Tie-breaker decides competition winner at Boston Indoor Bowls Club

Forty-eight bowlers were divided into 12 teams and took part over three preliminary rounds of matches. After a buffet meal, two semi-finals decided the teams contesting the final.

As in cricket, each match involved two ‘innings’ of ‘batting’ and ‘bowling’, requiring specific skills from carpet bowling. The teams started each match on 20 points.

Points were gained while ‘batting’ by adding anything between 1 and 10 as bowls were sent towards a target at the end of the rink. The opposition score could be reduced during ‘bowling’ as bowls were sent around an obstacle (representing the batsman) to hit a set of stumps two metres behind.

The final was a tight game, ending 25-25 after the two innings. A tie-breaker decided the eventual winner, as all eight bowlers sent one bowl at the same time towards a jack in the centre of the playing area, with the closest bowl winning.

The winners of the tie-break were the team of Ron Moore, Nathan Dunnington, Heather Scarboro and Howard Wiliams beating Alan Franklin, Rob Druce, Matt Wilkinson and Steve Skelton into second.

Thanks go to Scott Whyers for his organisation on the night, Sandra Tebbs for arranging the buffet, plus the added efforts of Ian Tebbs and Nathan Dunnington during the evening.

Action in last week’s Evening League saw emphatic 6-0 wins for the top two teams in the Orchard Health Group First Division, Holland Fen and Invaders.

Holland Fen faced Dynamics and won decisively on Chris Gill’s rink by 30-2. Martin Tomlin won 22-12 on the other rink in a game where Dynamics had held a 12-7 advantage after 11 ends.

Invaders overwhelmed Burtons on both rinks, winning 29-2 for Ian Tebbs and 31-6 for Scott Whyers.

Behind them, the third and fourth placed teams, Strollers and IBC, shared the points 3-3 in two tight games. Strollers won 16-14 on Paul Flatters’ rink, while IBC won 12-10 on Jim Gott’s.

Golfers had a good win taking all the points against A40, four places above them, recording wins of 18-11 for David Marshall and 16-12 for Graham Scarboro.

Parthians beat Breakaways convincingly in both games, 25-7 and 21-15 for skips Richard Keeling and Ron Moore.

Nomads got the better of Royal Mail, also 6-0, in two close games, 16-11 on Chris Starsmeare’s rink and 13-9 on Derek Smith’s.

In Cammacks Second Division, the top three teams all won 6-0 to maintain their positions in the table. Hotspurs stay top after beating Phantoms 23-12 and 20-10.

Optimists, two points behind in second, beat Vikings. Stewart Reynold’s rink built their lead steadily to win 23-12. Dave Richardson’s rink led 15-5, but were 15-18 down with one end to go, which they won by five shots to grab the win 20-18.

Desperados had two competitive games with Amateurs, eventually taking the spoils 17-11 and 16-11.

Sixth-placed Central also won 6-0, beating Kingfishers 19-15 on Fred Epton’s rink and 15-10 on Anthea Hall’s.

Bottom side Shipmates had their best result for weeks, 5-1, against Woodpeckers. They dominated the early stages on Steve Todd’s rink, leading 18-5, eventually winning 18-13. The lead fluctuated on the other rink, with Shipmates finishing well to secure a draw, 16-16.