East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club world stage figure Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall MBE is in World Bowls Tour action next week when he lines up in the Co-operative Funeralcare sponsored Scottish International Open.
Read MoreThe opening event in the new 2016/17 World Bowls Tour season will be staged on the portable rink at the Dewars Centre in Perth from Saturday until 12th November. With extensive live television coverage in BBC TV Scotland from Monday (November 7), the event will feature the top 16 players in the world, joined by qualifiers from all over the world. In the draw, just announced record six times world indoor singles champion Marshall faces a first-round clash against Canadian qualifier Mark Sandford. The clash will be played on Saturday afternoon and will be streamed live on www.youtube.com/worldbowlstour.
East Lothian IBC ladies junior singles champion Kim Hoggan booked her place in the field for January’s National Indoor Junior Singles gala finals weekend to be played at West Lothian IBC in Livingston on 7/8 January after coming through last weekend’s playdown action at Arbroath IBC.
East Lothian have a decent history in the event with Lynsey Nisbet bringing that silverware back to the ‘garden county’ on two occasions, 1999 and 2002, and former junior cap Hoggan has the skill, experience and ambition needed to also be crowned national champion. Wins over Heather Garvie (Stonehaven), Ariana Mowat (Aberdeen) and Lorna Goldsmith of Midlothian were all hard fought and earned reflecting the determination and focus of the East Lothian challenger. Hoggan’s form at Arbroath is a confidence booster for the challenges that lies ahead of her starting with a 21-10 first round win over Garvie. Her second-round challenge proved to be just as testing but she emerged from the battle as the 21-9 victor over Mowat. Emerging star Goldsmith now stood between Hoggan and a place in the semi-finals and an epic battle was expected however, the East Lothian support cheered a massive performance that saw their club champion clinch a 21-10 victory. Her opposition in the semi-final comes in the shape of well-known Garioch star Carla Banks while the other challengers for the coveted crown are Emma McIntyre of Dumbarton and Stephanie Wallace of Auchinleck.
Meanwhile in the gent’s playdown action, also staged at Arbroath IBC, the East Lothian challenge was in the capable looking hands of current World Indoor Under 25 singles champion Joe Mower but he was a surprise first round faller as he was always against the collar in a 21-10 defeat from West Lothian champion Jamie Aitken.
The ladies side from East Lothian IBC won their clash with East Fife in the highly competitive East Premier Division of the Scottish Ladies League having tipped the scales with a strong final phase that inspired them to an eight-shot victory (90-82) on home territory at the Alex Marshall Arena last Saturday. Wins for the rinks skipped by Emma Logan and Lauren Baillie banked a combined plus of 15 shots for the home team and that was more than enough to cover the defeat of Janet Fairnie and Yvonne Veitch. “The master scoreboard showed us 10 shots down with only a few ends to play but we didn’t panic across the carpet as a team and there was no magic moment that sparked a revival but we all dug in, made every shot count and clinched what could be a very important win for us”, said team manager Sheena Currie. Logan’s latest contribution was to skip Margaret Murray, Jean Russell and Alicia Irvine to a hard fought 25-17 win over fellow Scotland cap Julie Sword. Balllie played the chief supporting roles as she skipped Margaret Devine, Murial Hamilton and Cathy Ward to a 28-21 win over Ruth Stewart. Fairnie lost 21-18 to Lynne Stein while Veitch went down 23-19 against Alice Fyall. The side is back in action on Saturday when they entertain Balbardie at the Alex Marshall Arena and will go into the clash with an unchanged line-up that reads:- M.Murray, J.Russell, A.Irvine, E.Logan skip M.Devine, M.Hamilton, C.Ward, L.Baillie skip P.Turner, R.Campbell, N.McNeil, Y.Veitch skip B.Riva, A.Berwick, M.Thomson, J.Fairnie skip
The senior side returned to winning ways last Wednesday in the East B section of the Scottish Senior League having bounced back from the previous week defeat to a deliver a resounding 73-45 home victory over Border visitors Tweedbank.
Willie Wood MBE personal contribution to the win was immense in terms of style, attitude and skill factor leading him skipping his rink to a sweepstake winning 20 shot triumph. Peter Laidlaw (+5) and Tommy Young (+4) also had the measure of their respective opponents but Alastair Russell suffered a single defeat. “The win was more comfortable than expected but it does reflect a strong team performance that sends us into the second half of the campaign with a happy outlook as joint leaders with Midlothian”, said team convenor John P Hamilton. The side was back in action on Wednesday when they made the short trip into Edinburgh to tackle Bainfield.
Meanwhile the strong looking senior contingent of Peter Fallen, David Pryde, Alan Morgan and B J Smith are in national senior fours action on Sunday at West Lothian IBC and face Balbardie in the first round proper at 2pm. In the ladies senior national playdown action at West Lothian IBC club champion Anne Barclay competes in the singles and her opening round opponent is Headwell and they take to the carpet at 10am. In the pairs action the strong looking partnership of Margaret Devine and Muriel Hamilton carry the local hopes and face preliminary round test from Teviotdale, also on the 10am session.
The men’s side return to Scottish Premier League action on Saturday and are on the road as the current B section leaders make the trip to Bathgate to tackle Balbardie. The garden county selectors have faced a massive selection headache ahead of the fixture with ace skips Alex Marshall MBE, Scott Kennedy, Derek Oliver and Jamie Higgins all unavailable while stalwart regular Andy Burt is also an absentee. On the plus side, they welcome the return of international star Billy Mellors while former Under 18 national singles champion Calum Darling also returns along with Kevin Cunningham. Captain Graham Robertson, Willie Wood MBE and Joe Mower join Mellors as the skips no doubt fired up to deliver an away win. The team reads:- R.Thomson, D.Riva, D.Berwick, W.W.Wood MBE skip C.Mackintosh, K.Cunningham, M.Johnston, G.Robertson skip/capt C.Darling, L.Betts, G.Blair, J.Mower skip L.Middler, M.Osborne, A.Jeffrey, B.Mellors skip.
Its congratulations to the East Lothian IBC contingent of Kieran Dodds, Beth Riva, Danny Stevenson and Craig Mackintosh after they were part of an East Lothian/Abbeyview combined team that captured the Midlothian Youth Tournament last Sunday.
The youths Friday sessions at East Lothian IBC are up and running from 2-4 pm every week, while the Saturday sessions take place from 8-10am.
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