Bowls: Marshall and Kelly give EL timely boost

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 08:37

EAST LOTHIAN are back on the rails as serious challengers to extend their domination of the indoor bowls Premier league to what would be an amazing five title wins in a row.

The team enhanced their revival from a disappointing start to their campaign with a battling 83-73 home win over Section B rivals Blantyre.

Alex Marshall was their main driving force with a brilliant 29-8 win over Alex Kelly and there was winning support from Willie Wood, who skipped his rink to a 25-18 success over Brian Irvine.

Blantyre represent tough opposition and they caused damage on two EL rinks with Ian McLean crushing Paul Foster 23-10 and Jim McCann defeating Graham Robertson 24-19.

The top of the table is now cramped with Coatbridge, East Lothian and Blantyre all locked on the eight-point mark with four wins each from six games.

Meanwhile, Midlothian IBC's terrific away win over Auchinleck in Section A has answered the threat from the teams surrounding them in the division's relegation zone.

Midlothian triumphed 78-73 with winning performances contributed by the rinks skipped by Willie Rankin and Graeme Archer while the Peacock brothers – David and Billy – went down to narrow defeats.

It was Midlothian's third win in six games and that moves them four points clear of Auchinleck and six clear of Arbroath.

"It isn't easy to win at Auchinleck and this was a relegation zone battle with lots at stake so it was great performance from Midlothian," said spokesman Frank Gray.