East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club

East Lothian IBC gent’s side booked their place in the playoff final for the Scottish Premier League title with a commanding 44 shot victory (105-61) over Turriff in the penultimate fixture of the A section at Meadowmill stadium last Saturday.

Nearest challengers Bainfield suffered defeat at Lanarkshire so the garden county will tackle B section champions Blantyre in the high noon showpiece final at West Lothian IBC on Saturday week (17^th February).

Wins on all four rinks, skipped by Willie Wood MBE, Graham Robertson, Derek Oliver and Steven Morgan, made it a great all round effort from a team missing the services of newly crowned four times World Indoor Singles champion Alex Marshall MBE.

“We were very slow out of the traps but once we got going we very quickly moved up a couple of gears and ran out convincing winners”, reflected captain Brian Wyllie.

For the third consecutive game father figure Willie Wood and his rink of Mark Johnston, Jamie Gordon and Scott Kennedy emerged as the main contributors as they coasted to a 28-13 victory over Willie Beaton. Graham Robertson came closest to snatching the sweepstake honours as he skipped Jamie Higgins, Brian Wyllie and Billy Mellors to a commanding 28-14 triumph against Gary Alexander. Derek Oliver skipped Stuart Wyllie, David Oliver and Wayne Hogg into a 17-5 lead after nine ends but a drop in pace saw them closed to 24-22 before clinching a 30-22 win with a 1,5, finish against Davy Anderson. The cleansweep was completed by Steven Morgan as he got back to winning ways by skipping Malcolm Higgenbotham, James Hogg and Andrew Jeffrey to a 19-12 win over Mark Thurston.

East Lothian round off there qualifying campaign tomorrow (Saturday), as they make the short trip to tackle Bainfield. Work commitments rule out Mark Johnston while the start of the Welsh International Open event means Alex Marshall and Wayne Hogg are also absentees. The selectors have delayed announcing the side but teenager Scott Rutherford looks set to make his debut while recalls look likely for John Stevenson and Derek Logie.

The talented senior side is also in the grip of cup final fever following their success over Perth in last Wednesday’s semi-final action of the Scottish Senior League Cup at East Fife IBC.

The four times champions earned the chance to capture the title for a record making fifth time with a 53-45 victory over a Perth side that managed to make a winning impression on one of the four rinks. Ian Twatt skipped the rink that lost but captain Frankie Gray, Willie Wood and Jock Cunningham looked as safe as houses on the final ends and their wins propelled EL into the final against yet to be determined opposition at Cumbernauld IBC on Saturday February 24^th.

The seniors were in Scottish Senior Cup action on Wednesday as they made the trip to Falkirk IBC to tackle Stirling in the first round.

Not so much good news for the ladies side after they suffered a disappointing 78-76 defeat at Teviotdale in D section of the Scottish Ladies League. They will be hopeful of bouncing back to winning ways tomorrow as they play host to Tweedbank at Meadowmill.

A side from East Lothian IBC booked a place in the second round of the Scottish Team Championship following a battling 6-2 points victory over Tweedbank at Midlothian IBC last Sunday. The side is back in action at Bainfield IBC on Sunday (2pm start) as they go head-to-head with Falkirk.

Meanwhile Alex Marshall and Wayne Hogg are involved in the week long Welsh International Open, the final event of the current World Bowls Tour season, which gets underway tomorrow (Saturday) at the Selwyn Samuel Centre in Llanelli.

No.6 seed Marshall is drawn to face qualifier Jeremy Henry of Ireland in the opening round on Sunday at 3.15pm. Scottish qualifier Hogg has been handed a tough test as he faces No.1 seed and local hero Jason Greenslade in his first round tie on Tuesday at 1pm.

East Lothian IBC’s Steven ‘Stretcher’ Morgan saw his hopes of victory in the showpiece Potters Holidays World Indoor Singles come to a halt at Hopton-on-Sea at the second round stage when he was beaten in straight sets by England’s Ian Bond.

Morgan found himself all square with eighth seed Bond at the second, fourth and sixth ends and went 6-4 ahead with two ends to play before dropping consecutive doubles to lose the opening set 8-6. In the second he again set the pace, opening up a 5-2 lead but Bond rolled in a single followed by back-to-back trebles to take the set 9-5.

“One bad end in each set cost me the match,” said Morgan afterwards. “I was really pleased with the way I performed on the portable rink and on the whole it was an amazing experience. I would like to thank Lazer Engineering for their generous sponsorship”.

Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall’s dream of becoming the first four-time winner remains very much alive as he wasted little time in turning over Hong Kong’s Heron Lau 12-2, 12-0 in last Thursday’s second round encounter. He faced an eagerly awaited last 16 clash against Australia’s No.10 seed Kelvin Kerkow yesterday (Thursday).

