Gullivers Bowls Club 2021 Finals
With so many finals being played in the finals weekend, the Ladies Handicap Pairs Final was played earlier in the week . In the final were Pauline Slater & Kris Le Brooy, who played Lorna Hilton & Wendy Lefort.
After fourteen ends the score was 18-13 to Slater & Le Brooy, only for Hilton & Lefort to fight back and level the game 18 all at the finish and take the victory on the handicap system.
The victory was special for both of the winners as it is Lorna Hilton's first cup win and, following an injury to her right arm, Wendy Lefort had to bowl left handed throughout the game. Despite this, she was still able to skip well and help Lorna when necessary.
The winners are pictured below with Wendy on the left and Lorna on the right.
Gullivers Bowls Club enjoyed a wonderful weekend of bowling at their Finals weekend. In the blue ribbon Championship Singles event, the men's title went to Charles Wright, who won previously in 1993 and 1994. In this years final, he played a newcomer to the club, Trevor Pearce and managed to take an 11-0 lead after five ends, only for Pearce to strike back and recover to 8-11 and 10-12. On the eleventh end, Pearce was holding two close shots on a full length jack, only for Wright to draw the ‘pill’ into the ditch, to score a two himself and take a 14-10 lead. Pearce never recovered from this and finally lost 10-21 after fifteen ends.
Men's Champion Charles Wright pictured below.
In the Ladies Championship Singles, regular cup winner Kris Le Brooy took an 11-1 lead after nine ends against club captain Pauline Slater and despite good bowling from both players, Kris never gave Slater a chance and won 21-5.
Ladies Champion Kris Le Brooy pictured below.
Earlier in the day, Slater made up for this disappointment by winning the Progress Cup 21-14 against Sheena Ardley. Sheena is new to the game of bowls and was one of a number of first year bowlers to excel in this years club competitions.
Another newcomer to the club, Linda Baxter, took some good scalps on the way to the ‘100 Up’ Final, but, in the final, she was always chasing Kris Le Brooy, who won 101-59. In the men's ‘100 Up’ club captain Phil Catt played well but lost out 101-76 to Ken Ferguson, another new bowler this year, who has joined from White Rock.
The Men's Handicap Singles was won for the second year running by John Clark, who defeated Len Verrall 23-8, whilst the Ladies Handicap went to Pauline Slater, who won a close game against the ever improving Lorna Hilton 24-18. After eighteen ends, this game was finely balanced with Slater having a one shot lead at 15-14 and the last few ends could have gone either way.
The Over 65’s cup is always keenly contested and this year was no different with Philip Balchin taking an 11-4 lead over Ken Ferguson at ten ends and never relinquishing control of the game, as he won 21-9. The Ladies Over 65 cup went to the in-form Kris Le Brooy, as she defeated Margaret Blissett 21-10 after eighteen ends.
The Men's Championship Pairs will see new names on the cup, as first year members Jeff Coates & Rob Creasey won a close encounter with Trevor Pearce & Ken Ferguson 20-19. The winners took a 14-5 lead at nine ends, only to see the more experienced pairing fight back to lead 18-14 after thirteen ends of the 18 end final. With a mixture of good bowling and the rub of the green, Coates & Creasey scored 1,3,1,1 to lead by 2 going into the final end. The final end was a tense affair and Ferguson was holding a two but, with his final delivery, he moved the jack slightly and only recorded a single, losing the final by one shot.
The Ladies Championship Pairs saw another exciting and close game, with Oveta Dean & Margaret Blissett winning 15-12 over Wendy Lefort & Kris Le Brooy in a game where the highest score was a two.
Kris Le Brooy capped her weekend with a thrilling 15-10 win in the Ladies 2 Bowl Singles against Lorna Hilton and then went on to win the Jubilee Cup for mixed pairs, when skipping club President Michael Kitts to a 20-14 victory against Alan Ritchie & Pauline Slater.
In the Handicap Pairs Final, there were more first time winners with Gabriel Glavey & Robin Barnett leading from start to finish over Len Verrall & Charles Wright, as they triumphed 19-9 with two ends to spare.
The club was able to enjoy three days of splendid sunshine, with lots of competitive bowling in a convivial atmosphere.