BBC BROADCAST SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Major Pairs Championship
Saturday saw the opening round of the Major Pairs Championship with the playing of four matches on the Wilson Green. A strong westerly/south westerly/north westerly (have a guess when on the mat!) made the challenge that much more difficult, but, nonetheless, many of the bowlers rose to the occasion.
On rink 3, Mark Barrow and Peter Flight took on Gordon Lewis and Robin Staples and both team scored early for Robin’s team to lead 2 – 1 after three ends. It was then that Gordon really mastered the conditions and he and Robin set about the task with skill. They totally dominated the game from the fourth end and made things very difficult for Mark and Peter. Such was their dominance that they dropped only five of the twenty completed ends and ran out huge winners at 24 – 7. The evergreen Gordon had a cracking game and his skip wasn’t far behind, so this pair might give future opponents something to think about.
On the next rink, Ian Duncan and Arnie Lenczuk took the challenge up to Dave Charlesworth and Bob Edwards and again the opening was shared for the score to be 5 – 4 to Bob and Dave after four ends. Ian and Arnie then edged to the lead but when they dropped a whopping five on the eighth they slipped behind 9 – 11. From there, it was nip and tuck with never more than four shots separating the teams. However, when Ian and Arnie won ends sixteen through nineteen, they took a two shot lead and they dared to hope. Bob and Dave then hit back with a double on the twentieth to lock things up with one to play. In a really tight last end, Ian and Arnie snatched the winning shot to get home 19 – 18.
On rink 5, Dave Coltman and Al McGhee started their defence of Dave’s title from last year by fronting up against Noel Fraser and Jim Neely, and it was Jim and Noel who mastered the conditions better to get off to a flyer of 8 – 0 after four ends. Dave and Al then got the feel for the conditions and began to edge their way back into the game. By the eleventh, the lead to Noel and Jim had been reduced to two shots and when Dave and Al cracked a four shotter on the twelfth, they took the lead for the first time. Another four followed by a three then had them solidly in front, but when they dropped a six, yep a huge SIX on the sixteenth the lead was back to two. Dave and Al then dug in and despite some fine bowls from Jim and Noel, held on for a 23 – 19 victory.
In the last game, Graham Hunt and Terry Norwood battled against Dugald Braithwaite and Oscar Whalin and both sides opened skillfully for the score to be locked at 3 all. With Dugald in fine touch, he and Oscar then outpointed Graham and Terry over the next seven tight ends to lead 12 – 5. Dugald was continuing to edge Graham in a tight battle of the leads and Oscar had really settled into a solid rhythm which his opponent couldn’t match. On ends twelve and thirteen Oscar and Dugald then notched up nine shots and it was effectively game over. They breezed through the final ends rubbing salt into open wounds to take out the match 31 – 7.
Next Saturday will see the semi-finals played, with the final set down for Sunday at 10am. The semis will see:
Dave Coltman and Al McGhee VS Ian Duncan and Arnie Lenczuk
Dugald Braithwaite and Oscar Whalin VS Gordon Lewis and Robin Staples
There is sure to be some fine bowls put down over that weekend so anyone wishing to take a look shouldn’t be disappointed. Bowl well fellows!