Family ties stay strong in Halifax Mixed Pairs
Hill Crest’s Lyndon Harris claimed his second pairs trophy of the season at the Well Bowled Halifax Mixed Pairs, at Elland WMC.
Harris, who had previously won the George Parkin Pairs, with Phillip Holroyd, teamed-up with his sister June Gaukroger to beat Clive and Trish Austin in the final.
The Hill Crest pair sawoff Ben Halliday and Loraine Hurst 15-8 in their opener and then defeated James and Vickie Senior 15-10 in the quarter-final.
They booked their place in the final with a 15-3 semi-final success against Marie Palmer and Wayne Hudson.
Drawn in the preliminary round, Mytholmroyd’s Clive and Trish Austin were in danger of losing their opening game. They led 8-3 against Outlane’s Ben Fisher and Kelly Goldthorpe, in her first season, but the Outlane pair fought back to lead 14-13 before the Austins snatched victory with a pair at the last end.
They found themselves in another close encounter against Aaron Bottomly and Pam Woodhead who led by 7-5 early in the game. The Austins went ahead with two threes to lead 11-7 but were only ahead by a single point at 13-12 before scrambling home by 1512.
A less stressful 15-8 victory against Brendan Malone and Linda Stewart secured their place in the final.
In the final, Harris and Gaukroger raced into a 9-1 lead and although the Austins reduced the gap to three chalks at 9-6, they lost the jack to Harris and Gaikroger who held on to claim the title 15-7.
The next event is the Wilkinson Sword Merit, sponsored by the hosts, at Rastrick BC, on Sunday May 21, at 10.15am.