Cockenzie & Port Seton Bowling Club is basking in the limelight of being crowned the ELBA Jubilee Cup (Top Ten) champions for a sixth time following a convincing victory over defending champions East Linton in last Sunday’s final at Haddington BC.
Read MoreThe Top Ten title is a pathway to the National Championships the following season so the stakes were high in a head but the ‘seasiders’ produced a ruthless performance to win 7-1 on points.
“We knew we had to be on our toes and have a strong mental attitude against such strong opposition and it is great when your game plan works out. The Top Ten is one of the majors so displaying the silverware in the trophy cabinet brings a morale uplift to the club”.
The thoughts of team captain Craig Valentine who played his part by skipping Michael Greenan, Gordon Baillie and Alan Morgan to a 20-13 win over Alan Christie, David Scott, Mike Newlands and Steven Kerr in the Fours. Derek Oliver is the club champion at Cockenzie & Port Seton; but it was Scott ‘Boom’ Kennedy that was delegated the responsibilities of playing the spearhead role in the Singles and he rose to the challenge by delivering an inspirational 21-12 win over Graham Bell. Oliver lined up in the Pairs and produced an outstanding performance to skip Jamie Higgins into a 12-6 lead then onto a 21-12 win over Colin Murdoch and George Cowan Snr. Steven Morgan was at the helm for Martin Munro and Jamie Gordon in the Triples and a good start saw them lead 10-5 against George Cowan Jnr, Keith Fender and Grant Thomson but a loss of 5 shots on end 12 saw them go behind for the first time in the match, however, they regained composure and settled for a 13-13 share of the spoils.
Meanwhile, 2016 East Lothian champions Tranent is in quarter-final action in the 2017 Inter-County Top 5 singles on Saturday when they face an away test against Paisley based club Ralston (2pm). The talented mob of John McCrorie, Alan Young, Adam Martin, Kevin Jones and Graham Robertson are the players given the responsibility of trying to book a place in semi-final.
EL-Coop have put the cat among the pigeons in Division 1 of the East Coast Carpets East Lothian Bowling League last Friday night with a stunning 7-1 home win against long time leaders Cockenzie & Port Seton in fixture number 15 of the 18-match campaign. The result looks a severe body blow to the seasider’s prospects of landing a title they last won back in 2012. Haddington were the major benefactors with the defending champions moving five points clear at the top of the table following their 7-1 away win at relegation threatened East Linton and are now odds-on favourites to successfully retain their title. Dunbar helped their hopes of beating the drop massively with a sensational 8-0 win at West Barns and the result has more significance as a red alert danger signal to the prospects of their opponents also heading for the drop. Castlepark won’t be at all happy sitting just above the relegation zone but there were all smiles at Aberlady as a result of their much needed 6-2 win over their fellow strugglers. The clash between officially now relegated Gifford and Tranent was the subject of a late postponement due to a waterlogged green and was rescheduled for tonight (Thursday). The race for the Division 2 title is going to go right to the wire with Elphinstone entering the last couple of fixtures defending a narrow one-point lead over Haddington A. Last week’s head to heads saw Elphinstone beat Prestongrange 6-2 while Haddington A were well pleased with an 8-0 against Winton at home.
EL-Coop will have another opportunity to have a huge say in the destination of the Division 1 title when they visit leaders Haddington in this Friday nights penultimate round of fixtures. Cockenzie & Port Seton play host to Gifford and realistically need to target a maximum point’s victory over their lowly opposition to keep their title hopes alive. In the battle to beat the drop relegation zoned sides West Barns and East Linton both face tricky away assignments at Tranent and Castlepark respectively. Dunbar entertains Aberlady and with both sides just above the relegation zone the side who comes out on top will probably rescue their Division 1 status. All clubs are reminded that the remaining fixtures of the season, including all upcoming ELBA County Championship ties, must all commence at the earlier start time of 6.30pm.
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 07786 110416 immediately after each match.