Meanwhile Marshall’s interest in the World Mixed Pairs at Potters ended at the semi-final stage. Marshall and his partner Alison Merrien from Guernsey were beaten 7-7, 11-4 by England’s Ian Bond and Noreen Stratford.

East Lothian IBC men’s side took a giant step towards reaching the knockout final of the Scottish Premier League with a commanding 35 shot win (90-55) at Elgin in last Saturday’s crunch match in the A section.

With two fixtures remaining the garden county side has a two point cushion over Bainfield while their shot margin bank is in impressive 186 and that is 74 more than their chief rivals.

“Elgin has not been beaten at home in three years so to come away with such a convincing win is really pleasing,” summed up captain Brian Wyllie.

The EL machine fired on three of its four cylinders against Elgin with winning contributions from the rinks skipped by Willie Wood, Derek Oliver and Graham Robertson. The only setback coming for Steven Morgan who lost to the notable Elgin icon figure Mike Stepney. World stage giant Alex Marshall was an absentee from the visitor’s line-up and it was another legend in the shape of Willie Wood who played the central role by skipping Mark Johnston, Jamie Gordon and Scott Kennedy to a spectacular 30-8 triumph. Junior International cap Oliver was also in sparkling form as he skipped Stuart Wyllie, David Oliver and Wayne Hogg to a convincing 26-13 victory. Scotland captain Robertson took time to get to grips with Stuart Cruickshank but from 0-5 went on unbeaten run to reach 14 without reply then skipped Jamie Higgins, John Stevenson and Brian Wyllie to a 21-16 success. Morgan and his rink of Malcolm Higgenbotham, James Hogg and Andrew Jeffrey lost there way in the final phase and suffered an 18-14 defeat. Latest section standing:

EAST LOTHIAN	8	7	1	670	484	14	+186
BAINFIELD	8	6	2	674	562	12	+112
TURRIFF	8	3	5	601	638	6	- 37
LANARKSHIRE	8	3	5	590	664	6	- 74
ELGIN	8	3	5	571	672	6	-101
PRESTWICK	8	2	6	560	646	4	- 86

East Lothian welcomes Turriff to Meadomwill stadium tomorrow (Saturday) in the penultimate fixture of the A section campaign (2pm start). The EL camp are well aware that a decent home win could all but clinch the section but the visitors are heavily involved in a battle for survival and the points are just as vital for them. Alex Marshall’s continued involvement at the world singles means he again is a major doubt but the selectors have decided the team will not be announced until after the conclusion of his match against Kelvin Kerkow on Thursday.

Following a lengthy break the ladies side return to Scottish League action tomorrow and they make the trip to Hawick to tackle D section rivals Teviotdale.

On the international scene East Lothian starlets Lynsey Nisbet and Lauren Baillie were part of a Scotland Ladies Under 25 side that disappointed in last weekend’s Home International series at Arbroath IBC. The Scots finished in third place after losing the title decider by 101-54 to champions England.

The talented senior side stepped up their bid to land the Scottish Senior League Cup with a battling 61-56 win over Falkirk in the quarter-final action at Bainfield on Wednesday past. They faced Perth for a place in the final at East Fife IBC on Wednesday.

A side from East Lothian is in action on Sunday in the preliminary round of the Scottish Team Championship. The garden county makes the short trip to Midlothian IBC to tackle Borders outfit Tweedbank (2pm start).

There were mixed fortunes for the East Lothian contingent who is competing in the World Indoor Championships at Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton-on-Sea in Norfolk as qualifier Steven ‘Stretcher’ Morgan enjoyed a great win in his opening singles clash but disappointment for Wayne Hogg and Alex Marshall in the pairs.

Garden county ace Morgan took the scalp of England’s 18^th seed Simon Skelton on the portable rink at Potters last Thursday. Both sets were decided by a single on the ninth and final ends with Skelton edging the first 6-5 and Morgan taking the next 7-6 and push the match to a best-of-three sudden-death shoot-out. In the tie-break it was Morgan who excelled and kept his cool to win 2-0.

The 30-year old from Port Seton said: “The match could not have been any closer. It was nip and tuck all the way and the pressure was on. At this level you’ve got to make the most of every opportunity and hope the breaks go with you”.

Morgan was looking forward to an appearance in the second round on Tuesday – when he met England’s No.8 seed Ian Bond.

Wayne Hogg and partner Neil Spiers enjoyed a magnificent run in the pair’s event before there progress was halted at the semi-final stage by the Welsh pairing of Jason Greenslade and Robert Weale in straight sets. Title favourites Alex Marshall and Paul Foster were sent crashing out at the first hurdle, losing 6-7, 11-2, 1-2 to English qualifiers Danny Brown and James Heath.

