July 2009 saw us return
to Hayling Island for the third time for our Summer holiday.
Although the weather was perhaps
not quite as kind to us as it had been on our previous visits
(although nowhere near as bad as it was in other parts of the
country, or as had been predicted), that did nothing to detract
from the bowling which was up to it's high usual standard.
As an aside to the main event
we also give everyone the opportunity to play in a Fours competition.
The event is played over Tuesday
and Wednesday evenings, with each team getting 2 games and the
top 4 progressing to a short knockout stage. With only 2 games
being played, in order to get through, it is not enough to simply
win both games, you need at least one very healthy victory.
Almost everyone playing entered
the Fours, so there were 24 teams competing, of which 6 won both
their games. The 2 time winners who were unlucky enough to just
miss out were Dot & Syd Tanner and Tom & Marlene Hale
(by virtue of 1 shot) and Rosemary & Derrick Meek
and Joy & George Kitchen (by just 3 shots).
Colin & Jean Love and
Marjorie Bilton & Margaret Moore (three quarters of last years winners) took
on Derek Hudson, Bob Jones, Fred & Beryl Wenham in
the first Semi. The game was close at the start, only 2-2 after
3 ends, but after that Colin Love's team stretched their legs
and with one end to go the game was all over as they established
an unbeatable lead, finally running out 15-2 winners.
Meanwhile Jan Pickett, Joyce
Howlett, Rita Godfrey & Beulah Smyton played Margaret
Forrest, Joyce Naylor, Audrey Atkins & Clive Cowham in
the other game. This game was much closer at 3-3 after 5 ends,
after which Margaret's team took the final 2 ends by a shot each,
and by very narrow margins on each, to win 5-3. It should be
noted that Jan had very sportingly allowed the opposition to
play on when Clive was taken ill, agreeing to let 2 of their
players bowl 3 woods each.
The final was played out between
Colin & Jean Love and Marjorie Bilton & Margaret Moore
and Margaret Forrest, Joyce Naylor, Audrey Atkins & Jim
Forrest (substituting for Clive). However right from the
very start Colin's team proved to be far too stong an opposition
for Margaret's team. They started out by taking 3 on the first
end and although Margaret replied by winning the second end with
a single shot, after that it was one way traffic. The score was
up to 8-1 by the fifth end and it was a lead which was going
to be beyond the reach of Margaret's team who, despite winning
the last 2 ends could not get any closer than the final score
of 8-3.
The main event was run over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,
with each pair playing 2 games each morning. Having played 6
games each the top 16 teams went forward to play in the knockout
stages on Thursday afternoon.
Game 1
Of the 25 games played in Round 1 there was just a single drawn
game which meant that we had 24 winning teams with one game played.
Top of the pile, with a 12-0
win to start their week off, were Colin & Jean Love.
They were closely followed by a couple of teams who had begun
with 12-2 wins, Chris Clark & Maxine Poulter and Annette
Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook.
Next up were 3 teams, all of
whom had scored 11 shots in their wins, Don Poulter &
Joan Clark, Bob Jones & Derek Hudson and Tom
& Marlene Hale.
Game 2
Very nearly half of the round 1 winners were destined to lose
their second games in Tuesday's last round.
Only 12 teams managed to see
out the day with 2 wins from 2. Chris Clark & Maxine Poulter
were now leading having scored 23 shots in their 2 wins. Following
closely behind were Annette Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook
who were on the same number of shots, but who had conceeded a
couple of shots more.
Jane Evans & Joan Fairs had jumped up to third, Jean Norwood
& Joan Flowers were fourth and Jim Forrest & Rita
Daniels were fifth, on 22, 20 and 19 shots respectively.
Game 3
Wednesday began with
a big win for Jane Evans & Joan Fairs which took them
onto 6 points and 40 shots and up to the top of the standings.
Chris Clark & Maxine
Poulter carried on
their winning ways and were now back to second again, on 34 shots,
followed by Annette Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook who
were on 31 shots.
Colin & Jean Love were now back up to 4th with their
3 wins and 28 shots, while Margaret & Peter Jarvis
had completed their third win and were now up into the top 5
for the first time, with 26 shots.
Behind those top teams there
were another 4 who had also won all their games and were well
placed to make the final top 16 qualifiers.
Game 4
Having never been out
of the top 2, Chris Clark & Maxine Poulter were now
leading again as Wednesday's games finished. They, along with
the rest of the leading pack, had 4 wins out of 4.
Second place was once again
in the hands of Annette Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook,
on 40 shots, 6 behind the leaders. Margaret & Peter Jarvis
continued their upward climb and were now third on 34 shots.
Marjorie Bilton & Margaret
Moore and Peter
& Kay Masters now moved up to 4th and 5th respectively,
again on 8 points.
