|
We were back again at the
Trouville in Sandown once again for the week of 22nd to 26th
October.
FOURS
The week's bowls started on Monday evening with a couple of games
for those that chose to take part in the Fours.
The event would see the teams
have two games on Monday and Tuesday nights after which the top
4 teams would play off on Wednesday.
Four teams gave themselves
the best chance of qualifying by winning both games on the first
evening.
But Tuesday evening saw things
change around and only one team were able to come through to
win all 4 games, Rex & Josie Thompson, John Mann and Monica
Chard. In fact they beat the overnight leaders Peter &
Diane Orrin and Martin & Marilyn Bennet, although that
didn't stop that team from finishing second on 6 points.
Just 3 shots further back in
third place were Derrick & Rosemary Meek and Joy &
George Kitchen. The final place was a three way fight with
only a single shot to seperate the teams. In the end Mike
Walker, Betty Johnson and Harold & Patricia Ball sneaked
in simply by virtue of having less shots against them.
In early stages of their Semi-Final
the Thompson/Mann/Chard team looked good to continue their run
of wins, they led 4-1 after the second end. But the Walker/Ball/Johnson
team showed their greater experience to extinguish that lead
an end later and win every remaining end in the game to finish
9-4 winners.
Last year's winners the Orrin/Bennet
team must have known they had a fight on their hands against
the Meek/Kitchen team early on. Four ends in and only that many
shots scored, shared equally between the two teams. And then
the Meek/Kitchen team started to edge out, 2 shots on the fifth
end and 3 on the 6th settled the game as they finished surprise
8-2 winners.
And into the final the Meek/Kitchen
team seemed to be carrying forward that momentum. They were 4-0
up after 2 ends, but 2 further ends later it was all square and
the game was swinging the other way. But Meek/Kitchen held their
nerve, taking a shot on the 5th end and a decisive 2 on the 6th
end to carry a 3 shot lead into the last end, an advantage which
they were able to defend, finally taking the game 7-5.
PAIRS
Tuesday
Of the 33 teams playing 12 of them began the week with wins,
but by the time everyone had completed 2 games and Tuesday's
play was complete only 5 of them had been able to repeat the
feat.
Martin & Marilyn Bennet led the way with 26 shots from their
2 wins, they were followed by Chris & Joan Clarke
and Derrick & Rosemary Meek were on 19 shots. Next
up were Mike & Judy Easy, with Brian Archer &
Pat Phillips in fifth place.
Following up close behind were
another 5 teams who had finished the day with a win and a draw.
Wednesday
The first game of the day was the halfway point of the Round
Robin stage.
Only 3 teams kept their perfect
records. Martin & Marilyn Bennet led the way with
Derrick & Rosemary Meek 4 shots behind them and Chris
& Joan Clark a further 4 shots back, in third place.
One more win for these teams would in all probability see them
all but through to the knockout stages.
Four more teams were still
undefeated, having dropped just a point so far. Patricia &
Harold Ball, Eileen Clarke & Sylvia Ward, Alistair
& Lynn Kermath and Peter & Kay Masters.
The Bennets and the Clarks
were the only 2 pairs able to continue their winning runs to
the end of Wednesday. They lay a point ahead of the only other
undefeated teams, the Balls, the Masters and the Kermaths.
Thursday
As the day started the 12th and final qualifying spot was shared
by 3 teams on 5 points, which meant that the top 2 teams only
needed a win to be absolutely certain of progressing to the Knockout
Rounds.
And the only team to do that
were Chris & Joan Clark, making them the first team
to qualify. Harold & Patricia Ball were next up, winning
their 5th game to take them up to 9 points.
As we headed into the last
few rounds of games the qualifiers started to emerge with several
teams hitting 10 points. Derrick & Rosemary Meek,
Ken Drane & Val Game, Martin & Marilyn Bennet
and Mike & Judy Easy were the next group to book their
places for the Thursday afternoon games.
The next round of games saw
just one addition to the ranks of the qualified as Colin Spriggs
& Barry Richell finished on 9 points.
Seven teams were now through,
leaving 5 spots to be decided by the final 4 games.
And those finals spots went
to Eileen Clarke & Sylvia Ward, David & Linda
Williams, George & Joy Kitchen, Margaret Turner
& Paul Daniels and Jane Evans & Roberta Adolph.
In the end no team made it
through their 6 games entirely unscathed, the top finishers were
Patricia & Harold Ball who dropped just a single point,
while everyone else lost at least one game.
Knockout Rounds
Round 1
The teams finishing 5th to 12th played off for the right to joint
the top 4 teams in the Quarter Finals.
Colin Spriggs & Barry
Richell only lost to
George & Joy Kitchen on the last end, level before
that, they finally lost 6-4.
It was nip and tuck between
Mike & Judy Easy and Margaret Turner & Paul
Daniels halfway through their game, but Margaret & Paul
edged ahead and despite losing the last end, they also won 6-4.
Four ends into their game Jane
Evans & Roberta Adolph were 5-2 up over Ken Drane
& Val Game. But Ken & Val staged a huge comeback,
sweeping ahead to win 9-5.
David & Linda Williams and Eileen Clarke & Sylvia
Ward were well matched with a couple of ends to go, but the
Williams surged ahead at the end to win 11-5.
Quarter Finals
Chris & Joan Clark
and Margaret Turner & Paul Daniels were well matched.
Margaret & Paul held an early advantage, but Chris &
Joan came back, only to fall behind at the last with Margaret
& Paul doing enough to cling on to victory 6-5.
David & Linda Williams raced out to a 7-0 lead over Patricia
& Harold Ball and it was an advantage which saw them
through, just, as the Balls came back to within a shot, before
running out of ends.
After a good start for George
& Joy Kitchen, Martin & Marilyn Bennet chipped
away at their opposition, drawing level, taking the lead and
finally the win, 6-2.
Derrick & Rosemary Meek
held the lead of their
game against Ken Drane & Val Game all the way up until
the final end, but Ken & Val took 4 shots over the last 2
ends to draw level and take the game to an extra end. But they
failed to maintain their momentum and the Meeks took that end
and the win, 8-7.
Semi-Finals
David & Linda Williams
had a comfortable 5-1 lead over Derrick & Rosemary Meek
after 4 ends, but the Meeks finally kicked into a higher gear
as they came past the Williams' to win 7-5.
In a tight game where no more
than a single shot was scored on any end Martin & Marilyn
Bennet held the advantage from the very start against Margaret
Turner & Paul Daniels, controlling the game to win 6-1.
Final
On a tricky mat that required the players to bowl as narrowly
as possible Derrick & Rosemary Meek led from the start
against last year's winners Martin & Marilyn Bennet.
Having said that Marilyn's opening woods were never far away
and what really made the difference were Derrick's heroics, finding
away in on more than one occasion where he looked to be in an
all but impossible position. That enabled the Meeks to hold onto
their early advantage and come through to take an 8-3 win and
complete the double, having taken the Fours the night before.
Once again we have had another
excellent week, we were lucky with the weather which was extremely
mild for October, the bowling and company were as great as ever.
Many thanks to everyone who
joined us and who helped to raise £130
for the East Anglia Air Ambulance.
You can find the full results
here.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
27th
October 2012 |
