There were mixed emotions at the Alex Marshall Arena following the National Pairs play-downs on Sunday with joy for gents’ pair of Scott Kennedy and Billy Mellors who secured a semi-final spot while there was heartache for the ladies pairing of Mags Thomson and Lauren Baillie-Whyte who were just pipped in the quarter final.
The Evening League Division One pre-Christmas version came to a conclusion on Wednesday of last week and there was much to play for. At the top of the table Stuart Thomson’s rink had all but secured the title and despite losing their final game by one shot they claimed the title by forty shots from Andy Jeffrey’s rink and will go forward to the Finals Week League title decider. At the other end of the table there was last end excitement as one other team had to join the rinks’ of Peter Fallen and Grant Fender who had already been relegated to Division Two. The rink of Dean Riva lay shot in their game with David Sked which would have been enough for them to avoid the drop however when the shot changed this meant that they lost the game and filled the last remaining relegation spot with the rink of Kenny Glen ending up in the play-off position. In Division Two the three rinks winning promotion to Division One were those of Alan Morgan (Champions), Emma Logan and Billy Mellors with Willie Robertson facing Kenny Glen for the final Division One spot.
The Garden County Senior brigade were in action last Wednesday when they travelled to Headwell in the expectation of continuing their good progress towards winning the East “B” section of the Seniors Scottish League. Once more the Auld Yins got off to the perfect start and after five ends the scoreboard read 34-9 in favour of East Lothian and by end ten this lead had been extended to 61-19. East Lothian continued to pile the pressure on their hosts which resulted of 95-37. Again all rinks finished with positive scores as Willie Wood’s rink recorded a thirty shot win, closely followed by Graham Robertson (+21) while Tommy Young won by five and Andy Burt recorded a two shot win. The Seniors last game of the season is on Wednesday 8th January when Falkirk visit the Alex Marshall Arena and barring a disaster East Lothian should secure their qualification for the knockout stage as they enter this fixture at the top of the table, two points and sixty shots in front of nearest challengers Midlothian.
East Lothian youths were at it again last weekend when they won the Abbeyview Top Five tournament. East Lothian entered two teams in the tournament which were Lennon Rafferty, Aaron Betts, Callum Henderson, Beth Riva and Kieran Dodds in one team while Ethan Gillies, Logan Kennedy, Abi McNeill, Luke Cowan and Daryl Grieve made up the other team. From the first team Callum, Lennon, Beth and Kieran won the fours event while, Aaron lost in the singles final, and Lennon and Aaron lost out in the semi-final of the pairs. Their points tally was twenty six, which was enough to win the team event by two points from East Fife. The other team performed admirably also with Ethan and Logan defeating Lennon and Aaron on their way to losing out in the pairs final while Logan made it to the singles semi-final where Aaron turned the tables on him in an excellent game and Abi, Luke and Daryl lost narrowly in the triples semi-final.
East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club is open for league fixtures on the 27th December between 10am and 2pm before closing on the 28th and 29th. It will open once more for Gents Pairs fixtures on the 30th at 6.30pm before closing on the 31st, 1st and 2nd. The club then re-open full-time on the 3rd January.
Half year memberships are now available at the indoor from January 1st until the end of the season and these will allow anyone joining to join a league rink or help out in Scottish ties. The half year membership costs £38 and can be paid in the club or via online banking.
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