Page 9 - SMI Spring 2017 Revised

Page 9:Layout 1 26-Apr-17 9:27 AM Page 1

Render unto
Render unto
9
me the British
me the British
Isles Pairs
Isles Pairs
England’s Ben Render &
Danny Langdon opened
their account with a superb
26 - 11 win over Scotland’s
Craig Cunning & Roddy
Giles.
A much tighter match
ensued between Luke Had-
don & Arwel Morgan for
Wales and Ireland’s Allan
Johnston & Eugene Morgan.
In the 18 end game
Haddon & Morgan got 16 -
Pairs Runners-up Arwel Morgan & Luke Haddon, 11 ahead with just two ends
Bromsgrove DC Vice Chairman Councillor to go and it seemed a win
Malcolm Glass, ESMBA President George Clark and was on the cards for Arwel
Pairs Champions Ben Render & Danny Langdon and Luke but a single and a
three got the Irish pair back
in front to win a very close game 16 - 15.
Haddon & Morgan had a much easier game against Scotland’s Cunning & Giles, virtually
running out from 9 - 6 with a final 21 - 8 scoreline. A much tighter game was forecast when Eng-
land’s Render & Langdon met Ireland’s Johnston & Morgan but the English pair really tuned on
the style and romped home with a stunning 23 - 7 scoreline.
Thus in the third and final round the two undefeated pairs faced each other and it was winner
takes all the English were ahead by most of the match but only by a small margin, with the Welsh
pair chasing all the way. A two on the 16th end gave England and 11 - 7 lead and an exchange of
singles over the last two ends gave England a 12 - 8 victory and with it the British Isles Pairs
Championship, leaving the Welsh pair as runner-up. The Irish pair finished off with a 19 - 15 win
over Scotland.
Stubbs adds yet another title for himself and Ireland
Stubbs adds yet another title for himself and Ireland
Raymond Stubbs burst onto the International scene in 2000, winning the British Isles Singles and
followed this up with the Fours in 2005 and the Pairs in 2007, both of these with brother Graham
in the team and this year they added the missing Triples title.
The title win did not look on the cards after the opening round. Paul Reid, Gordon & Raymond
Stubbs faced a very experienced Welsh trio of Jonathon Gladstone (A previous fours winner),
Chris & Henry John. At 10 all after 12 of the 15 ends it was anybody’s game. The Irish then edged
ahead with a single but the Welsh trio closed off with two two’s for a 14 - 11 victory.
In the other game, England’s Adam Sultana, Barry Hedges & Matt Dillon were coasting at
18 - 8 after 12 ends but the Scottish trio of Stuart Sanderson, Kenny Murray & David Kelly took
the last three ends to put an air of respectability on the scoreline as they went down 13 - 18. This
late Scottish run was to cost the English triple dearly later on in the tournament.
The second round saw the English trio facing Wales. At one point England led 12 - 2 but the
Welsh triple fought back and by the end only lost 9 - 14, again, shots that eventually cost England
dearly. Ireland were in a spot of bother at 8 - 13 to Scotland after 12 ends but come back with two
and three three’s for a 16 - 13 win. In their final round a draw was enough for England to win the
title or even a relatively small defeat as they held a shots advantage. As it turned out, this was not
enough as Ireland found a rich vein of form and ran out 15 - 6 with the last end apprantly unplayed
or at least not recorded on either scorecard