Tuesday the 15th July saw the culmination of our Summer Aussie Pairs competition with the final being between ‘The Abbotts’ and ‘The Stingers’, our two teams from Greenwood. As both teams have four players it was decided to have the final on two mats being played simultaneously. Mat five had Brian and Audrey for the Abbotts playing Darren and Sue for the Stingers. Mat six had Val and Barry for the Abbotts playing Wendy and Mark for the Stingers. With the audience seated the final was under way.
The first end on mat five saw the Stingers take a double, meanwhile in a tight end on mat six we had a tied end with two bowls sitting on the jack. Aggregate score 2 – 0 to the Stingers. Darren and Sue increased the pressure by taking a triple on end two for a 5 – 0 lead, meanwhile on mat five Wendy and Mark took a triple as well to give the Stingers an 8 – 0 aggregate lead after two ends. End three saw the Abbotts go on the attack, Brian and Audrey held a triple whilst on mat six Val and Barry held a single to reduce Stingers lead to 8 – 4. Continuing their attack the Abbotts took a further double on end four to make their mat 5 all. Meanwhile Val and Barry held a double and it was 3 all on mat six. Four ends and it was all level at eight all. Darren and Sue came back on end five and held a single, on mat six Val and Barry also held a single and it was still all square at nine all. End six saw Sue and Darren held a second single, Val and Barry on mat six now held their third single and it was still all square at ten all. End seven and Brian and Audrey fought back for a single, this time mat six saw Wendy and Mark take their second end for a single but it was still all square at eleven all at this halfway stage. The audience were buzzing with excitement. Sue and Darren then held a double on mat five, Val and Barry held their fourth single on mat six but the Stingers now had the lead with the aggregate score of 13 – 12. End nine had Brian and Audrey hold a four for a 10 – 9 lead on their mat. Meanwhile Wendy and Mark held another single on mat six but the aggregate score was now in The Abbotts favour at 16 – 14. End ten and Sue and Darren held a single on mat five to level their score at ten all. Over on mat six Val and Barry held single to increase their lead to 7 – 5. The Abbotts were holding onto that that two shot lead with an aggregate score of 17 – 15 with three ends to play. End eleven and on mat five Brian and Audrey held a single. Back on mat six Wendy and Mark held their fourth end for a second triple. How’s your maths? Yes, your right with an aggregate score of eighteen all it was all to play for with two ends to go. The penultimate ends and Sue and Darren on mat five took command with a triple. On mat six Val and Barry held a single and The Stingers had pulled out a two shot lead with one end to play. The final end of this very close final saw Brian and Audrey hold a single giving the Stingers a 13 – 12 win on mat five. It was all down to mat six. Wendy and Mark held the last end for a double and won their mat at 10 – 8 giving the Stingers the win with an aggregate score of 23 – 20.
Well, what a match we had, the real winners were the audience who had seen a great pair of games and Greenwood Park who lets face it were always going to be the winners.
Congratulations go to Sue & Darren and Wendy & Mark of The Stingers, our eventual winners.
Commiserations to Brian & Audrey and Val & Barry of The Abbotts. After such a tight game they showed why they deserved to be in the final.
Well that’s it for The Hive, we are now on our summer break but we will return in September when we can all have some roll ups before the new season of the Barnet League commences.
Make sure you get your entry forms to Margaret and look out for the fixture lists which will be published on this website once Margaret has compiled them.
Have a good summer everyone.