|
After some variable weather
in the lead up to the event, the sun came out and stayed with
us, at least until the bowls finished week for our seventh visit
the Hayling Island. And it marked a Silver Anniversary of sorts,
as it was our 25th event. How time flies.
FOURS
This aside to the week's main event is run across three nights,
with all the teams getting 2 games per night on Monday and Tuesday,
following which the top 4 teams would play off on Wednesday evening
to find the winners.
Although, of the 16 teams,
two were able to win both games on Monday, neither were able
to repeat their success on Tuesday, which left 6 teams all having
won 3 and lost 1 game, all at the top of the table.
However there was a clear deliniation
when it came down to shots, with the fifth and sixth placed teams
fully nine shots short of what they would have needed to be able
to qualify.
Semi Finals
The Coe/Head/Green vs Williams/Southgate match swung back and
forth with each team taking their turn in the lead. The Coe/Head/Green
team leading by a shot going into the final end, but the opposition
came through to take 2 shots and win the game.
The other match went in much
the same fashion. The Frost/Brown team led by 2 shots going into
the last end, but suffered the misfortune of dropping 3 shots
to lose the game to the Kermath/Masters team.
Final
Although the game was tied after 3 ends the Kermath/Masters team
took control and with an end to go were leading 8-3. A comfortable
lead and one which would be all but impossible to lose, you might
think. But you would be wrong.
While Kermath/Masters might
well have had it in their minds to push the jack off the carpet
altogether, they somehow didn't manage to reach the head, while
Williams/Southgate were drawing close(r). And one by one the
woods came in and the count went up and by the end, once the
measure came out, they had, wait for it, six shots!
Remarkably they had won the
game. Never were the old adage truer, it 'aint over 'til it's
over.
Winners - David & Linda
Williams and Margaret & Jim Southgate
Runners-Up - Alistair & Lynne Kermath and Kay & Peter
Masters
PAIRS
Tuesday
As often happens the first day threw up a combination of the
entirely expected and the somewhat unexpected as most of the
usual suspects lived up to expectations while others failed to
do so.
Those that had suffered a poor
day would have their work cut out, but with 4 games still to
play there was time enough for them to make the top 16, particually
since only 11 teams won both of their games on Tuesday.
Of those the leading teams
were David & Linda Williams, Tony & Fay Turner, Robin
& Heather Brown, Ken Drane & Val Game and Kay & Peter
Masters
Wednesday
Of the overnight front-runners 5 of them lost their first games
of the day, leaving just half a dozen teams with 3 wins out of
3. Any of those teams who could win their fourth game would have
all all but booked their places in the top 16.
But only 4 of them made it
through their fourth games unscathed, Sylvia Cox & Annette
Iskett, Margaret & Jim Southgate, Ken Drane & Val Game
and Chris Clark & Donn Poulter. And having dropped just one
point were the only other undefeated team, Carol & Eric Sainsbury.
Thursday
The teams who reached 10 points, with 5 wins out of 5, were the
first to be sure of qualifying. Chris Clark & Maxine Poulter,
Sylvia Cox & Annette Iskett and Ken Drane & Val Game.
Margaret & Jim Southgate,
finished and 10 and were also safe, as were Carol & Eric
Sainsbury and Jane Evans & Mike Walker who finished on 9
points.
The penultimate round saw Jan
Richardson & James Jordan, Joan Clark & Don Poulter,
Audrey Atkins & Joyce Naylor, Brian Archer & Pat Phillips,
Alistair & Lynne Kermath, Dot & Syd Tanner and Jim &
Margaret Forrest secure their place in the next round, leaving
8 teams to squabble over the final 3 spots.
And those 3 places went to
Richard & Jenny Green, Robin & Brenda Lane and David
& Linda Williams, who squeezed in on 7 points.
The top finishers were Ken
Drane & Val Game and Sylvia Cox & Annette Iskett, who
won all of their games.
First Round
Despite the Wimbledon type seeding, taken from the Round Robin
results, there were plenty of surprises with half of the top
8 teams falling by the wayside.
Sylvia Cox & Annette Iskett
continued their winning ways with an 8-3 win over Robin &
Brenda Lane. Alistair & Lynne Kermath came from 4 shots down
to beat Chris Clark & Maxine Poulter 9-6.
Joan Clarke & Don Poulter
took a comfortable 7-2 win over Richard & Jenny Green, after
a slow start. Brian Archer & Pat Phillips had a similar result
over Carol & Eric Sainsbury, winning 8-3, as did Jane Evans
& Mike Walker over Audrey Atkins & Joyce Naylor.
A closely fought game between
Margaret & Jim Southgate and Dot & Syd Tanner came down
to the last end, finally going to the Tanners 6-4, while Jan
Richardson & James Jordan needed an extra end to beat Jim
& Margaret Forrest 7-5, having been 5-0 down.
But the biggest surprise was
the match between top and bottom seeds. The previously unbeaten
Ken Drane & Val Game were 6-3 up going into the last end,
but dropped 4 shots to David & Linda Williams on the last
end to take a dramatic win.
Quarter Finals
Another surprise as Joan Clark & Don Poulter were defeated
by Alistair & Lynne Kermath 12-2 with an end to spare. While
in contrast Jane Evans & Mike Walker had to go to an extra
end to beat David & Linda Williams 7-6.
Dot & Syd Tanner edged
out Jan Richardson & James Jordan 8-6 in a game which swung
back and forth before being settled on the last end, while Brian
Archer & Pat Phillips took out the previously unbeaten Sylvia
Cox & Annette Iskett, taking 2 on the last end to win 6-5.
Semi Finals
Jane Evans & Mike Walker against Dot & Syd Tanner was
a closely fought affair until a devastating 5 shot count on the
6th end propelled the Tanners into a virtually impregnable 6
shot lead, and a safety first approach to the last end saw them
home to an 8-4 win.
After a wobbly start Brian
Archer & Pat Phillips came home to a 6-4 win over Alistair
& Lynne Kermath, cementing the win with the last wood, just
to make sure.
Final
Unsurprisingly the final was a close affair. The winning ends
were shared and alternated between the two teams. Brian Archer
& Pat Phillips won the first, third, fifth and seventh ends,
while Dot & Syd Tanner won the second, fourth and sixth.
However, while only 1 shot was scored on 6 of the ends, it was
the sixth which was crucial. That end was won by the Tanners
with 3 shots which took them into the lead and enabled them to
play for safety on the last end and take the win.
And well deserved though their
win obviously was, it was all the more remarkable because after
the first game of the week the Tanners were in 42nd and last
place and in fact failed to win either of Tuesday's games, so
their win finished their extraordinary climb from the very bottom
to the very top.
|
You can find a full copy of the
results here. |
Finally
The usual thanks go out to everyone who makes these events possible,
which of course is all of our guests and once again for your
generosity for enabling us to raise another £240
for the East Anglia Air Ambulance with our draw.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
28th
June 2013 |