East Lothian IBC gent’s side survived a tough battle against title record holders Prestwick at Meadowmill stadium last Saturday to remain two points clear of Bainfield at the top of A section in the Scottish Premier League.

The Ayrshire side has failed to reach their usual heights this season, and indeed have fallen into the relegation zone, but still represent formidable opposition and it was late on before East Lothian finally tipped the scales to triumph 80-69.

As expected Steven Morgan made it back it time from the World Indoor Championships to take his place in the EL line-up but Derek Oliver, Alex Marshall and Wayne Hogg were absentees while the non-appearance of Steven Glen gave the selectors a further headache. It was the father and son combination of Keith and Scott Rutherford who answered the SOS call at the 11^th hour and enabled EL to field a side.

The hero figure was veteran campaigner Willie Wood as he skipped Mark Johnston, Jamie Gordon and Scott Kennedy to a crushing 32-7 win over Brian Fulton. Scotland captain Graham Robertson and his rink of Keith Rutherford, John Stevenson and captain Brian Wyllie were engaged in ding-dong battle with Colin Smith before settling for a 19-19 share of the spoils while Jamie Higgins, Scott Rutherford, Malcolm Higgenbotham and Steven Morgan came to life on the final phase and from 5-14 battled back brilliantly before going down 19-15. The rink of Stuart Wyllie, Derek Logie, James Hogg and Andrew Jeffrey went down to a 24-14 defeat from Gavin Campbell.

“Considering the problems we had leading up to the match it was a great win and it keeps our noses in front of Bainfield entering the home straight. I would like to give special praise to Keith and Scott (Rutherford) for stepping into the side at the last minute and helping us out”, said Brian Wyllie.

EL faces a trip into unknown terrority tomorrow (Saturday) as they head North to tackle Elgin. At the time of going to press no concrete team news had been confirmed for the trip but it is expected that Derek Oliver, David Oliver and Wayne Hogg will all return but doubts still surround the availability of Steven Morgan and Alex Marshall due to their involvement at the World Indoor Championships.

On the international scene Derek Oliver was part of a Scotland side that triumphed in last weekend’s Under-25 Junior Home International series at Islwyn in Wales after a 72-59 win against defending champions England in the final match. Meanwhile Lynsey Nisbet and Lauren Baillie will be part of the Scotland Ladies Under-25 side that is in action this weekend at Arbroath IBC in the Home International series.

The talented East Lothian senior side was due to face Falkirk on Wednesday at Bainfield IBC in an eagerly awaited quarter-final clash of the Scottish Senior League Cup.

There was also senior action on Wednesday at Meadowmill stadium as the second week of qualifying matches in the Jock Brodie Trophy was staged. The popular tournament for the ‘old yin’s’ is now into it’s ninth year and again this year it has attracted a healthy total of 12 teams from the length and breadth of Scotland with the host club (East Lothian) entering two sides (A & B) into the draw. For the sixth successive year Norman T Craig from Haddington has kindly agreed to sponsor the tournament and organisers received further good news when Tranent based Lothian & Borders Funeral Care also indicated they will give the tournament financial backing for the third successive year.

East Lothian IBC men’s side resume their Scottish Premier League campaign tomorrow (Saturday) and they will hope that sleeping giants remain in their unusual slumber when the A section leaders welcome the title record holders to Meadowmill stadium in Scotland’s match of the day (2pm start).

The garden county, who have townie outfit Bainfield breathing heavily down their necks, go into the clash without the services of Derek Oliver as he is on Scotland duty in this weekends junior internationals championships in Wales. The world indoor championships at Potters could have robbed EL the services of Alex Marshall and Wayne Hogg but better news is that ace figure Steven Morgan is a definite starter. Morgan is of course also involved at Potters but whatever the result of yesterdays (Thursday) first round singles clash with England’s Simon Skelton he is flying back on Friday evening to spend the weekend at home. Given the uncertainty surrounding the team the selectors have made the wise decision to delay announcing the side until an hour before the match.

The senior side rounded off their Scottish Senior League qualifying campaign on Wednesday as the East B section winners welcomed West Lothian to Meadowmill stadium.

East Lothian’s recent good fortune at Headwell IBC continued last Sunday as the rink of Fraser Pringle, Laura Bellany, Jim Pringle and Brian Wyllie triumphed in the Dunfermline based club popular Junior & Adult Fours tournament

It’s congratulation to the youngsters of Abbeyview IBC after they scooped the annual East Lothian IBC Youth Team Championship tournament after victory over Lanarkshire in the final.

Bowling Reports