RBBG Couples Competition 2010/11 Reports

MARIAN AND TERRY INTO COUPLES FINAL

When Marian set the first jack at thirty-three yards, it was not difficult to spot the thinking of our foremost tactician, Terry – neutralise Lynne’s ability on short jacks.

The first four jacks were all 33 or 34 yards and, with that, Lynne and Hans were always chasing the game. Two close woods at the first and two more, on a measure, set Marian and Terry off to the best possible start, at 4-0. In the second end, Lynne and Hans held two, until Terry’s last wood ran into shot and Hans was just outside, with his last – second, third and fourth count for nothing – so it was 5-0 to Marian and Terry.

Another four to Marian and Terry, with Hans’ final wood shoving the jack, but running through and out of the head. In the fourth end, every one of Lynne’s followed Marian’s woods, but finished a couple of inches further from the jack! Hans moved Marian out of shot, but also clipped the jack which ran closest to Marian’s back wood and another shot that meant a lead of 10-0.

End five again saw Marian in shot, with Lynne and Hans the next three woods. Hans shaved the jack, but could not alter the position. 11-0, after five ends, was now a desperate situation. End six was cruel. Lynne was holding two shots and Terry’s wood was short. Hans’ second wood came in, on a perfect line and with the right weight, and it nudged Terry’s short wood, moving it aside, but took a big deflection, itself, leaving it out of the picture, and with the line now cleared, Terry ran into the gap, taking shot. Hans’ drive missed, by a whisker ... 12-0.

With the first short jack of the match, in end seven, Lynne and Hans had to win the end, which they did, but Terry came in on a measure, for second. On the scoreboard, now, but only big wins could change the outcome.

Lynne and Hans made a great try at it! On the eighth of nine ends, they were holding five, until Terry came in for fifth wood. Not the best shot he had ever played, only one or two inches inside Lynne’s worst, but enough. At 12-5 down, even a maximum would not be sufficient. Lynne and Hans had been chasing the game, from the start. The chase was over.

Marian and Terry go on to meet Trudy and Bill in the final, next Month.

TRUDY AND BILL THROUGH TO FINAL

  Whilst Trudy and Bill took the lead in end two - and never lost it, they could never shake off Penny and Chris, so the match was within a whisker of going into the final end at 11-11.

  In ends one and three, Penny promoted Chris to take the shot, but Trudy had three woods counting in end two, two of them within six inches of the jack, thus presenting a target for Penny’s last wood; but she missed by a fraction to leave Trudy and Bill leading 3-2 after three ends.

  Penny again made contact with Chris’ wood in end four, but this time she took him out of the head, so that one shot down became four shots down, with a 7-2 deficit. However, she and Chris both found their length, in end five, and three shots meant they were now trailing 7-5. In end six they set a short jack, at 27 yards, to counter Trudy’s consistency on long ends, but promptly lost their own length again and every wood passed the jack. Trudy and Bill took two shots each to lead 11-5 and their opponents were on the ropes.

  Trudy and Chris kept fighting. Bill could not find a way past Chris’ wood and promoted him to shot, Penny found a way through with her last wood to make it two and, after seven ends, they were 11-7 down.

  Both Penny and Chris had two woods in the count in end eight, until the killer blow – Bill ran the jack to cut the count from four to one. Instead of going into the final end all square at 11-11 it was Trudy and Bill leading 11-8.

  Chris again set a short jack, but again he and Penny were long – they had five woods in a cluster at twelve o’clock, but four to five feet behind the jack. They needed to run the jack, but with Trudy’s wood six inches in front of it, they could find no way round and two shots gave Trudy and Bill a win by 13-8. As so often, the final margin hid the drama of a close contest, where all had bowled well, but Trudy with particular consistency and Bill making a key intervention, in the penultimate end. They now wait to find out who will be their opponents in the final.

YET ANOTHER HARD-FOUGHT MATCH

  Marian and Terry won through to the semi final against Doreen and Ian, but once again the score of 12-2 does not reflect what was a very exciting contest..

  Amazingly, on ends one, two, three and five Marian put her second wood between three and fifteen inches from the jack, only for Doreen to put her third wood just outside, and in three of those ends that is how it stayed, apart from end three where Terry nestled inside Doreen’s wood, to score two. In end four, Marian’s second wood was again close, as she and Terry were grouped around the jack, until Ian’s last wood moved the jack closer to Doreen. Instead of losing four shots, Ian and Doreen took one, although they still trailed 5-1.

  End six was crucial. Marian and Terry had five woods, again, tightly grouped around the jack. Ian moved the jack a few inches with his second wood, but with no improvement in the situation, and his last wood, incredibly, managed to find a way through the throng of woods and jack to leave the position unchanged. Any contact at all could have led to umpteen possible outcomes, but he found the gap that did not seem to be there and it was five shots to Marian and Terry, who had a lead of 10-1 with three ends to play.

