A long day for some bowlers as Sunday 27th June saw the completion of both the quarter final and semi final of the Club Championship Pairs.  At the top of the draw the first quarter final was between Stephen Della and Kevin Stafford against Gary Brown and Russell Knight.  Julie Hayden substituted for Stephen Della in this game and acquitted herself very well.  The Stafford team only won 9 ends to the Knight teams 11 but 3 ends of 4 shots and a 3 shot end allowed them to win 22 shots to 17 shots.  Micks Spong and Armstrong were up against the up and coming pair of Carl Spilker and Nathan Boyers.  At the half way point Nathan lead 17-7  only to have the Micks win the next 6 ends and take the lead 19-17 shots.  With the experience of the Micks it would be expected that they would hold on to their lead from this point.  This was almost  the case as on end 20 they still lead 22-19 before Carl and Nathan managed a winning 4 shots on the last end for an excellent win over the past champions.  In the lower half of the draw Ashley Lewis and Josh Woodcock were never really troubled by Peter Morales and Brain Porter and won this game 23-14.  Final quarter final was Bob Crowley and Glynn Phillips playing Peter Cornwall and Mick Flynn.  A strong start by Glynn and Bob as they powered to a 19-3 lead after 12 ends.  A great fight back by Peter and Mick winning the next 8 ends to see them with an outside chance trailing 16-19 with the final end to come.  No fairy tale ending like the Carl and Nathan game as they lost 3 shots on the last end to lose 22-16.  Peter Cornwall is a name to watch out for in the future as he is playing great bowls.

The afternoon semi finals matched Carl Spilker and Nathan Boyers against Stephen Della (back in the team again) and Kevin Stafford.  I do not have a score for this match but believe it was a win to Stephen and Kevin.  I watched part of this game and it seemed at that part of the game Kevin had the advantage with both he and Stephen drawing extremely well and forcing the opposition into driving to rectify the situation.  The second rink saw Ashley Lewis and Josh Woodcock against Bob Crowley and Glynn Phillips.  Watching that game it appeared Ashley and Josh were well on top and scoring multiples.  However I believe the final score was in favour of Josh only 19-18 so either I gained the wrong impression or there was a big fight back by Bob and Glynn.

So final between the current Pairs Champions Stephen Della and Kevin Stafford against Ashley Lewis (2021 Singles champion) and Josh Woodcock.  Should be a great game and subject to the ever developing covid situation should take place Saturday 3rd July in the afternoon.