East Lothian IBC have found a new lease of life after suffering a catastrophic opening three defeats in a row and their latest success away to Paisley completed a hat trick of revival wins that has pushed them up to second place in the B section of the indoor bowls premier league.
Read more“This was a decent Paisley side sitting in second place so it is encouraging that we sustained our momentum with an excellent away performance to draw level with them on points with a 73-62 victory that has moved us ahead of them on shot difference” said team captain Mark Johnston. Johnston is confident that East Lothian now have the bit between their teeth and are showing a level of form that inspires a confidence of winning all four of their remaining games however leaders Aberdeen could be out of reach with a six point lead. The league standings after six games played are, Aberdeen 12 (+88), East Lothian 6 (+39), Paisley 6 (+30), Lanarkshire 4 (-23), Ardrossan 4 (-35), Falkirk 4 (-99). East Lothian only managed to win on two of their four rinks at Paisley but the triumphs registered by the rinks skipped by Derek Oliver and Jamie Higgins were sufficient to cover the setbacks suffered by Billy Mellors and Scott Kennedy. A late change to the East Lothian line up saw reigning Under 18 Singles Champion Calum Darling thrown in at the deep end to cover the withdrawal of Scott Logan at second to Higgins. The headline contribution to the EL victory was delivered by Derek Oliver who skipped Gary Muir, Andy Burt, and Graham Robertson to an all the way 22-10 win over world stage star Jonathan Ross. EL were also well served by Higgins and his front-three of Mark Johnston, Calum Darling, and Andy Jeffrey who produced a tip-top performance to score a clear cut 24-14 win over David Stobo. Paisley did show resistance however and the home team rink skipped by emerging talent Callum Taggart always held the upper hand as they inflicted a 20-15 defeat on Calvert Allison, Dougie Berwick, Willie Wood MBE, and Billy Mellors. The EL rink of Lessel Middler, Gary Darling, Stuart Thomson, and Scott Kennedy were also forced onto the back-foot and always fighting against the collar in an 18-12 defeat from John Gilmartin. “We expected a tough battle and that was what we got but once we got our noses in front we remained in control and were good value for our 11 shot win”, added Johnston.
Meanwhile a great weekend for The Garden County saw the ladies team establish a two point lead in Division 1C with a massive 40 shot victory (102-62) over Bainfield at the Meadowmill Stadium. EL beat their Edinburgh visitors on all four rinks with double figure triumphs on the Fours skipped by Cathy Ward (+18), and Nancy McNeil (+16), supported by single figure wins for Janet Fairnie (+5), and Emma Brown (+1). “That’s six wins out of seven for us and the news that joint leaders Balbardie had suffered a shock 28 shot defeat at home to Teviotdale is a major bonus for us”, said team manager Sheena Currie.