EAST Lothian was once again strongly represented at the Home Nations Deaf Bowls Championship, writes Matt Osborne.
Olivia Preston, Ali Carswell, Dave Carswell, Stewart Ferrie and Ian Preston made rich contributions at Belfast BC as Scotland claimed a ninth title.
Elsewhere, West Barns were crowned the McKellar Top 5 Champions for 2024 following a thriller against EL Co-op in Sunday afternoon’s final.
West Barns overcame Haddington in the morning semi-final to seal their place in the final, EL Co-op securing their spot with a win over Prestongrange.
In the final, West Barns flew out of the traps and looked likely to claim the first win as talisman Alistair Kennedy raced to a 15-6 lead.
Similarly, Scott Thorburn shot to an 11-3 lead in his singles tie while Ian Thorburn also held a commanding 10-3 advantage as West Barns threatened a whitewash and an early finish.
EL Co-op did respond in the other two ties and clawed their way back into the final.
After a thrilling final with EL Co-op, West Barns were crowned McKellar Top 5 champions
Steven Mackie provided EL Co-op with the first win of the final as he saw off Alan Borthwick, 21-18.
Alistair Kennedy had West Barns level following his high-quality, titanic battle with Dean Riva (21-20).
EL Co-op nudged ahead 2-1 as Kieran Dodds edged Kern Gallagher 21-20 in another close battle.
Ian Thorburn had West Barns back level 2-2 with his victory over Steven White.
Attention quickly swung to the fifth and final tie on the green, with Scott Thorburn holding off the spirited fightback of Brian Forbes Jnr, narrowly leading 18-17.
The players traded singles before the first match-winning opportunity arrived.
Requiring two shots to win, Thorburn dispatched a runner to dislodge the second shot and hand him the two required. He failed by the smallest of margins and escaped with a single (20-18).
The second opportunity then arrived, this time for the EL Co-op man, who was lying two shots.
Jean Russel, Janet Fairnie and Mags Thomson, of Port Seton, celebrated success in Haddington
With the last bowl, however, he fell just short on the cautious side of jack to send the tie into the third 20-20 game of the final.
A scrappy opening two bowls left Forbes Jnr with some adjustments to make if he was to seal the win, his third bowl falling under the jack with a runner.
He doubled down on the decision to run at the bare jack, failing tight under the winning bowl as West Barns claimed the title for 2024.
They will represent East Lothian in the national competition next season.
Last year’s winners Port Seton are yet to play in this season’s competition and are awaiting the winners of Carrick district in early August.
Finally, there were celebrations all round for the Castlepark triple of Jean Russel, Janet Fairnie and Mags Thomson as they claimed the Janella Trophy at Haddington last weekend.
The triple finished the day unbeaten as they faced home side Haddington in the final.
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