shields claimed a memorable 21-12 win.
Beth Riva had her sights set on back-to-back under-25 ladies’ titles, while Emma Blyth had aspirations of ruining the party.
With both players taking advantage of missed opportunities, Blyth played her way to a 13-10 lead.
Riva responded with three consecutive ends to force her way to an 18-13 lead and set the tone for a three-shot winning finale to claim the crown 21-13.
The legendary figure of Willie Wood took on Andy Burt, looking for his first senior singles title.
The Gifford man found himself on the wrong side of a 5-0 scoreline, but steadied the ship and took the lead 9-8.
The mini comeback appeared to derail Burt’s own pursuit and he struggled to get his own drawing game working as he fell further back at 17-11 down.
A change in tactics saw the Haddington man apply a more direct approach and it paid dividends as he clawed his way back to trail by just one at 18-17.
A precarious head developed at the penultimate end with both players presented opportunities to force a multiple count.
An unfortunate failed conversion for Burt provided Wood a 20-17 lead at the last before scoring the single required.
Janet Fairnie and Yvonne Veitch would have been hard to separate in the betting odds before the first jack was thrown.
However, few could have predicted what would be in store over their 25-end epic encounter.
Fairnie opened what seemed to be a match pattern 7-3 lead.
However, Veitch employed a ‘mat-up’ strategy and enjoyed a 10-end run of shots to force, what looked like an unassailable 17-7 lead.
Fairnie responded with her own tactic of a maximum length jack and closed the gap to 17-14.
Veitch scored a single to leave her looking for just three shots for the title.
She believed to be closing in on those three shots at the completion of end 23, only to be denied by the umpire’s measure, scoring a double to lead 20-17.
Veitch again applied her match defining mat-up technique.
Unfortunately, she saw her opening bowl fall into the ditch and Fairnie took advantage and opened up with a bowl within inches.
Veitch failed to adjust with her second and third bowls to leave Fairnie lying two shots and more than enough room to add a third and increase the pressure.
Her opponent opted not to add a third shot and instead opted to cover the rear of the rink, seeing her third delivery fall agonisingly into the ditch.
Veitch failed with her final delivery before Fairnie added a third shot as the match headed up the last, all square at 20-20.
A nervy last end saw both players fail to add a significant counting shot in the opening bowls.
With her third delivery, Veitch added a shot six inches to the rear of the jack and asked the question of Fairnie,
One she answered in kind, swapping her hand for the final delivery and perfectly drawing the shot between the bowl and jack.
Veitch fell agonisingly short with her last delivery as Fairnie claimed the title in nail-biting fashion 21-20.
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