Full house treated to thrillers in final indoor season at Crowtree
This week it is a return to 2013 and a look back at the final indoor season at Crowtree.
The club’ s final day at Crowtree featured the three remaining Blue Riband club singles finals, it was fitting they were played out in front of a full house.
In the men’s singles, two current England inter nationals put on an exhibition of bowls as David Bolt faced holder Gary R Smith.
The early exchanges saw Smith open up a 7-4 lead before Bolt responded to lead 9-7. With the score at 9-8 Smith turned on the style and a count of four put the holder 12-9 ahead.
Over the next six ends Bolt only scored a single as Smith raced into a 20-10 lead and two ends later collected the match winning single to record a 21-11 win.
This was Smith’s 12th single success at Crowtree.
The seniors singles final saw Joe Flett face Bobby Graham in what turned out to be a classic.
In the early exchanges Graham opened up a 6-1 lead before Flett responded to lead 8-6.
Consecutive doubles propelled Graham into the lead at 10-8 but back came Flett again to lead 12-10.
The advantage returned back to Graham at 15-13 only for Flett to win the next four ends to lead 19-15.
The standard of play had the crowd hooked and for the seventh time the lead changed hands as Graham rattled off counts of three and two to lead 20-19.
On the 22nd end of the pulsating final Graham produced two quality draw bowls and when Flett missed with a last-gasp runner, Graham secured a first singles success 21-19.
In the ladies final Margaret Eggleston appeared in her first ever club final take on the holder Alice Curtis.
A combination of Eggleston’s nerves and the experience of Curtis saw the holder race into a 14-1 lead.
Eggleston managed to get back to 16-5 but the writing was on the wall as Curtis scored the five shots over the next three ends to seal a 21-5 win and take the title for the sixth time in the last seven years.
The other nine finals were played earlier in the week.
In the men’s pairs final, Bolt and Smith teamed up to face Neal Ridley and Gary Farquhar.
It was always going to be tough for the Farquhar pair and so it proved as the BoltSmith combination put on a master class.
After dropping an opening end single Smith raced into a 15-1 lead and when Farquhar resorted to killing a few ends the writing was on the wall.
With the score at 18-3 hands were shaken to give the newly formed England combination their first club pairs success together.
For the triples final Ridley teamed-up with Michael Lay don and Kevin Wall, meeting the Bolt-Smith combination again, plus David Morgan.
The early part of the game was dominated by the Smith triple, a third end count of five contributing to a 14-3 lead after seven ends.
The next four ends were all singles as Smith still led 15-6.
In the 12th end there was a glimmer of hope for Wall as a count of five got the score back to 15-11 but with time running out Wall attempted to lift two bowls out on the final end only to kill the end and it finished 15-11.
Phil Dixon, Paul Baker, Hendy Shields and Gary Farquhar took on Scott Baker, John Scott, Billy Mitchell and Dan Todner in the fours final.
The early exchanges saw Farquhar open up a 9-1 lead and look set for a quick kill.
However, Todner’s rink responded and got back to 9-5, the four shot margin remaining right up to the final end as Farquhar led 139. When Todner unluckily ditched the jack, any hopes of forcing an extra end were extinguished and it finished 14-9.
A new name was guaranteed to be added to the roll of honour in the two bowl singles when Michael Laydon faced Tony Grimes.
It was Lay don who settled quickest to a length and gradually opened up a 11-4 lead.
As Grimes struggled to find a rhythm Laydon took advantage and pulled away 18-6, and it was all over three ends later as Laydon sealed a first club singles title 21-7.
In only the third novice pairs final, the carpet bowls youngster Jaxon McKenna and Dale Fenwick went head to head against Dennis Gibson and Michael Carr.
The early exchanges saw Fenwick race into a 13-0 lead and despite a Carr mini- revival, the slow start cost them as the Fenwick duo ran out 17-6 winners.
In the mixed pairs final Marjorie Smith and Michael Wright putina five star performance to spring a surprise, defeating holders Anne and Laughlin Todd 17-6.
Wright raced into a 12-1 lead after only six ends before Todd responded and got back in the game at 13-6.
However a Wright four on the 10th end was enough for the holders to acknowledge it wasn’t to be their day.
Hendy Shields and Billy Ferry faced the formidable Joe Flett and Tommy Jopling partnership in the final of the seniors pairs.
After exchanging opening trebles, Ferry opened up a 6-3 lead.
The final then took a turn in Jopling’s favour over the next four ends and an 8-0 return put Jopling into a 116 lead.
With Ferry now chasing the game Jopling continued to get his infamous good results with his running bowls and eventually recorded a 14-9 win.
The senior triples final saw Alfie Ferguson, Hendy Shields and Billy Ferry take on Pat Collins, George Brown and Peter Brickle.
Brickle raced into an early 7-0 lead but Ferry then got a head of steam up and within the space of three ends had turned the final around to lead 9-8.
With the score at 9-9 Ferry hit another purple patch and only dropped another single while collecting eight shots to seal a 17-10 win.
Past winners Joe Flett, John Jones, Dennis Hulley and Tommy Jopling took on Pat Collins, Barney Walsh, George Brown and Peter Brickle in the senior fours final.
With the Jopling quartet looking for a fourth successive title they raced out of the blocks and opened up an 11-3 lead.
With Brick le having to chase the game Jopling was content to drop the odd single and with the score at 15-3 Brickle shook hands.
The senior two bowl singles finals aw Flett in his fourth club final race into a 15-3 lead against Ray Robinson and the latter was left to regret the slow start as Flett ran out a 21-12 winner.
In the ladies pairs final, Kathy Hulley and Florence Rodenby had the task of attempting to defeat holders Alice Curtis and Ella Baker.
The Rodenby pair made a good fist of it leading 5-3 only to let it slip within three ends to trail 8-7.
The holders were made to fight for every shot as the next three ends were all Baker singles to lead 11-7.
That left Rodenby looking for a five on the final end which never materialised and the Curtis-Baker pair sneaked another single to seal a 12-7 win.
*Bowls England have issued further guidance on clubs playing on artificial greens following the Government’ s introduction of a new three-tier system to control Covid-19.
Organised outdoor sport is permitted in all three tiers, meaning organised outdoor bowls can return at all Covid-19 alert levels within the rule of six, permitting play without restriction on number of households.
For further information visit www.bowlsengland.com.