Page 6 - Autumn 2014

Page 6:Layout 1 06/10/2014 12:58 Page 1

6 The surprise of the
day was arguably the
10 - 8 win by Ger-
many over the Isle-of-
Man, giving the
novice German pair
their first points.
The third day
started with a disas-
ter for Wales as they
lost 6 - 12 to Sweden
and Ireland now had
a 3 point advantage
and were certain to
win the group. Swe-
den and England had
closed the gap to Wales and were just a single point adrift. With very last games to play, Wales
faced the unbeaten Irish and needed a win to qualify second.
This seemed a tall order but the Welsh pair rose to the occasion and at one stage led 13 - 3.
The Irish fought back to 9 - 13 but a two on the last end ensured their 15 - 9 win and second place
in the group. Sweden beat England 12 - 11 and
took 3rd place with England 4th. What cost Swe-
den a second place was an earlier 10 - 11 defeat
to Ireland after Sweden had led 9 - 6.
In the “B” group the late withdrawal of a
Scottish Pair somewhat reduced the number of
games and disrupted the draw. Ireland and Wales
sat out the opening round whilst England’s Jack
Sheppard & Gareth Stanway beat Germany 19 -
7. In an identical score England then disposed of
the Netherlands. The Irish Pair of James Mullan
& Lorenzo Graham opened up with a close 15 -
13 win over the German Pair of Ulf Schadel & Mirko Limmer and this only secured with a two on
the last end.
The Welsh Pair of Arwel Nicholas & Andrew Evans started in fine style with a 21 - 6 win over
the Isle-of-Man. The Welsh were then given quite a fright by the Netherlands duo of Saskia Schaft
& Jan Reinders, who led 12 - 10 going into the last end but a three for Wales snatched a 13 - 12
victory. The Irish were then stunned by Sweden’s Lars Hansen & Sven Erik Almen who beat Ireland
13 - 8. Only a four and a single on the last two ends put an air of respectability on the scoreline
for James Mullan & Lorenzo Graham. The last round of the opening day ended with victories for
Wales, England and Germany’s Ulf Schadel & Mirko Limmer beating the Netherlands 13 - 10.
The opening round of day two saw the German Pair score their second victory with a shock
11 - 7 result over Wales. Ireland saw off the challenge of the IOM by 23 - 7. Wales bounced back
with a 16 - 11 win over Sweden, whilst England improved their shots difference with a 22 - 4 win
over the Isle-of-Man. Ireland also won with a 16 - 8 result over Belgium.
The last round of the day saw Germany recorded another win, this time by 16 - 8 over the
Isle-of-Man. The clash of the round was between Ireland and Wales. By end seven of the fifteen
ends Wales led by 7 - 3 and two ends later it was 9 - 4 and then 11 - 7 as Ireland began to close
the gap. Ireland then seemed to find another gear and took the next five ends to win 15 - 11.
The opening round on the third day drew England and Ireland into battle. After seven of the
fifteen ends the match was delicately balanced with Ireland leading 7 - 6. It was then England’s
turn to step up a gear and five ends later they duly won 12 - 7.