Rita and Sue shine in the showers to lift pairs title
Landers and Bould edged out in thrilling climax
Two of the area’s most talented lady bowlers turned in some of their best ever performances to grab first prize in a drawn pairs competition held at Eastfield BC, on Sunday.
Borough BC member Rita Bland and partner Sue Emmerson (Whitby) battled through early morning rain showers and afternoon sunshine to gain a place in the final of a competition which had attracted 64 entries.
At the quarter-finals stage Bland and Emmerson beat Frank Povey (Hunmanby) and Barry Watson (Borough) 21-11 while Eastfield pair Mick Hill and Mick Dawson beat Kevin Gates (Whitby) and Pam Moment (North Cliff ) 21-11.
Winning through the other quarters were Alan Standing (Dukes Park) and Geoff Howard (Brid Bay), 21-11 against Ashley Douglas (North Cliff) and Gary Puleston (Dukes Park), and Alan Landers (Whitby) and David Bould (North Cliff ), who beat Ian Hadden (Borough) and Ron Marshall (Brid Bay) 21-9.
Bland and Emmerson beat Hill and Dawson 21-16 to reach the final while Landers and Bould beat Standing and Howard 21-12.
A large number of spectators stayed to witness a thrilling final.
Having noted the ladies’ play in the earlier rounds, Landers and Bould adopted the physically demanding long-corner approach which gave them a 10-2 lead after seven ends. Eventually winning the jack and scoring three at the eighth end, however, Emmerson and Bland switched play to shorter marks and enjoyed a run of seven ends’ success to gain a 14-10 advantage.
The game see-sawed again when Landers and Bould took the next four ends – one, three, two and four – to look to be home and dry at 20-14 and just one shot needed.
The drama was not over, and the measurers were kept busy during the next three ends as the ladies added one, four and one to their total to bring the score to 20-20 for a nail-biting finale. And – to the delight and reward of all those patient spectators – Emmerson and Bland celebrated a well-deserved 21-20 victory.
The prizes were presented by Eastfield president Mick Hill, who thanked all who had contributed to an enjoyable day’s bowling.
On Sunday there will be a mixed doubles merit competition at Hunmanby BC, 9.30am start.