York Indoor Bowls Club’s New Year’s Eve Pairs tournament proved a huge success again with new winners in both the main competition and in the plate event.

Last year’s plate winner Gordon Fennell was paired this time with Ann Sharpley and they were the only couple who went through the qualifying matches with a 100 per cent record.

They played fourth-placed Hayley Macdonald and Mick Bottomley in the semi-final and needed an extra end to go through.

The other semi-final saw second-placed Nigel Macdonald and Audrey Micklethwaite, a plate winner two years ago, scoring a single, then a four, to beat third-placed Alan May and Derek Walker 8-3.

The final opened as a one-sided game as Fennell and Sharpley won three of the first four ends to lead 6-1.

But Macdonald and Micklethwaite hit back with a four, then two singles, to seal the title 7-6.

Melvyn Banks, who had twice previously won the New Year’s Eve competition, was paired with Alwyn Anderson and they reached the last four in the plate by a shots difference of +3 over Kevin Liddell and Norman Ellis.

They met Dennis Haw and Ray Wynn, who had just missed out on the main competition.

Banks and Anderson got off to a good start scoring twos on the first three ends, then a single on the fifth, before Haw and Wynn pulled the score back to 7-6.

However, Banks and Anderson posted a two to win 9-6.

The other semi-final was a close affair, which saw singles scored on six of the seven ends only for the game to go into an extra end where Tina Robinson and Michelle Ellis beat Ray Josh and 2007 winner Joan Knight 5-4.

Robinson and Ellis picked up singles on the first two ends before succumbing to Banks and Anderson, who won four successive ends to wrap up a 7-2 triumph.

Today, York play their Yetton Trophy fourth round game against Hartlepool at 12.30pm, while their Vivienne Trophy team have arranged Nottingham IBC as the venue for their quarter-final tie against St Neots to be played on January 24.

Tomorrow, York ‘B’ will look to beat North Cave Maroon as they complete their Yorkshire Over-55s second division game with the ‘home legs’, which will start at noon.

New Earswick IBC play their Yorkshire Double Rinks qualifier against Harrogate at Huntington Road on Saturday, starting at noon, before hosting the area 4 ladies Under-25s singles qualifying matches on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, York IBC host the Liberty Trophy tie between Cumbria and Cambridgeshire in which past world champion Greg Harlow will be playing.