A cracking afternoons bowling was bad as 13 pairs contested the Autumn pairs in the beautifully warm September sunshine. After a bit of confusion at the start Dave Roper, Martin Roberts and Chris Horsfall saved the day and managed to get things organised. The pairs were split into 3 groups with each group winner and the best runner up qualifying for the semi-finals.

Group A was fiercely contested with a number of tight edgy games. Aaron Backhouse and Dave Roper eventually topped the group with 39 points with Chris Horsfall and Dean Symmonds finishing runners up with 30 points. It had gone down to the last game with Aaron and Dave beating Chris and Dean 10-7 in a thrilling back and forth contest to top the group.

If the wasn’t exciting enough Group B was even tighter with only 8 points separating the 4 pairs. Peter Grimes and Anne Johnson edged the group with 30 points narrowly pipping Steve Denning and Brian Green to the post as they finished on 28. Group C contained 5 pairs and as such provided a grandstand finish to the group stage as the very last game decided the best runner up spot as Pauline Snelson and Martin Roberts secured an impressive 14-5 win over Danny and Matthew Finch to finish on 35 points and join group winners Mike Fagan and Peter Bailey (39pts) in the semi finals.

The qualifiers were drawn from a hat and the 2 semi finals were decided. In semi final one Mike and Peter overcame Aaron and Dave 7-4 in a tense and competitive match with neither pair giving an inch to their opponent. Semi final 2 was equally close but played in a less tense atmosphere Anne and Peter managed to edge out Pauline and Martin 8-6 with a well taken double on the last end.

And then onto the final which was a hard fought but ultimate one sided affair with a bowling masterclass shown by Mike and Peter as they swept aside Anne and Peter 13-3 with an end to spare. Well done to all of our finalists. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon was had by all and ultimately bowls was the winner with so many excellent games on show.

Thanks to Brian Green for taking photos and to everybody who helped mark cards and keep things
running.