Bowls: Mixed showdown provides excitement at New Earswick

Graham Bell and Norma Davies were locked alongside Brian Gray and Pat Walker in one of the most exciting duels of the penultimate week of the club’s campaign.

The finalists matched each other in the first half of the match, the score deadlocked at 9-9 after 12 ends.

Gray and Walker won only one of the next eight ends but that was a seven at the 13th to keep parity at 16-16.

Bell and Davies went into the last end leading by one shot, but they dropped a two and lost 19-18.

In the ladies pairs final, Irene Warrington and Denise Elliott led 5-1 after five ends, but then trailed 11-7 by the 11th end as opponents Norma Davies and Lynn Page staged a comeback. However, War - rington and Elliott captured eight of the last ten ends to triumph 19-15 and take the title.

In the men’s plate final, David Moorhouse was always ahead to beat John Snowden 21-18, while in the ladies singles final Lorna Tordoff led from the start against Efro Tooms to post a 21-8 success.

David Imeson got off to a flier to head Ralph Tiplady 7-0 in the handicap singles final. However, Tiplady rallied to get to 9-9 and the opponents matched each other to 17-17 before a brace of twos clinched a 21-17 conquest for Tiplady.

Gordon Fratson led Dave Sykes 9-5 but lost the next eight ends.

Though he won the next three, Sykes took the over-60s crown 21-14.

In the gents’ pairs final, only singles were scored in the first 13 ends with Dave Clayden and Kev Liddell leading 8-5. However, Ken and John Harrison levelled at 12-12 before going on to win 16-13.

The two-woods pairs was a rather one-sided game with Barry Johnson and Tiplady too strong for the mother and son pair of Sally and Alistair Domville to take the two-woods pairs 27-5, while Dave Kermode and Bob Elliot beat Gordon Storey and Mick Head 21-13 in the Australian pairs.

Bob Elliot received a walkover in the men’s singles due to opponent Eric Cookson being away on holiday.

The club will stage its league league play-offs next week.

Carole’s crew claim conquest

TRIPLES TREAT: York Indoor Bowls Club ladies triples league play-off winners, from left, Joan Jackson, Melanie Brooke and Carol Instone, with club president Brian Hodgson and runners-up Helen Wood, Betty Richardson and Carol Banks
 

YORK Indoor Bowls Club’s season came to a close with the last three league play-off finals.

There was a thriller in the ladies triples, where Linda Harrison’s team looked to be running away with the game. They led 14-6 with six ends to play against Carol Instone’s side.

Instone’s side scored two singles then notched a five, followed by another single, which tied the scores at 14-14.

Then they went ahead with a three, leaving Harrison’s side needing likewise to draw level on the last. But they could only muster a single and Instone’s team won the trophy 17-15.

John Stroughair’s side were on form in their men’s triples as they restricted Alan Ford’s side to only scoring singles and they ran out convincing 18-6 victors.

The season ended with new winners taking the mixed triples title as Andrew Brooke’s side got off to a great start, scoring a five on their first end and taking five out of the first six to lead 11-2.

With the score at 13-4 with nine ends gone, Melanie Brooke’s trio came back into the match, winning three out of four ends to reduce the arrears to four shots at 15-11.

However, two singles meant Melanie Brooke’s team had to score six shots to tie on the last end and they could only get two to make the final score 17-13.