Bowls knockout finals are a gripping affair

Mayor Eileen Ballard handed over the various awards at the well-attended event.

Probably the best game of the weekend was the two-bowl open singles, for the Ray and Margaret Burgess Trophy, with Russ Dent winning a lengthy contest 21-19 against Allan Dent (senior), who had kept his nose in front for 16 ends before Russ went 14-12 ahead.

Dent (senior) came back again to lead 19-15.

However, Russ finished the stronger to be first to reach 21 shots.

Another cracking game was the Henderson Mixed Fours, where Colin Matthews, Sue Page, Val Sherry and Allan Dent (senior) looked good at 10-5 ahead only for Wendy Blyth, Alan Watson, Simon Reeson and Tina Reeson to hit back to go 11-10 in front before the Dent-led four pinched one shot on each of the last two ends to win 12-11.

It was close early on in the Ladies Pairs (Dick Pridgeon Trophy) but 11 shots picked up over four ends put Pam Renshaw and Tina Reeson 17-7 ahead against Janet Norman and Bernice Culham, and eventually led to a 20-15 victory.

There was success for Barbara Shufflebotham and Barry Mountain in the Maiden Open Pairs (for previous non-trophy winners) who hit back from 8-5 behind to score a two and a four to go 11-8 in front and hang on for a 14-13 victory against Pam Thirde and Derek Woodforth.

In the Men’s Open Singles for the John Harrington Shield there was a comfortable 21-3 victory for Alan Dent (junior) over an unfortunate Simon Reeson who struggled with a knee problem.

There was a good contest in the Ladies’ Triples for the R&J Stones Cup, but Pam Thirde, Pam Renshaw and Tina Reeson just had the upper hand against Irene Bailey, Rachael Stanley and Carol Smith in the 14-10 win.