Sunday 11th January saw 30 teams taking part in this year’s Pairs, at Barton-le-Clay. The were drawn into 6 groups of 5 with the winners, and 2 best runners-up progressing to the Quarter Finals.

Group A
Group A started with a bye, and then lost another pair due to illness. Their scores were wiped, leaving Jill Ellis (West) on 8 pts and Viv Whyatt Routh (Woo) on 6 and diff of +4 in the runner-up spot.

Group B
Group B was close with Andrew Hatton (Turv) and Sue Bollins (Tod) in contention. They met first game and a 9-3 win saw the Turvey pair undefeated on 8 pts and Sue on 6pts with +22, and well in the mix.

Group C
Peter Webster (Tod) and Angela Little (West) were on 4pts each after 2 games. Peter lost his 3rd game, while Angela drew, then took a final win to top the group on 7pts. Peter won his final game to be on 6pts with +32.

Group D
Jim Greaves (Sils) drew the first game but then had 3 wins to take the group on 7pts, with Rod Heal claiming runner-up spot on 6pts and +16.

Group E
This was the closest group with John Blyth (Bar), Cherry Brock (Tod), Bernie Nelson (Sils) and Keith Cockings (Turv) all on 4pts. A final win due to a bye, from the 2nd dropout saw the Turvey pair win the group on 6pts leaving the others on 4 pts, and out of the reckoning.

Group F
Debi Inseal (Clop) with one draw and 3 wins took the group on 7pts, with the fight for runner-up between Paul Johnson (Bar) and Rita Davidson (Sils). Rita’s win over Barton decided it as she finished on 6pts with +13.

The runners-up progressing were Peter Webster 6pts +32 and Sue Bollins 6pts +22.

Quarter Finals
Jill Ellis (West) v Keith Cockings (Turv)
The Turvey pair were 3-0 up but a 3 to Westoning saw it level after 4 ends. However, a big 4 saw Turvey ease away, and with 3 more shots they won 10-3.

Andrew Hatton (Turv ) v Debi Inseal (Clop)
Clophill were up 5-0 after 4 ends, and looking to ease away, but a bad end saw a 5 to Turvey, to level the game 5-5 after 5. They took a shot each to be 6-6, and take the game to an extra end, which Turvey took with a single.

Angela Little (West) v Peter Webster (Tod)
After 3 ends Westoning led 2-1 but a 4 then 2 more singles saw Toddington 7-2 up, Westoning clawed a single back, but Toddngton were through 7-3.

Jim Greaves (Sils) v Sue Bollins (Tod)
This was a very tight match, and they went into the final end 4-4, with a single seeing Toddington win 5-4.

Semi-Finals
David Smith & Sue Bolins (Tod) v Fran Hibberd & Peter Webster (Tod)
Fan/Peter eased away from their clubmates, to 3-0 after 3 ends, but a 3 saw the game leveled at 3-3 after 4 ends. Fran/Peter then took 5 more shots to lead 8-3 with just the final end to play. David/Sue were holding 4 with skips having one bowl each, Peter was fraction short Sue played his bowl out to sit 5, a fantastic shot to take the score to 8-8, and force an extra end. And with momentum now with David/ Sue, they took 3 on that end to win 11-8.
Paul Hurren & Keith Cockings (Turv) v Mathew Hatton & Andrew Hatton ( Turv)
Club pairs again in this Semi. After 4 ends Paul/Keith led 4-2, and the 5th end saw Andrew chip the jack to corner of mat, with his bowl just 4 inches away from the jack. Keith drew across the bowl, and stopped in the corner touching the jack, a brilliant shot to rescue the end, and a three next end saw Paul/Keith 8-2 up, last end saw 2 to Matt/Andrew, with final score being 8-4.

Final
Paul Hurren & Keith Cockings (Turv) v David Smith & Sue Bollins (Tod)
The final saw Paul/Keith settle quickly and after 3 ends were 5-0 up. David/Sue played some good bowls but just couldn’t get a shot on the board, and the consistent bowling from Paul/Keith meant game was won in 6 ends 11-0.
Congratulations to Paul and Keith on their win.

