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The weather for our second
trip to the Isle of Wight was somewhat in contrast to the cool
and rather blustery conditions of last October. Sunny and warm,
not a cloud in the sky and a nice cooling sea breeze, it could
hardly have been better.
The competition was run over
the course of 3 days, with each team getting 2 games on Saturday,
Sunday and Monday mornings, after which the top 12 teams would
go through to the knockout stages. Whilst a good proportion of
the teams were going to be qualifying, the teams would benefit
from a higher finishing position. The top 4 would go straight
through to the Quarter Finals, while the teams finishing in positions
5-12 would fight it out to see who would also be making it through
to the last 8.
Round Robin Stage
The team who found themselves on top after the first of Saturday's
games were Jean Difford & Rita Daniels who gained
12 shots in their win. Kay & Peter Masters took 11
shots and were lying second, while Dennis Eaton & Paul
Daniels and Margaret Horwood & Chris Tilbrook
took 10 shots.
Barbara Head & Nadine
Mallam and Rex &
Josie Thompson had 9 shots each which gave them a tie for
5th place. And behind them there were 8 other teams who had all
won their first games.
Kay & Peter Masters moved to the top with a second impressive
win, they were now on 4 points and 26 shots.
Seven other teams had also
won both of their games. Marjorie Frost & Heather Driver
were lying in second spot with 21 shots and Eva Rolfe &
Marjorie Bilton were just 1 shot behind.
The rest of the top 8 were
Dennis Eaton & Paul Daniels, Jean Difford &
Rita Daniels, Rex & Josie Thompson, Barbara
Head & Nadine Mallam and last year's winners Dot &
Syd Tanner.
Sunday morning's first set
of games, and the halfway point of the Round Robin stage, saw
some huge changes as 6 of the top 8 teams lost their previously
perfect records and those teams who had suffered surprise losses
early on, got on the comeback trail.
The only teams left with 3
wins out of 3 were Barbara Head & Nadine Mallam and
Rex & Josie Thompson, both on 6 points, both having
scored 25 shots.
Behind them three teams had
dropped just 1 point, Kay & Peter Masters and Dot
& Syd Tanner who had just drawn with one another, and
Marjorie Frost & Heather Driver.
And one point further back
were 9 teams who had all won two and lost one game.
But by the time the day's second
round of games were completed those remaining perfect records
were gone. However Barbara Head & Nadine Mallam were
still leading the way, courtesy of a drawn fourth game, tied
on points with Dot & Syd Tanner.
Those two were the only teams
who had not yet suffered a loss. But hard on their heels were
5 teams who were on 6 points, Dennis Eaton & Paul Daniels,
Betty & Lewis Claxton, Margaret Horwood & Chris
Tilbrook, Eva Rolfe & Marjorie Bilton and Rex
& Josie Thompson.
Further back there were 4 teams
on 5 points and 8 teams on 4 points, just 3 off the leading pace,
all of whom had a chance for qualification, heading into Monday
morning's final pair of games.
Monday morning gave us a top
of the table clash between the only undefeated teams and it was
Dot & Syd Tanner who came out on top, moving on to
9 points, and going a point clear of the next best teams. At
the same time they made themselves the only team to have qualified
at this stage.
And those teams were those
who had won 4 and lost just 1 game, Dennis Eaton & Paul
Daniels, Margaret Horwood & Chris Tilbrook and
Rex & Josie Thompson. They made up the rest of the
top 4, and were in the best position to be those making it straight
through to the Quarter Finals.
The next bunch of teams were
vying for the final 8 qualifying spots, three teams who were
on 7 points, 2 off the lead and 6 teams on 6 points and it was
still possible that one of the 4 teams on 5 points would make
it through.
The final round of games saw
another victory for Dot & Syd Tanner who therefore
finished top with 11 points, as the only team not to have lost
a game.
Second place was taken by Rex
& Josie Thompson who finished on 10 points and 47 shots,
closely followed by Dennis Eaton & Paul Daniels and
Margaret Horwood & Chris Tilbrook, each just 1 shot
behind. These four teams were straight through to the last eight.
