East Lothian beat Balbardie to maintain winning run

Billy Mellors was on winning form for East Lothian

Their latest success was a commanding 90-62 triumph over Balbardie at Bathgate which took them joint-top with Ardrossan on the six-point mark and ahead on shot margin by +35.

EL travelled to Balbardie without international stars Alex Marshall MBE, Scott Kennedy, Derek Oliver and Jamie Higgins.  However, the return of Billy Mellors was a great boost, while Joe Mower joined Willie Wood MBE, Graham Robertson, and Mellors at skip.

Reigning world Under-25 singles champion Mower contributed a 16-shot victory that was ably supported by Robertson (+6), Mellors (+5) and Wood (+1). Mower picked up the pace from 7-5 down to skip Calum Darling, Lewis Betts and Glenn Blair on a run of 3, 1, 2, 1, 1 into a 13-7 lead then pressed on to stand 18-10 up after 17 ends.

Mower then answered the loss of a single with a strong 5, 1, 1 finish to celebrate a 27-11 win over Tam Whitfield, Jamie Edwards, Brian Craig and  Walter McDougall.

Robertson carded a super six on end five to skip Craig MacIntosh, Kevin Cunningham and Mark Johnston into an 8-5 lead before going on to win 21-15 over Sandy McDougall.

Mellors moved from 5-0 down to 12-5 up with a run of 3, 1, 2, 2, 4 then faced a challenge at 12-12 before responding to it and skipping Les Middler, Matt Osborne and Andrew Jeffrey to a 22-17 win over Ewan Shearer.

Wood and his front three of Ross Thomson, Dean Riva and Dougie Berwick carded a crucial count of 4 that crossed them into an 18-15 lead after 16 ends then they held on to edge a 20-19 win over Gary Orr.

Meanwhile, West Lothian IBC have claimed four wins out of four in Division 1 North, the latest being an impressive 94-72 victory away to Turriff. WL are trying to shake off the challenge from an Elgin team that also remains undefeated  after four games. The top two clash at Livingston this weekend.