EAST Lothian’s first game of the new outdoor bowls season got off to the worst possible start, writes Matt Osborne.

The county welcomed Borders to Haddington at the weekend in the first round of the Andrew Hamilton Trophy.

Under the banner of the new Cities and Counties Association, both young-looking squads took to the immaculate-looking surface.

East Lothian made a good start on five of the rinks but an emphatic start on rink six for the Borders meant the sides were level at 35-35.

The Borders then imposed themselves across the next few ends of play, converting well to lead 52-38 and 64-41.

They continued their dominance and held leads on all six rinks 90-46 on their quest to hit the magic 100 count. They did so moments later to maintain their near-40-shot advantage (101-62).

There was a brief spell of reprieve towards the end of the tie as Gordon White and Danny Stevenson secured narrow two-shot wins on their individual games but the final score was 99-138 to the visitors.

The squad go again this Saturday as they head to Inverkeithing to tackle Fife in the first of two tricky away fixtures in the Kingdom this season.

Good news for under-25s

Meanwhile, there was better news for the East Lothian under-25 squad, who were looking to kick off their league campaign against Fife at Gifford BC.

The organisers opted to reduce the format to five rinks this season, providing East Lothian the chance to concentrate the quality already in the squad.

A dominant start for the home side saw them in front 68-34 as they looked to emphatically wrap up the two points.

They continued to dominate and recorded a 130-71 victory.

Now, attention turns to Edinburgh in next week’s fixture. In previous years, this fixture has ultimately decided who progresses from the East section. They will have a home tie, with the venue still to be decided for the 2pm Sunday fixture.

League action

Meanwhile, in county league action, Port Seton continued their fine start to the season.

A comprehensive 8-0 win over Aberlady puts them top of the table, having accumulated 22 from the 24 available points over the first three fixtures.

Tranent and Ormiston sit behind on 20 points as Tranent and West Barns shared the points 4-4 on Friday evening, while Ormiston claimed an impressive 8-0 win on the road at Prestongrange.

EL Co-op will be looking to kickstart their season after a 6-2 win away at East Linton, while promoted Dunbar’s struggles continue after a tough 7-1 home defeat to Haddington.

EL Co-op and Port Seton meet this week in the pick of the fixtures. At the opposite end of the table, Aberlady and Dunbar meet, with both sides looking for their first win of the season. West Barns will also be looking for their first win as they head to Haddington.

In Division Two, Elphinstone look to have set the marker. The side wrapped up another sizeable victory with an 8-0 win away at Haddington A.

Castlepark also made it three successive wins with an 8-0 win over Port Seton A, while EL Co-op A jumped to third in the table with an 8-0 win over Castlepark A.

The top two teams (Elphinstone and Castlepark) meet in what looks to be a battle of the promotion contenders, while EL Co-op A are best placed to capitalise on dropped points as they face Macmerry.

In the third tier, Longniddry remain the only unbeaten side after week three.

They claimed a maximum 8-0 win against an East Linton A side that had previously claimed 14 of 16 points.

Port Seton B suffered a 6-2 loss at the hands of Gifford but remain second.

Longniddry look to make it four wins from four as they face the trip to Cockburnspath, while third and fourth place face off this week as they look to keep pace with the league leaders.

Finally, in Division Four, West Barns A made it three wins from three as they narrowly pipped Castlepark B to a 6-2 win away from home.

Aberlady A remain unbeaten as they drew 4-4 with Haddington B.

Both Gullane sides are also unbeaten following 8-0 and 6-2 wins, while Prestongrange C and Dirleton are still awaiting their first wins of the season.

Dirleton face Aberlady A this weekend, with Prestongrange C facing off against a winless Haddington B side.

Mellors and Kennedy

Finally, although concentration is firmly on the outdoor season, Billy Mellors and Scott Kennedy will have one eye on next season’s indoor campaign.

The duo were recently appointed to the Scottish Indoor Bowling executive committee for the next three years.

Mellors takes up the team manager role, while Kennedy joins Robert Grant, William McLaughlin, David Peacock and David Taylor in the role as selector for the international gents’ team.

Mellors said: “I am honoured to accept this important position for the next three campaigns, following having a similar role at Birmingham 2022 [Commonwealth Games]. I hope to bring some experience and a few fresh ideas to the gents’ international team.”

While Kennedy added: “In recent seasons, I have taken the role of selector for the U18 and U25 teams and had significant success. I feel the time is right to make the step up to the gents’ team selector and hopefully my previous experience can help the new selection team. We must look to make continuous improvements and ultimately be lifting the Hilton Trophy in the near future.”