Golf: Porteous is the hero for Longniddry

DAVID PORTEOUS delivered the decisive blow as Longniddry pulled off a shock win at Haddington in the East Lothian Winter League.

Beaten at Tantallon in their previous outing, the odds were stacked against the visitors as they faced a Haddington side that had opened the campaign with two away wins.

The early exchanges were shared with Haddington’s Keith Nicholson and Lee Morgan prevailing in a tight top match to cancel out the point Chris Wood and Michael Bacigalupo chalked up with four holes to spare.

Kevin Girdler and Graeme Clark then won five of the last eight holes to earn an unlikely half point in match two before Marc Owenson and Luke Fisher delivered a crucial win for the visitors.

Tantallon had secured at least a share of the spoils but it became a victory when Porteous, playing with Don McKinnon, hit his mid-iron approach to the last to a couple of feet to secure a half against Steven Smail and Glenn Anderson.

Musselburgh picked up their first points of the campaign with a 4-1 win at Tantallon, while Gullane won at the Glen – a third successive defeat for last season’s champions.

In Division 2, Royal Musselburgh made it three out of three with a solid home win against Kilspindie.

John Hall’s side are now clear at the top and will look to keep up their challenge for a swift return to the top flight when they go to Gifford in a fortnight.

Elsewhere, Castle Park continued their solid start to the season with a home win over Thorntree, Gifford picked up a point at Dunbar and Whitekirk got off the bottom with a win at Kilspindie.