Page 12 - Summer 2019

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12 The final of the plate competition saw Cabbages (Pat Smith, Gill & Chris Willies) and
Merriott “A” (Emma Trott & Maggie Smith from Devon along with Brenda Crowe from
Essex), to take the mats. The Westbury side picked up a 3 on the first end and a 2 on the third
end. Then their game stalled but by the penultimate end were still 1 shot ahead at 5-4.
What Cabbages didn’t need was to drop any sort of score at this point so the 3 they did
concede was disappointing as they went into the final end 2 shots down. They only managed to
collect a single shot and lost 6-7 but it had been a close fought contest and a joy to watch. The
Wiltshire team were pleased but disappointed in equal measure. Given the fact that the winners
had not played together at all until this tournament, it was almost a fairy-tale win.
Alongside the Plate the final of the Main competition was taking place. A cat-and-mouse
affair between two teams of highly competitive bowlers. Southampton Sinners (Paul & Callum
Goodman and Jason McLean) and 3 Bowlskateers (George & Tony Main and James Smith from
Yarnscombe, Devon). It didn’t start well for the Southampton team, dropping a 3 on the first
end, but they picked up a 2 on the next end, then dropped another 3 on the third end!
It was starting to become a big hill to surmount, so a 5 shot haul on the 4th end (their
saviour end from the previous match as well of course!) was very welcome, not to say unex-
pected, as the Devon skip just couldn’t get a shot in to dislodge or reduce the closely drawn
head. Another single collected on the next end saw the score for the Southampton side a little
more comfortable at 8-6. However, the Devon team weren’t done yet and picked up 2 shots to
get back level 8-8.
The last two ends were real cagey affairs. The lead played at the jack with his first wood,
but missed. Paul Goodman overdrew to the jack to take it in the ditch himself, but missed by a
millimetre. His opposite number tried the same shot again and whilst touching the jack and pro-
moting it into the ditch, saw his wood finish a good three feet away from it. The match became
a test of skill of drawing to the line or at least to beat the nearest opposing bowl. Thrilling to
watch. On a measure, the Southampton team edged the shot and went into the last end one
shot up.
Paul Goodman drew a superbly weighted wood to the jack and finished in front of it, a
toucher. His opponent drew up but missed by millimetres and rested alongside Southampton
man’s wood. Goodman drew to the jack again and finished just behind. His opposite number
drew a good second, just to the side. Callum Goodman drew to protect; his opposite number
drew another close wood - not counting but close. Callum drew a wood round the back to fore-
stall any movement in the head. The opposition No. 2 tried to dislodge the head but ended up
going out of contention.
Skip Jason McLean drew a perfect length wood – a side toucher. The skip played to dis-
lodge but didn’t quite get the result he was aiming for and although he rocked the head, nothing
much changed. McLean drew a wood intending to get in the way of any similar shot.
The Devon skip prepared to bowl and was just about to send his wood - when the Indoor
Green “end of Session” bell rang !!!!! Thwarted!! Anti-climax! He stepped back off the mat. He
waited for the bell sequence to finish. He started again, but although he settled back into his
delivery, he still couldn’t get the result he had wanted and the match ended with a single shot to
the Southampton side, with 10-8 the final score.
It was an emotional Jason McLean that thanked the teams for coming such a long way for
such a good cause, and hoped they had enjoyed it. He said he hoped he would see as many
people back next year as possible. Finally, he thanked host club Banister Park for their continued
support.
Barbara Sparling

ED - Apologies but this should have appeared in the last issue, proving yet again that I am
NOT infallible and I do miss things. I had prepared the photos from the originals but I hadn’t
transferred the text into the magazine format. This is not the first time and probably won’t be the
last but there it is!