The teams that would join them
there were going to come from those that placed 5th to 12th.
They were headed by Kay
& Peter Masters, the only team to finish on 9 points.
Next up were a host of teams who finished on 8 points, Margaret
Turner & Mike Daniels, Ken Drane & Mike Walker,
Maurice & Molly Lauder, Betty & Lewis Claxton
and Eva Rolfe & Marjorie Bilton. And the final qualifiers
were two teams who sneaked in on 7 points, Beryl & Fred
Welham and Roberta Adolph & Shirley Newson.
Knockout Rounds
Round 1
Having lost 3 shots on the first end of their game, Kay &
Peter Masters came back to lead 4-3 after 3 ends, but that
was the high point for them as Roberta Adolph & Shirley
Newson came back to take a convincing 11-4 win.
Maurice & Molly Lauder were already 8-0 up before Betty
& Lewis Claxton managed to win an end and that start
kept them in good stead as they hung on to win 9-5.
Beryl & Fred Welham were another pair to get a good start
and as they won the first 4 ends to go 6-0 up against Margaret
Turner & Mike Daniels. They also won the last 2 to finish
10-2 winners.
Eva Rolfe & Marjorie
Bilton started strongly
against Ken Drane & Mike Walker, taking the first
two ends and going out to a comfortable 5-0 lead. But that lead
was gone 2 ends later and with 2 ends to go Ken & Mike were
8-5 ahead. However it was now Eva & Marjorie's turn to fight
back, taking 2 shots on the last end to tie the game and go to
an extra end to decide the game. But that last fightback was
all for nought as Ken & Mike took a single shot to earn their
place in the next round.
Quarter Finals
Having fought hard to make their way through, Ken Drane &
Mike Walker's next game was much easier as they swept past
Rex & Josie Thompson 16-2.
Top qualifiers Dot &
Syd Tanner were also big winners with a convincing 14-3 win
over Maurice & Molly Lauder.
Beryl & Fred Welham edged out to a 2-0 lead after 2 ends
against Dennis Eaton & Paul Daniels, but Dennis &
Paul came back, taking the rest of the ends and finishing 7-2
winners.
Roberta Adolph & Shirley
Newson made a fantastic
start against Margaret Horwood & Chris Tilbrook taking
4 shots on the first end. And after 4 ends they held a comfortable
6-1 lead. But Margaret & Chris were level 2 ends later and
finished off their comeback by taking the last end to win 8-6.
Semi-Finals
Dennis Eaton & Paul Daniels
won the first end of their game against Ken Drane & Mike
Walker but didn't gain another shot until the 5th end. In
the meantime Ken & Mike had gained a 5-1 lead. It was back
to 5-3 with 1 end to go, but that one fell to Ken & Mike
to give them the game 6-3.
Last year's winners Dot
& Syd Tanner were off to a poor start as Margaret
Horwood & Chris Tilbrook went 4-0 up after 2 ends. After
4 ends the 4 shot lead was still intact with Margaret & Chris
5-1 ahead. But 3 shots to the Tanners on the next end brought
them back into the game, although the penultimate end went to
Margaret & Chris to leave them 6-4 up. However Dot &
Sid came right back with another 3 shot end to go ahead for the
first time in the game, winning 7-6.
Final
Ken Drane & Mike Walker
got off to a great start, taking 3 shots on the first end. Dot
& Syd Tanner then won 2 of the next 3 ends, although
there was only 1 shot either way in each of them. With 4 ends
down it was still only 4-2 in Mike & Ken's favour.
But the next end was decisive
as Mike & Ken took another 3 shots as they widened the lead
which they had had from the start and never relinquished, finally
finishing winners by a score of 8-2 to deprive Dot & Syd
of their chance to repeat last year's win.
You can find all the results
here.
And
finally we would like to thank everyone once again for their
sterling effort in helping us to raise another £130
for the East Anglia Children's Hospice Treehouse Appeal.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
2nd
July 2010 |
