British Isles Championships- Day One, Session Three Report
In our final session of the first day in Leamington, we had three teams in action, which saw a variety of results. Our ladies under 25 pairs and triples were both defeated at the semi-final stage, while our ladies senior fours came from behind to progress to the final of the British Isles championships.
Ladies Triples
On green A, Emma Kennedy, Susan Morrison and Gail Notman faced a championship-laden English triple, consisting of Sophie Tolchard, Nicole Rogers and Harriet Stevens. They found themselves up against it in the early exchanges, trailing 10-2 after just three ends. Another flurry of shots against saw them trailing 13-3 after just seven ends of bowls.
The Stonehouse side dug in, and won the two ends that followed, scooping up an impressive four, followed by two shots, bringing them within touching distance of the English side. At 13-9 it was truly game on, and despite a pair for Stevens’ triple in the tenth end, the Scots rattled off two singles and a treble to come back to 15-14 with five ends to go.
The turning point came in the following two ends, where Harriet Stevens showed her quality from skip, firstly making a three to lead 18-14, before a fantastic game saving shot with her last bowl in the following end. Emma, Susan and Gail had all piled bowls into the head, holding what looked to be the four required to tie the game up, in the dying embers, though the England skip played a fantastic shot with her last bowl, trailing the jack through the four shots, lying herself, to stretch the game to 19-14.
From then on, it was sadly too much for the Lanarkshire based team to come back from, and it was England who would progress into the final tomorrow afternoon.
Ladies U25 Pairs
Over on green B, Abbie and Aimee Harris were in action against Wales’ Lauren Gowen and Lowri Powell, in the ladies under 25 pairs. They started very close, and despite going 4-1 behind after five ends, managed to pull together an impressive three in the sixth end, to sit all square, one third into the game. Wales overpowered the Scots in the middle portion of the game and forced the Scottish skip, Aimee, into attacking the head on many occasions, where she lacked fortune at times.
After 12 ends, the Welsh pair had opened up a sizeable lead, finding themselves 13-7 ahead. The Harris sisters looked to be chipping away at the Welsh, with Aimee playing a great shot to open the head while a few against, securing a single shot in the fifteenth. This took the pair to within three with just three ends to play.
Unfortunately, the game never fell in Scottish favour, and a two in the sixteenth end for the Welsh ended the game as a contest, with Abbie and Aimee falling 17-10 despite a valiant effort.
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Our solitary win of the final game came from Mandy McFadzean, Margaret Armstrong, Delia Flannigan and Lorraine Craig, who overcame a strong Welsh rink, after chasing the match for the vast majority of proceedings.
A slow start from the ladies left little to shout about, as they found themselves always behind, but equally always in touching distance of the win. In the fifth end, the Scots lost a four, which put them 7-2 behind after the opening exchanges.
It continued in this vein until the thirteenth end, when at 13-6 down, the Glenmavis team got themselves back on the board with a pair. This would be the last time that the Welsh four would have the jack, as 11 shots were scored across the final six consecutive ends, to secure victory.
The shot of the evening almost came from Scottish third Delia Flannigan, who nailed the jack with both of her bowls, in the penultimate end. However, her Welsh counterpart matched this feat, which sent Lorraine to the mat with the shot against. This did not deter the experienced skip, who played an inch-perfect draw to tuck the white back into Delia’s bowls, securing the score.
Report by Oliver Anderson