Golf: Liberton do double at Dunbar

ANTHONY BLANEY and Ross Munro served up a double delight for Liberton on the opening day of the Scottish Boys' Championship then urged clubmates Daniel Eardley and Scott Finlay to complete a clean sweep for the Capital club in the first round at Dunbar.

Seeded Blaney, who reached the fifth round at West Kilbride 12 months ago, swept into round two late on the first day in East Lothian with a 6 and 4 success over Saline's Greg Dunsmore.

The 17-year-old was three up after four against the Fifer and, in a testing wind, was a respectable two-over for the 14 holes he required to seal his win.

"It was tough to keep the ball under control out there but I putted well and that helped me a lot," said Blaney, who is also a member at Gullane.

Earlier in the day, Munro had to work a little harder to see off James Steven but was equally pleased with his two-hole success against the Bothwell Castle player.

"Ross is another player who can keep the ball low in these conditions and hopefully Daniel and Scott will also join us in the second round," added Blaney.

They were among the players entering the fray today - Eardley facing Andrew Grant of Dunblane New and Finlay up against Lochwinnoch's Paul Reilly.

"We used to be a club that everyone beat in league matches but now there are a lot of players at the club who are playing with confidence," noted Blaney, who has blazed the trail by forcing his way into the Scottish Boys' squad.

Defending champion Grant Forrest, another member of that squad, recovered from being one down after seven to beat Dunfermline's Jordan Lamb 3 and 2.

The Craigielaw 17-year-old turned the tide his way by winning three holes in a row from the eighth before securing the success in style with a birdie-2 at the 16th.

"I didn't start very well - in fact, I didn't really hit any good shots at all until the eighth," said Forrest, who is bidding to become the first player since Scott Henry in 2005 to make a successful defence of the title.

"I was just trying to stay focused when I found myself behind and to get through the opening tie is a bit of a relief, to be honest."

It was flat calm when Forrest started out but the wind had picked up by the time he was safely back in the clubhouse.

"I'm expecting it to blow here at some stage this week as it usually does," added the title holder, who is off to the University of San Diego after the summer.

"The greens are running really well and they've got a nice pace as well." Asked how Dunbar compared to West Kilbride, scene of his triumph 12 months ago, Forrest observed: "They're pretty similar, though I think it is maybe a bit tougher here."

It was a good opening day for Bathgate and Gullane as both Lothians clubs enjoyed multiple triumphs.

Louis Gaughan got the ball rolling for Bathgate with a thumping 6 and 4 triumph over Greig Mitchell of Torrance House.

And, not to be outdone, Gaughan joined his clubmate in round two with a 3 and 2 success over Blairgowrie's Connor Neil, brother of Bradley, one of the eight seeded players. In conditions that they'll certainly be used to along the coast, Michael Williams, Thomas Simmonds and Alexander Wilson chalked up a hat-trick of wins for Gullane.

Williams, a 2 and 1 victor against Crieff's Sean Gadsby, now meets Forrest in one of the early second-round ties this afternoon.

Newbattle's Lee Morgan had to dig deep for his win, edging past Greg Vernon of Annanhill at the 19th, where Andrew Young of Turnhouse fell to Newton Stewart's Scott Whannel in the very next match.

Ross Brydon, last year's Lothians Junior Order of Merit winner, was another of the opening-day casualties, the Bruntsfield Links player going down 2 and 1 to Fifer Greg Forrester.

But his clubmate Murray Paterson went through in the second quarter, as did Turnhouse teenager Aodan Donnelly, a two-hole winner against Hilton Park's Charles Deeney.

Like Blaney, Royal Musselburgh's Stuart Blair was a winner late in the day, as was Musselburgh's Nathan Free as darkness desceneded on the East Lothian course.