HADDINGTON Bowling Club welcomed the 2023 finalists for the East Lothian Bowling Association championships last Saturday, writes Matt Osborne.
The 13 disciplines took to the green in two sessions.
In the morning session, Port Seton continued their fine season when their youths claimed the under-18 fours title with a win over Aberlady.
EL Co-op’s Logan Shields claimed the youth singles with victory over Aberlady.
Haddington ladies were celebrating the senior fours title with a win over Dunbar while, in the gents senior fours, Port Seton saw off the challenge of EL Co-op.
In the ladies fours, Tranent fended off a late Aberlady comeback to secure the trophy.
Port Seton gents fours added another title when they saw off Aberlady.
In the afternoon session, Keiran Dodds (EL Co-op) claimed the under-25 title with a 21-20 victory over Dean Riva (Gifford).
Port Seton were once again celebrating when Lauren Baillie-Whyte claimed the ladies singles title with a 21-20 victory over Janice Harkin (West Barns).
Kern Gallagher (West Barns) saw off Danny Stevenson (EL Co-op), 21-17, for the gents’ singles title.
The Castlepark pairing of Mags Thomson and Janet Fairnie took victory in the ladies pairs over Port Seton’s Essa Scott and Louise Morgan.
EL Co-op claimed the gents triples title with a win over Elphinstone while Gifford ladies claimed the triples against Ormiston.
Port Seton completed their trophy haul with a win in the gents pairs for Scott Kennedy and Jamie Gordon.
Meanwhile, the East Lothian under-25 squad and also the ladies’ top-10 squad were both in action last weekend as they looked to claim gold in their final team outings of the season.
The ladies headed for Ayr, Northfield, for the semi-final of the national open top-10 competition, with Morayshire the morning opponents.
A defeat in the singles meant East Lothian would require wins in almost every discipline, which they delivered.
Wins in the pairs and fours followed by a draw in the triples meant East Lothian would advance to the showpiece final in the afternoon.
Emma Blyth delivered the first win in the final against fellow internationalist Dawn Anderson (21-13).
Hazel Fender and Jennifer Newlands narrowly lost out in the pairs (19-12) before wins in the triples (17-14) (Ali Carswell, Mags Thomson and Janet Fairnie) followed by a 22-6 win in the fours (Chloe McMillan, Arlene Whitecross, Mel Penman and Yvonne Veitch) were more than enough to see the ladies claim gold.
The under-25 squad headed for Sighthill and the annual Calder Cup, in a pair, triple and four format.
The top-9 were drawn in a group with Perthshire, Fife and Dunbartonshire and claimed a convincing 17 of 18 available points to book their place in the semi-final.
West Fife provided a far sterner test but a 4-2 win was enough for East Lothian to progress to the final against West Lothian.
The youngsters continued their morning form as an unbeaten showing (pairs +4, triples +6, fours A/S) propelled them to the title.
The future of East Lothian Bowls will look to follow in the senior squads footsteps at the Andy Houston youth tournament at Ayr on Sunday.
The three-rink competition will see the following squad compete in a round robin format followed by a final for the group winners: Lucas Donnelly, Ryan Harris, Luke Cowan (captain), Logan Kennedy, Lewis Thom, Harry Marr, Logan Shields, Lennon Rafferty, Daniel Gilles, Nicholas Hogg, Lewis Inglis and Daryl Grieve.
Finally, Castlepark claimed the Division Three title in the most dramatic fashion last Friday evening.
The Prestonpans side won the title by a slender two shots following a 7-1 win against East Linton.
They finished ahead of Haddington, who also sealed promotion to Division Two with a home 8-0 win on the final night.
Pathhead capped off their Division Four campaign with a 6-2 win against Gullane. The six points were enough to secure promotion to Division Three alongside league winners Ormiston.
West Barns completed a remarkable late challenge for promotion with an 8-0 home win over Ormiston, however, fell short by three points in the final table.
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