TAFF ELY BOWLS CLUB
AT THE Goods Yard Stadium the Taff Ely open club competitions continued over the weekend with the semi-finals of the pairs taking place on the Saturday, where Howard Pullin and James Wason opened their play with a count of 5 shots gained on the first end.
Pullin and Wason held off their opponents’ early catch-up attempt, proceeded with a dominated performance that held throughout the entire encounter and gave no leeway for Alan Malkin and Brian Stock to get any grip on their performance. Pullin and Wason entered the final with a plus of 7 shots.
The other semi final began with an equal amount of play in the early stages where Paul Bailey and Mark Saunders held off the pressure of their opponents until midway into their battle, that saw Peter Andrei and Tom Cannon in front 13-4. Not scoring for a spell of 6 ends Bailey and Saunders reduced their deficit to within 5 shots which included two singles and a count of 6 shots, however Andrei and Cannon gained their entry into the final with a further double, and hitting their opponents with a return of the 6 shots that they received 2 ends previously.
In a gripping encounter of the open singles, Simon Coughlin and Paul Jones produced a performance that went to the wire for a place in the semi-finals to be rewarded with.
Coghlin built up his score to lead 13-5 after completing 13 ends. With a single gained by both competitors on the next 2 ends, Jones gallantly fought his way back into the battle collecting two consecutive full house of shots that was followed with a further single and a double to steal the lead from Coughlin now 17-14. Suffering a lean spell over 4 ends costing 11 shots, Coughlin then collected two doubles in reply to a single from Jones that now levelled the score at 18 apiece.
A further 2 singles added by both competitors where on the next end proved to be a killer punch from the former club champion Coughlin, regaining his composure to recover a head of bowls that was a match lie in favour for Jones, Coughlin’s final delivery destroyed Jones’s hopes of entering the semi-finals by recovering the jack to earn 2 shots turning the game around to secure his entry in the semi-final.
Entering their place into the semi finals also, were Mike Coughlan and Alan Malkin who coincidently ended up with the same score line defeating their opponents Rob Williams and Gerry Edwards 21-7. The final placing for the semi-final open singles was gained by Ian Randell who ousted Aldwyn David.
Semi-final draw is S Coughlin v M Coughlan; Ian Randell v A Malkin scheduled for 10am Saturday, March 18.
The novice singles semi-finals produced one encounter to take 26 ends to decide who would compete in this season’s final. Rob Richards battled out his game with another keen competitor, Damien Hallett, who led 10-2 after completing 8 ends. The next 8 ends saw Richards’ deficit reduced to within 3 shots and a further 6 ends later Richards levelled the score at 17 apiece.
Building their scores to within 2 shots of reaching their goal, Richards having the final say by producing a triple to earn him a place in the final.
Meeting Richards in the final will be Mike Coughlan who ousted Gerry Edwards with a plus 10 shots and on course for an entry into the main singles final should he overcome his opponent Simon Coughlin in the semi-final.