East Lothian senior side campaign in the Inter-County Senior League Cup for the Matt Purdie Trophy has descended into nightmare proportions with the garden county ‘auld yins’ suffering their fourth defeat in six on Monday when losing by 24 shots away to West Fife. The section East Lothian were drawn in was a tough one but the two time former champions were expected to be leading contenders to claim top spot however they go into their final fixture stranded in no man’s land.
“Whilst we were never firing up to expectations there was a pulse racing moment on end 12 when we carded thirteen shots for the loss of one to get within three shots of them but sadly we were unable to follow through on that”, reflected team convenor John P Hamilton. West Fife inflicted the pain of defeat on three of the five visiting rinks; the skips to suffer being George Cowan (-4), Peter Fallen (-8) and Alastair Russell (-19). Wins on the rinks skipped by Alan Morgan (+7) and Tommy Young (+1) spared the blushes of a clean sweep defeat. The side finish their forgettable this coming Monday with a home fixture against joint table toppers Borders at EL-Coop BC in Tranent. The following side has been announced:- B.Scott, J.Smith, D.Pryde, T.Young skip J.Murray, G.Gray, D.Arnot, P.Fallen skip D.Temperley, R.Strang, G.Smith, A.Russell skip B.Brunton, A.Jamieson, J.P.Hamilton, A.Morgan skip D.Hogg, M.Gordon, D.Kennedy, G.Cowan skip Reserves: G.Blyth & A.McCue Any player selected who is unable to play is requested to contact team convenor John P Hamilton immediately on 07974 648401. All players report at EL-Coop BC by no later than 11.10am.
The Bowls Scotland Scottish Super Series Pairs grand finals take place this weekend with the Northfield Bowling Complex in Ayr staging the climax to the event and East Lothian has an interest in both the gents and ladies playdown action. Kevin Cunningham and Matt Osborne of Tranent line up in the last 32 of the gents draw but face a tough opening test against West Lothian aces Calum and Grant Logan. There is a double local interest in the ladies draw with the strong EL-Coop pairing of Megan Kivlin and Yvonne Veitch and the talented Tranent sisters, Kim and Dee Hoggan, both featuring in the last 16 draw.
On Sunday, Musselburgh Municipal BC stages the SYBA Inter-County regional qualifiers for the prestigious Andy Houston Trophy. East Lothian will do battle with Midlothian, Edinburgh East and Edinburgh West with the victorious side going forward to represent the region in the national finals. The East Lothian team reads:- K.Dodds (ELCO), C.Johnston (C&PS), L.Hogg (C&PS), H.Cunningham (C&PS) skip B.Riva (ELCO), C.Bryce (Aber), C.Shaw (ELCO), R.Shields (ELCO) skip L.Kennedy (C&PS), C.Lynn (Aber), D.Stevenson (ELCO), R.Buchanan (ELCO) skip M.Penman (Aber), L.Cowan (Aber), J.Clark (ELCO), M.Kivlin (ELCO) skip/capt Any player selected who is unable to play requested to contact either Stuart Thomson or Gordon Pryde immediately.
Gifford Bowling & Sports Club are staging an Open Senior Triples tournament on Wednesday August 30 and entries are now being accepted by contacting Brian Bissett on 07903 541373.
Cockenzie & Port Seton Bowling Club is staging an Open Pairs tournament on Saturday August 9th with a high-class field expected to challenge for the lucrative £500.00 cash prize fund on offer in the Belhaven Brewery sponsored event. The tournament is a round robin event and entries are now being accepted and can be obtained by contacting club match secretary Darren Donnelly on 01875 810481.
Draw for Tranent Bowling Club’s Simon Blyth Memorial Fours at Polson Park on Saturday is as follows:- 10.30am R.Bonner, G.Duncan, B.Kerr, Fountain (1), Fountain (2), C.Blyth, K.McCrorie, D.Sands 11.45am B.Burnett, S.Whitson, M.Martin, Labour Club
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