Another day of excellent bowls by all.

Thanks to our organisers for a slightly tricky day with drop-outs on the day, a small issue to deal with that delayed play too. Many thanks for the raffle prizes which were much appreciated.

Overall, another great competition.

Sunday 2nd November saw 29 players entered into the Singles, drawn into 6 groups, with the winners and the 2 best runners-up qualifying for the knockout stage.

Group A
Jill Ellis led after 2 games on 4 pts as all the others had dropped points in some way, but with Paul Hurren and George Savage drawing there game then having 2 wins a piece, a shots difference of 0 put Paul through, with George waiting on runner-up spot.
Group B
Fran Hibbard led from start to finish here, with 4 wins, leaving Susan Savage on 4pts as runner-up. Will that be enough?
Group C
Cherry Brock was on 4 pts after 2 games, but all the others had dropped points. A loss then a win saw Cherry top the group with Rita Davidson runner-up on 5 pts after a strong finish.
Group D
The group had a bye, but Andrew Hatton won his other 3 games to finish top, with Viv Whyatt Routh runner-up on 6pts after defeat by Andrew.
Group E
Keith Cockings won the group with 4 wins and was chased by Peter Webster who with 6pts as runner-up was looking good.
Group F
Definitely tightest group with Sue Bollin , John Blyth and Matthew Hatton all very close. Matthew and John both won their last games to finish on 6pts pipping Sue on 5, Matthew winning the group on shot difference from John.

Runners-up going through were Peter (6 pts +21) and Viv (6 pts +8), John missing out (6pts 0)

Quarter Finals
Paul Hurren (Turvey) v Keith Cockings(Turvey)
This was going to be a good game. Keith took 4 singles to lead 4-0 after 4 ends, Paul then took a single and a 3 to make it 4-4 . Last end, and it was all down to the last bowls. Paul just holds on a measure, Keith's last bowl grazes the jack, but it's still Paul's, and he wins 5-4.
Fran Hibbard (Toddington) v Matthew Hatton (Turvey)
Matthew took 4 shots on first 2 ends to lead 4-0, then Fran had a single, and so did Matthew to lead 5-1. Matthew then picked a decisive 3 up on the 6th to win 9-2.
Cherry Brock (Toddington) v Peter Webster (Toddington)
After 4 ends the clubmates were level at 2-2, but then Cherry shot away with 7 more shots to win 9-2.
Andrew Hatton (Turvey) v Viv Whyatt Routh (Wootton)
After 2 ends it was 2-2 Andrew then picked a 3 and 2 to lead 7-2. They shared a single each, after that, leaving the final score 8-3 to Andrew.

Semi-Finals
Cherry Brock v Andrew Hatton
Andrew was on fire in this game, clearly settled on the mat, and raced into 8-0 lead, then took a 4 to make it 12-0. With 3 ends to play could Cherry fight back, but alas it wasn't to be. They played out the 9 ends, and the final score was 18-0.
Paul Hurren v Matthew Hatton
Paul again facing a clubmate, this time Matthew. After 3 ends Paul led 6-0 but 2 singles saw Matthew back in the game at 2-6 down. A 3 on the next made it 5-6, then another single saw game level 6-6 after 7 ends. Paul then held 3 shots as Matthew bowled, hitting his own front wood, rolling it forward. How many do I hold? said Paul, none came reply from marker Keith, that’s in. Matthew took a single then another single on last to win 8-6.

Final
Andrew Hatton v Matthew Hatton
This will be interesting. Turvey clubmates, and father v son. Let battle commence. No surprise to see both playing some really good bowls, and after 4 ends its 5-5. Matthew the edges a single to lead 6-5, the 6 th end was decisive as Matt is bit wayward for him and he loses a count of 4 to now trail 9-6. But he then picks up 2 singles to get back to 8-9 for a last end shoot out. Both are very close, Andrew holds shot but the drawing wizard has an opportunity on either hand to level it up for an extra end, but Matthew is millimetres short, and Andrew wins 11-8.

Congratulations to both on a fantastic final.

Thanks to all who stayed, help setup, clear away, and for the raffle prizes, plus our organisers on the day for the smooth running.