EAST Lothian is celebrating once again after its female bowlers were crowned Scottish Cup winners following two gripping encounters at Whiteinch Bowling Club, writes Matt Osborne.

The ladies met West Lothian in the semi-finals and, after regulation play concluded, the sides could not be separated.

The triples returned to the carpet to play an extra end for a place in the final.

East Lothian progressed 6-4 at the extra end as Janet Fairnie (+4 shots) and Beth Riva (+1 shot) produced enough to see them across the line.

The afternoon would see them tackle back-to-back league champions Glasgow for the title.

The early exchanges did not make for good reading as Glasgow raced to a 12-2 lead over the opening two ends.

READ MORE: Street named after Scottish bowls legend Willie Wood

Fortunately, East Lothian composed themselves two ends later to trail 15-10.

They suffered another setback at end five, losing heavily across the carpet to trail on three of the four rinks (29-12).

The match followed a similar pattern until end 11, where East Lothian found winning combinations in successive ends, in fact losing just three of the last 16 ends to turn the tie on its head.

Glasgow did register the first two points of the final, Claire Anderson winning just her fourth end of her tussle with Lauren Baillie-Whyte but delivering the fatal blow of five shots at the last (15-14).

Emma Blyth trailed 15-11 entering the last five ends of her battle with Lorna Cameron but she won every end to triumph 18-15.

Similarly, Beth Riva trailed June Marshall entering the last four ends of play and emulated Blyth in winning all the remaining ends to claim another two points and a healthy advantage in the overall score (17-9).

READ MORE: Bowlers do the double to clinch triples and fours crowns

Finally, Janet Fairnie had trailed from end one in her battle with Natalie McWilliams before a double at the last saw them level at 14-14, with East Lothian claiming the title with a 7-3 win.

Meanwhile, the East Lothian gents’ squad tackled West Lothian in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and few could predict just how fine a margin would separate the squads at the full-time whistle.

West Lothian raced from the starting gate and were in command of the tie for large periods of the afternoon.

At end 11, East Lothian held narrow leads on two of the three rinks (+3 and +1) while the match looked to be slipping as they trailed on the other two (-7 and -7).

At end 14, there would be a momentum shift, starting with Daniel Gormley securing a count of six, contributing to a 10-1 across the carpet.

READ MORE: Bowls legend Willie Wood reflects on street being named after him

In a remarkably similar outcome to the ladies and the exact same opponents, the match was thrown into extra-end drama moments later.

Billy Mellors expertly trailed the jack against Callum Logan to tie their encounter 15-15, while Derek Oliver secured a 17-11 win over James Spiers.

Scotland international Neil Spiers waited for the last ends to unfold before playing his last bowl.

West Lothian were holding a single shot but with danger of conceding with any jack movement and ultimately losing the match.

He eventually dispatched a barely believable last bowl to secure a three and win his tie with Aaron Betts (19-11).

It meant East Lothian would require two shots on the remaining rink of Gormley to progress to the final.

READ MORE: Beth Riva and Dee Hoggan help Scotland to bowls glory

Cameron Greer narrowly failed with his last bowl to concede a single shot and force the game into extra-end drama.

East Lothian looked to be in a healthy position as the skips took to the mat, holding multiple shots on three of the four rinks and just last bowls to come.

Logan firstly dispatched a running bowl with Mellors lying three shots, trailing the jack to the ditch to secure a double for West Lothian.

Oliver removed a West Lothian bowl with his final delivery to leave East Lothian holding a four, possibly five.

James Spiers drew the third shot and Betts looked to have secured a remarkable extra-end victory as he held five shots against Neil Spiers.

In a cruel twist and match-defining moment, Spiers with the last delivery dispatched a running bowl and looked to have collided with a front bowl to leave East Lothian on the brink of a place in the final, only to see his bowl run onward and right up to the jack.

READ MORE: Dee and Kim Hoggan edged out in bid to reach national semi-finals

Gormley, last on the carpet, would require a winning end to see East Lothian progress but it was not to be as West Lothian progressed to the final.

Finally, East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club brings an end to the 2023/24 season today (Friday) as the club singles champions will be crowned.

Billy Mellors faces Lewis Betts in the gents’, while Dee Hoggan and Beth Riva lock horns in the ladies’.

In the junior singles, Aaron McGlynn and Logan Kennedy do battle in the gents’ juniors, while Amy Borthwick and Emma Blyth contest the ladies’ junior title.

Yvonne Veitch and Janet Fairnie will once again go head-to-head for the ladies’ senior title and Willie Wood versus Craig McCall completes the finals line up.

Play is scheduled for a 6.30pm start, with entertainment and food to follow.