Former well known Tranent Juniors goalkeeper Douglas Berwick was crowned king of his county for a second time in four years after capturing the blue riband gent’s singles championship title at East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club, the 58-year-old transport worker emulating his 2012 success at the expense of former two times champion Mark Johnston in the final last Friday evening.
Read MoreHis surprisingly comfortable 21-9 triumph brings the major reward of carrying the garden county banner in next season’s national banner. “To capture the title for a second time is a dream come true and I would like to dedicate my win to my late wife Anne who I sadly lost five months ago”, said an emotional Berwick afterwards.
The final of the gent’s junior singles was as expected a real corker that added an extra dimension of interest to the spectators that had flocked to the Alex Marshall Arena and the outcome of a titanic battle was a 21-19 win for current World Under 25 champion Joe Mower over reigning national and defending champion Ewan Fallen. A new name will be etched on the ladies junior singles board after Kim Hoggan claimed her first title success following a 21-9 win over Beth Riva. B J Smith reigned supreme in the gent’s senior singles after beating Lessel Middler, 21-17, in a cracking encounter. Anne Barclay was crowned ladies senior singles champion when she held all the aces in a 21-8 win against Rosemary Mackintosh. Lewis Betts celebrated a second consecutive title success in the youth singles with Dean Riva the victim in a 21-16 success.
The climax to the Jock Brodie Senior Challenge Cup, sponsored by Norman T Craig and Co-operative Funeralcare, took centre stage at the Alex Marshall Arena on Wednesday with the final featuring defending champions East Lothian and Dunfermline raiders Headwell.
The competitive outdoor bowling season well and truly bursts into action tonight (Friday) as the opening fixtures in the East Lothian Leagues are staged around the length and breadth of the county. Official at ELBA have confirmed that Prestonpans, Tranent and Gullane based company East Coast Carpets have kindly agreed to be league sponsors for a sixth consecutive year.
As ever the main spotlight will be on the race for the prestigious Division 1 title and holders Tranent get their defence of the title underway with a home fixture against West Barns. The champions have lost the services of Dean Higgins to Midlothian club Pathead while influential figures Graham Robertson and Jamie Higgins are both unavailable for the opener. The visitors have suffered a treble knockout blow over the close season with Scotland caps Alister Kennedy, Scott Kennedy and Billy Mellors all moving on to pastures new. 2014 champions and last season’s runners-up Haddington have boosted their already high quality squad by securing the signings of Alister Kennedy and Billy Mellors from West Barns while talented Welshman Joe Mower has committed his services for another season. Gifford are the opening week visitors to Haddington and unconfirmed reports suggest they have lost the services of several key players but will be extremely buoyed by the news that king pin figure Alex Marshall MBE is available for the majority of the campaign. Cockenzie & Port Seton start with a home fixture against Castlepark and they will parade new signings Scott Kennedy and Michael Greenan following their close season moves from West Barns and Prestongrange respectively while the visitors have confirmed the signing of Colin Glen from EL-Coop and he is set to make his debut tonight. EL-Coop have boosted their first team playing squad after completing the signings of Graham and Scott Dodd’s from Gifford while Gareth Lusk and Paul McLaren return to the playing squad after a self-imposed exile from the Tranent based club. They make the trip down the A1 to tackle East Linton and the home side have confirmed that first team regular Kevin Deans has left the club for Athelstaneford. Promoted sides Prestongrange and Elphinstone go head to head and both will go into the campaign with more or less the same squads that served them so well in Division 2 last season. The action also gets underway in Divisions 2, 3 & 4 with the following fixtures: – Division 2 – Castlepark v Cockenzie & Port Seton A; East Linton A v EL-Coop A; Haddington A v Ormiston; North Berwick v Aberlady; Tranent A v Dunbar. Division 3 – Cockburnspath v Athelstaneford; Cockenzie & Port Seton B v Wallyford; Longniddry v Stenton; Macmerry v Winton; West Barns A v E L Labour. Division 4 – Dirleton v Haddington B; Dunbar A v Macmerry A; Gifford A v Castlepark B; Prestongrange B v Prestongrange A
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.
The East Lothian Under 25 side will step up preparations for their forthcoming Scottish League Cup campaign by participating in a round robin team tournament hosted by Borders BA, which will also involve sides from Midlothian and West Lothian. The early season warm up event is being staged at Buccleugh BC in Hawick and team manager Stevie Greenan has named the following side: – S.Clark (P/G), D.Young (ELCO), R.Cochrane (P/G), G.Blair (Hadd) skip/capt F.Pringle (C/P), S.Johnston (Orm), C.Bell (Hadd), S.White (ELCO) skip D.Riva (Giff), K.Yule (P/G), S.Gray (C/P), J.Mower (Hadd) skip C.Allison (E/L), Dea French (Elph), C.Darling (Giff), K.Frame (C/P) skip C.Brock (Hadd), R.French (Elph), R.Thomson (ELCO), J.Burnett (C/P) skip L.Gallagher (W/B), L.Newlands (Ath), Dec French (Elph), G.White (Aber) skip
Any player selected who is unable to play is requested to contact team manager Stevie Greenan immediately on 07712 277681.
Finally, you can now keep up-to-date with all that is happening on the outdoor bowling scene in the garden county by following the website by East Lothian Bowling Association. All bowlers are urged to view by clicking on www.eastlothianbowls.com