EAST Lothian county bowls teams encountered close affairs in their respective Andrew Hamilton Trophy and under-25 games last weekend, writes Matt Osborne.

The Andrew Hamilton Trophy squad were looking to bounce back following an opening-day defeat against Borders but were up against it as they headed to last year’s quarter-finalists and east section qualifiers West Fife at Inverkeithing Bowling Club.

In a blisteringly hot Fife, there was little to separate the sides, with a pattern of three rinks up and three rinks down taking place across the green.

East Lothian narrowly hit the front 48-46 and seemed to have their noses in front for the majority of the afternoon, 67-62, 78-73 and 91-88, as the game entered the business end.

West Fife then hit the front 105-99 as they looked to pip the visitors across the closing ends.

A three for both Stuart Johnston and James Burnett’s rink, and another treble for Danny Stevenson, gave East Lothian a lifeline.

Stevenson would be last on the green as East Lothian trailed by one (115-114) on the overall scoreboard.

With East Lothian holding two shots and a potential match win, the West Fife skip failed with his last delivery and East Lothian registered a 116-115 win.

Attention now turns to facing Edinburgh in week three this Saturday at Parkside BC.

Under-25s

Meanwhile, the under-25s met familiar foes Edinburgh in their often-decisive league contest.

Edinburgh scored well across the green over the opening period with a loud and interactive atmosphere at Castlepark BC. They continued to push and held a 52-38 lead over East Lothian.

However, a two-end scoring flurry by the home side saw them in front 57-54 in a short turnaround.

The visitors responded in kind by returning to the front 81-78, then 94-91, in the race to the magic 100 shots. Edinburgh held a five-shot lead as the game entered the last ends across the green.

A flurry of burnt ends from Kieran Dodds and his opponent ensured neither skip would relinquish any sort of advantage towards the end of their individual battle and prolong the game.

But it would be the Capital side that left with the two points and one foot in qualification from the group (103-96).

East Lothian finish off the group stage with an away tie in Dalkeith against Midlothian on Sunday; they would require a win and Edinburgh to slip up against Fife in the other group game.

League action

Meanwhile, in county league action, Port Seton continue to set the pace in Division One.

They inflicted a 6-2 defeat at holders EL Co-op, who now see themselves in the bottom two.

Tranent and Ormiston hold on to second and third as both sides continue an unbeaten start to the league season.

That record could go tomorrow (Friday) as they face each other in the pick of the ties.

Dunbar remain the league strugglers, with fourth to ninth separated by less than one win.

Elphinstone remain top of Division Two, accumulating an impressive 29 from 32 points available.

A 6-2 win over third-place Castlepark gives them a three-point cushion at the summit.

EL Co-op A are pushing them in second place following an 8-0 win over Macmerry, while Haddington A remain rooted at the foot of the table as they tackle Tranent A tomorrow (Friday).

Winton will look to force themselves further up the table but do face the challenge of highflyers and former Division One team Elphinstone.

East Linton A and Longniddry are locked at the top of the table in Division Three, as both sides sit on 22 points, and each with a remarkably similar shot difference after four fixtures.

Longniddry will be tested against third-placed Port Seton B this weekend, while East Linton A welcome Dunbar A.

With one win separating second to eighth in the league, there is yet to be a pattern of title contenders and mid-table teams emerging.

Finally, in Division Four, Aberlady A and Gullane A both sit on 24 points, two points behind leaders Gullane, as they all look to stake a claim to the title and promotion to the third tier.

The three chasing teams all remain less than six points from them as West Barns A, Tranent B and Haddington B all try to keep pace with the leaders.

West Barns A and Aberlady A meet in a key battle this week, while Tranent B and Gullane meet in another tie that could see a chasing pack emerge from the teams surrounding each other in the table.