East Lothian 16/2

Glasgow IBC provides the playoff opposition in a final being staged at Whiteinch IBC in Glasgow and has an earlier than usual 12 noon start. The ladies this season are under the management of Gordon Pryde and scaled the heights in the semi-final to defeat reigning champions Auchinleck and he will be looking for the same level performance on an even bigger stage when his side line up in their first national final. “Glasgow are a talented team and deserve our full respect, but my players have an opportunity to create history and I’m quietly confident they will deliver”, said Pryde. East Lothian go into the final at near full strength with only Scotland cap Yvonne Veitch the one notable absentee from the line-up for the final due to her being currently overseas. Teenage junior cap Megan Kivlin makes a welcome return to the exclusion of Muriel Hamilton. The full team reads:- Melissa Penman, Megan Kivlin, Margaret Thomson, Janet Fairnie skip Jacky McFarlane, Arlene Berwick, Leanne Baillie, Lauren Baillie skip/capt Margaret Murray, Jean Russell, Kim Hoggan, Emma Logan skip Margaret Devine, Beth Riva, Gillian Mackintosh, Dee Hoggan skip The head-to-head rink draws for the final was made last weekend and reads as follows:- Rink 5: Janet Fairnie v Lorna Cameron Rink 6: Lauren Baillie v June Marshall Rink 7: Emma Logan v Natalie Docherty Rink 8: Dee Hoggan v Beth Eastop

Meanwhile on the international stage East Lothian star Megan Kivlin was last weekend part of a Scotland Ladies Under 25 side that finished a very disappointing third in the British Isles Ladies Under 25 series at Nottingham IBC. The Scots made a successful start to their defence of the title when they opened the series with an 88-70 win over Wales. In their second game they were brought back down to earth when they lost by 20 shots to a British Isles select side. That was followed by a second loss against England who emerged the dominant force in this year’s series, winning all three matches to claim back the title and the Acle Trophy. This coming weekend Joe Mower will participate in his second consecutive British Isles Under 25 series when he is part of a Scotland Under 25 side looking to wrestle the title back from the clutches of auld enemy England. This year’s series is being staged at the Jim Baker Stadium in Belfast and the young Scot open their campaign on Saturday morning with a clash against hosts Ireland. In the afternoon, they go head to head with Wales before facing a Sunday morning showdown with defending champions England.

Before turning their full attention to the upcoming Scottish Premier League playoff final East Lothian IBC men’s side must first turn their focus to Scottish Cup first round proper action on Saturday when they tackle Forfar at Headwell IBC in Dunfermline. On paper and formbook, the match should be a canter for the record seven-time champions against lowly Division 2 opponents but shocks ultimately do happen and East Lothian must be on their guard against opposition who will have absolutely nothing to lose. The absence of no fewer than six first team regulars needs coped with but the garden county selectors are still upbeat that their severely depleted line-up can still deliver a positive result. The team reads:- L.Middler, A.Burt, G.Blair, D.Berwick skip/capt  M.Yuill, A.Betts, D.Riva, M.Johnston skip  R.Thomson, K.Cunningham, E.Fallen, G.Robertson skip  L.Betts, J.Gordon, D.Sked, D.Oliver skip

The senior side launched their bid for the Scottish Senior Cup with a hard fought 6-4 points win over Dunfermline based side Headwell in the preliminary round action at Bainfield IBC in Edinburgh last Wednesday. The garden county ‘auld yins’ performance at Bainfield saw them misfire on the rinks skipped by Willie Wood (-11) and Alastair Russell but rise in excellent fashion to that challenge with match winning contributions from Tommy Young (+9) and Dougie Berwick (+8). Opposition in the first round proper action to be played this coming Wednesday (February 21) at Headwell IBC in Dunfermline comes in the shape of Alloa and the garden county ‘auld yins’ went into the clash determined to make amends for the recent defeat suffered against same opposition in the quarter-final of the national senior league playoffs. Meanwhile, the qualifying action in the Jock Brodie Senior Challenge Cup, jointly sponsored by Norman T Craig and Plumbing and Electrical Services of Dunbar, continued at the Alex Marshall Arena on Wednesday and featured East Lothian against Perth and West Lothian versus Midlothian.

On the youth stage, East Lothian IBC sent a very young squad across to Dunfermline last Sunday to participate in the Abbeyview IBC Top Five tournament. There was not much joy for the garden county brigade in the morning session of play with both pairs and triples failing to progress to the latter stages. However, things got much better in the afternoon play with Logan Kennedy playing very well in the Singles, losing two and drawing one including against eventual winner Lee Gorrie of East Fife. In the Fours, Daniel Kivlin, Luke Cowan, Callum Henderson and Cameron Pryde won two of their three section games against Midlothian and Bainfield B to qualify for the semi-final. In the semi-final, they defeated Bainfield A without losing a shot to set up a final against East Fife whom they had lost to in the section play comprehensively. The score stood at peels playing the last and East Lothian lay game but the East Fife skip drew the winning shot with his last bowl.

The SIBA Under 25 select triple of Andrew Thomson (Aberdeen), Jamie McNabb (Midlothian) and John Fleming Jnr (Inverclyde) produced several outstanding performances to capture the Pro-Am Triples tournament sponsored for second consecutive year by Johnston Fuels and Medical & Professional. East Lothian IBC staged the extravaganza last Sunday and the galaxy of stars that competed with high profile grass root qualifiers put on magnificent show for the many spectators in attendance. The field was 24 triples strong starting off playing round robin style in six sections of four after which the trios skipped by Ryan Burnett, Darren Burnett, Graeme Archer, John Fleming Jnr, Colin Walker, Stuart Airey, Derek Oliver and James Speirs qualified for the knockout stage. The knockout stage saw the exciting line-up of Thomson, McNabb and Fleming progress into the showcase final where the promise of an exciting climax to the event was signalled by opposition triple comprising of West Lothian IBC stars Richard Mark, Gary Orr and James Speirs who were representing tournament sponsors Johnston Fuels. The final confrontation did not disappoint with the spectators kept on tenterhooks as an epic battle went right down to the wire before a narrow two shot supremacy saw the Fleming skipped trio trigger the victory salute.