Following the County Mixed Fours on Saturday many bowlers returned on Sunday to compete in the Over 55’s pairs National Qualifiers.
With one team dropping out due to illness our original three groups of five became two groups of five and one of four.
Session one got underway at 09.30. Darren Stanford and Darren Brown started their Over 55’s campaign with a 10 – 6 win over Malcolm Warwick and Sue Knight our other group A game saw Bev Stevenson and Jeff Branch play Paul Bruce and Neil Stevenson. Bev and Jeff took a comfortable win at 11 – 3. Meanwhile Group C’s Julia Bruce and Jan Rogers made a good start beating Barry and Val Thorogood 12 – 4. Andrew Miles and Alan Hare completed session one roundup, taking on Marilyn Stevens and Angie Baird, Andrew and Alan got their first win at 11 – 6.
Session two saw group B join in and we now had six mats in use. The two Darrens continued their winning streak by taking a 15 – 0 win from Paul and Neil. With another high scoring win in group A Malcolm and Sue beat fellow Greenwood pair Doreen and Mike 20 – 2. Group B’s Martin Nash and Neil Rixon played and beat Angela Miles and Mick Thrush 14 – 5. The other Group B game saw three Shillington players on the mat. Trevor Knight and Tony Duke played Bill Gearing and Alan Spicer. Trevor and Tony played well and took the win at 10 – 4. Barry and Val in Group C played Andrew and Alan. Barry and Val got their first win taking this game at 10 – 4. Jan and Julia played Brian and Audrey and in a close game took their second win of the morning at 8 – 4.
Session three and Group A’s Darrens game against Bev and Jeff was really close and resulted in our only draw at seven all. Paul and Neil continued their losing streak with Doreen and Mike taking their first win at 12 – 2. Group B and Angela and Mick got their first win beating Trevor and Tony 11 – 3. In a much closer game Alan and Bill held on for the win against Martin and Neil at 10 – 9. Group C saw Barry and Val take their second win beating Marilyn and Angie 9 – 4. The sixth game of this session and Alan and Andrew had a good tussle with Brian and Audrey, just taking the win at 9 – 8.
Session four and Bev and Jeff got another win under their belts at 11- 3 over Doreen and Mike. Paul and Neil playing their final game had their best result only losing 5 – 9 to Malcolm and Sue. Group B and Trevor and Tony played a tight game but it was Martin and Neil that took the win at 9 – 7. Alan and Bill got their second win beating Angela and Mick 11 – 4. Group C and Brian and Audrey got a win under their belts beating Marilyn and Angie 17 – 3. Andrew and Alan had their third win of the round robin stage beating Julia and Jan 10 – 6.
The final round robin session and the Darrens took another win at 16 – 5. Bev and Jeff also took another win at 11 – 4. With these two teams both having won three and drawn against each other it was down to shot difference to decide first place. The two Darrens had it with a shot difference of plus 30 compared to Bev and Jeffs plus 23. With four points Malcolm and Sue took third place on the group and a spot in the quarter finals. Group C and Jan and Julia took the win at 15 – 6 with Audrey and Brian getting their second win at 9 – 6. Group C had two teams on 6 points another group was decided on shot difference. With plus 17 shots Jan and Julia came first in the group with Alan and Andrew in second place with plus 4 shots. Third place was taken by Audrey and Brian. Group B had finished the round before and our two teams going through both on four points were Martin and Neil taking top spot with plus 10 shots followed by Alan and Bill with plus 8 shots.
We were now all set up for the Quarter Finals.
The winners of Group A, the two Darrens played the runners up of group C Alan and Andrew. Alan and Andrew took another win and the first place on the Semi-Finals at 8 – 6. The winners of Group C Jan and Julia played the runners up of group B Alan and Bill. Jan and Julia took the win at 11 – 5 and progressed to the Semi-Finals. The winners of Group B Martin and Neil played the runners up of Group A Bev and Jeff. Bev and Jeff went onto win 14 – 4. The fourth quarter final between our Group A and Group C third place teams was close fought with Malcolm and Sue taking a 9 – 8 win over Audrey and Brian.
Semi-Final one between Andrew and Alan & Bev and Jeff saw Alan and Andrew take a comfortable win at 12 – 1. Our second Semi-Final between Jan and Julia & Malcolm and Sue was won by Malcolm and Sue 13 – 0.
The Third/Fourth playoff between Bev and Jeff & Jan and Julia was a much closer game. Going into the last end Jan and Julia were three shots down. Holding two shots and needing the third for a draw to force an extra end the umpire was called for a measure. The measure showed that Bev and Jeff just held onto that third bowl and gave them the close win at 9 – 8.
Our Final was between Andrew and Alan & Malcolm and Sue. Andrew and Alan just had the edge and went into the last end with a four-shot lead. Could Malcolm and Sue hold a four on that tenth end and force an extra end to be played? Malcolm and Sue were holding two and a measure gave them the third but not the fourth that they needed so Andrew and Alan took the title for the second time in three years.
So our top four teams are as follows, whether we get four spots at the nationals is in the laps of the ESMBA spreadsheet gods. We will let everyone know once we have had official confirmation of our allocations.
1st Andrew Miles and Alan Hare
2nd Malcolm Warwick and Sue Knight
3rd Bev Stevenson and Jeff Branch
4th Jan Rogers and Julia Bruce