However beyond those top five,
everyone else had dropped at least one point and already the
results were such that some, if not all the teams who would finish
their 6 games on 9 points, would qualify for the final stages.
Game 5
The first of the teams to guarantee qualification would do so
in this round of games. Anyone who picked up their 5th win would
be through.
Chris Clark & Maxine
Poulter remained top
on 10 points, followed by Annette Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook
and Peter & Kay Masters. Those 3 teams were the only
ones to have maintained perfect records at this stage and the
only ones to definitely be through to the next stage.
Behind them there was going
to be a huge scramble for the last 13 qualifying spot. Six teams
were lying on 8 points and eight more on 7 points.
Game 6
Only Annette Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook and Peter
& Kay Masters were able to finish the round robin games
with 100% records.
Chris Clark & Maxine
Poulter faltered slightly,
drawing their last game to finish in 3rd on 11 points.
Marjorie Bilton & Margaret
Moore and Betty
& Lewis Claxton were next up with 10 points, while of
the remaining qualifiers 6 teams got through on 9 points and
the remaining 5 made it on 8 points.
Knockout Round 1
Top seeds Annette Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook got the
better of Margaret & Peter Jarvis 8-5. While Betty
& Lewis Claxton led Tom & Marlene Hale from
the first end and went on to win 7-3.
Patricia & Harold Ball took on Chris Clark & Maxine
Poulter, who had been at the top of the standings for so
long, and won out 7-2. Margaret Turner & Paul Daniels
took a comfortable 9-2 win over Mike & Judy Easy.
Jim Forrest (who had been good enough to stand
in at the last moment) and Rita Daniels had a good 10-4
win over Peter & Kay Masters who had previously won
all their games. Jan Pickett & Joyce Howlett had a
close fought game against Marjorie Bilton & Margaret Moore,
they were 5-0 up after 2 ends, but 5-5 with one end to go, however
Jan & Joyce took all 6 on the last end and ran out 11-5 winners.
Lyn & Bill Damant started off their match against Jane
Evans & Joan Fairs by taking 4 shots, but then lost 5
on the next end. After that the game remained close, at 7-6 in
Jane & Joan's favour after 5 ends, until a late surge saw
them run out 13-6 winners.
The final game ought to have
been between Colin & Jean Love and Pat & Peter
Easter. However Jean was unable to play on Thursday because
of a reoccuring back problem. They were going to pull out altogether,
but instead we were able to rope in Adrian, our coach driver,
who had never played before. He and Colin performed heriocally
to take 2 shots on the last end to draw level at 7-7, but Pat
& Peter took a single shot on the extra end to take the game.
Quarter Finals
Annette Iskett & Shirley Tilbrook continued their winning run with a very convincing
17-2 win over Pat & Peter Easter. And it was a similar
victory for Jan Pickett & Joyce Howlett who ran out
11-3 winners over Betty & Lewis Claxton.
The game between Jane Evans
& Joan Fairs and Patricia & Harold Ball was
a much closer affair, with only 8 shots scored over 7 ends, but
the final result went 6-2 in Harold & Patricia's favour.
Closest of all was the (grudge)
match between Jim Forrest and Rita Daniels and Margaret
Turner & Paul Daniels. The game swung back and forth
as the two teams won alternate ends, and was tied 5-5 with one
end to go. In the end the game went, by a single shot to Margaret
& Paul.
Semi-Finals
Margaret Turner & Paul Daniels took on Patricia & Harold Ball and
led after 3 ends, but Patricia & Harold won all the subsequent
ends and took the game 8-3.
Annette Iskett & Shirley
Tilbrook finally met
their match in Jan Pickett & Joyce Howlett. Despite
winning the first end Annette and Shirley crashed to a 16-1 loss,
their first of the week, and Jan & Joyce deservedly made
it into the final.
Final
This was a close one,
although it didn't look as if it was going to be at first.
Jan Pickett & Joyce
Howlett took first
blood as they went into a 4-0 lead after 2 ends. But Patricia
& Harold Ball were back in the game and into the lead
2 ends later and were 7-4 ahead with 2 ends to go.
Jan & Joyce took one shot
on the pemultimate end, to trail 7-5 and won the final end, but
only with another single shot, which still left them one shot
adrift and Patricia & Harold finished 7-6 winners in one
of the closest fought finals for one of our events.
And it was a significant win
as Harold & Patricia became the first two-time T & D
winners. Not only that but it was their second win in succession
as they had also won the Hemsby Pairs earlier in the year.
The full results of the week's
bowling can be found here. |
Many thanks to everyone for making it such an enjoyable week
and for their generosity in helping us to raise another £190
for Macmillan Cancer Support, which takes the total amount
raised at our events, to well over £2000.
tanddcarpetbowls@gmail.com
31st
July 2009 |