  It was imperative that Doreen and Ian win everything from now on. They took end seven, but on a measure it was just by one shot. They now had to win big and when Ian’s second wood pushed Marian out of the head they held three plus a measure for more. The door was ajar - with a shaft of light showing. Whereupon Terry closed that door, when he drew into shot with his second and he bolted it with his third. Two shots gave Marian and Terry their 12-2 lead and match over. They go on to play Lynne and Hans, after yet another great contest from which all the players should take credit.

ANOTHER AMAZING CONTEST

  The score line of 9-2 does not reflect how close this enthralling contest was. Trudy and Bill played exceedingly well to beat Hetty and Peter, but the measure was needed more often than not, the jack was moved frequently and shot woods were taken out at critical times. It was on a knife edge.

  Hetty put her first wood on the jack, only for Trudy to run the jack and keep the shot on a measure. In the second end Peter moved both the jack and Trudy but the end result was again Trudy’s shot, once more, on a measure - 2-0 to Trudy and Bill.

  Trudy took a wick to take shot in the third and Bill ran in a wood to join her for two, to go 4-0 up. Hetty was lying shot in the next end, when Peter nicked the jack and pushed it horizontally to the edge of the rink. His next woods were a touch too heavy, but on a measure Hetty had retained shot and they were on the board, albeit 4-1 down.

  End five was crucial. Hetty and Peter would have taken five shots, and the lead, had Bill’s rather strong second wood not met Peter’s shot-holding wood, fair and square, moving him several feet. Bill’s wood stopped dead, taking shot and instead of 6-4 down they were 5-1 up.

  End six saw Trudy put her first wood six inches from the jack, then run the jack but keep shot. Whereupon Bill moved the jack even further, but it still made three to his side. Peter’s second wood shaved the jack and moved it three inches, but not affecting the overall position. Peter’s last wood found the gaps when any contact on anything may have benefitted him, and the wood was tantalisingly fourth shot by a whisker - 8-1 now.

  The jack was pinged, again, in end seven, once more Peter nicked the jack, but again the millimetre advantage Trudy held over Hetty was preserved and, at 9-1 down, Hetty and Peter were in major trouble. End eight saw Hetty holding at 15 inches with several woods set for a measure, when Bill’s final wood took a wick and nestled into second shot. At 8-2 there was no way back for Hetty and Peter, so the players shook hands on what had been a magnificent contest. Full marks to Trudy and Bill, for beating a strong pairing, and they move into the semi-final, against Penny and Chris.

TITANIC CONTEST GOES TO EXTRA TIME

  In a match worthy of a final, Lynne and Hans beat Bella and Norman, in the extra end, to go through to the semi-final.

  It had looked so different in the first three ends, with Lynne and Hans racing to a 10-0 lead. End three, though, was very close. With two woods within eight inches of the jack, Lynne had established a great position but Bella’s wood came in on a perfect line to run the jack to her back wood and hold two, herself. But her wood took the merest touch off Lynne’s front wood, enough for Bella’s wood to shave the jack and run a foot past to third wood.

  The next end saw Hans clip the jack and send it to the very edge of the rink at 29 yards. Norman’s next wood just stayed in play, to take the shot and put his side on the scoreboard, and both he and Bella made shots to take another two shots back in the next end.

  Bella was holding shot in end six, resting inside Lynne’s wood when Hans attempted to take her out with his final wood. It clipped Bella, but her wood stayed almost on the spot as the impact sent Lynne’s wood off at three o’clock, thus bringing two of Norman’s woods into the count. Three to Bella and Norman, as now, they trailed 10-6.

  End seven saw Lynne holding until Norman’s final wood – when he took Lynne out and went from one down to two up with Bella’s wood close by. Another shot to Bella and Norman on end eight and there was just one shot in it as they played the last end.

  A full length jack set by Bella, but Lynne’s second wood rested fifteen inches from the jack. Not to be outdone, Bella’s next wood was fourteen inches away! Could Hans take shot to win the match? His wood came on a great line, but he, too, was fifteen inches away. All square and into extra time.

  In the extra end, winner takes all. Lynne’s first wood was three inches from the jack, a superb start. Bella and Norman put their woods all around the jack, but none nearer than two feet and when Hans second wood moved Lynne, but only a couple of inches, so that they held two, it would take a wonder wood from Norman to save the match. He could not bring it off, and a truly titanic contest was over. In many ends it had needed a measure to determine the number of shots, it was so close. Very well played, by all four.

PENNY AND CHRIS INTO THE NEXT ROUND

  This year’s competition got underway with Anne and Stan playing Penny and Chris. All pretty rusty after the snow and other lost weeks, but there were some good woods played.

  Penny won the toss and set up one of the long jacks that characterised the contest. Throughout the match, both she and Chris were putting in several close woods at each end. Anne and Stan have 182 miles on the clock, between them, and prefer shorter jacks, but Anne put in the second wood on the first end, to keep the score down to one shot. But this meant that Penny would again set up the jack and she and Chris built a 6-0 lead. In the fourth end, however, Stan was just a couple of inches away to put his side on the scoreboard.

In the next end, Anne was holding shot - a few inches from the jack, only for Penny to run the jack to take shot. And she and Chris kept the pressure on to take the match 12-1. Well done, to everyone.