Loughton Bowls Club Finals Report for 2021
This year’s Club Finals were held over three days on 10th, 11th and 12th September. Despite heavy rain on the Friday morning, the two finals scheduled for Friday afternoon were able to go ahead.
The green was bowling considerably heavier than it had for the weeks leading up to the Finals but this did not put the finalists off. In the Ladies’ Handicap the match went all the way with Barbara Friend coming from behind to beat Joyce Simpole 23 shots to 20.
The Men’s Pairs final saw perennial winner of this competition Jack Davis team up with Patrick O’Gara to play Geoff Bassam and Ron Hearse. After a tight first 11 ends, Jack and Patrick pulled away in the second half winning 8 ends in a row and secured a 23 shots to 12 victory. Thus Jack was able to keep his remarkable run going.
On Saturday morning we had two men’s singles finals. In the President’s Trophy, Geoff Bassam took on Keith Vaughan. Geoff won the first set by 7 shots to 3. Keith had the mat at the start of the second set and put up a series of long jacks which enable him to race into a 9 -0 lead after 5 ends. Geoff managed to win the next 3 ends but could not secure enough shots to challenge Keith’s lead. So with the score at one set apiece, we headed to a best of 3-end tie-break. On a long jack, Geoff managed to win the first end and succeeded in claiming the second end with a very close wood to take the trophy.
In the Men’s Handicap, John Chiswell and Ron Hearse battled it out over 28 ends. John was able to win the last 5 ends to secure a 24 shots to 18 victory.
Saturday afternoon was the turn of the remaining Pairs competitions – the Mixed Pairs and the Ladies’ Pairs. In the Mixed Pairs, Geoff Bassam partnered Sue Woodhouse in her first final at the Club against Colin Mully and Pat Morris also in her first final. Sue and Geoff were leading by 10 shots to 5 at the half-way stage and 6 shots in three ends part-way the second half saw them ease to a 18-12 victory.
In the Ladies’ Pairs final, after a slow start Carol Sweetman and Hilary Warren scored 17 unanswered shots against Joyce Simpole and Barbara Friend to lead by 19 shots to 6 after 9 ends. Joyce and Barbara staged a come-back in the second 9 ends but were frequently limited to single shots which was not enough to overhaul the lead. Carol & Hilary eventually won by 26 shots to 14.
On Sunday morning the Mixed Triples and Men’s Veteran’s finals were held. The Mixed Triples was a family affair with Carol & Roy Sweetman partnering Geoff Bassam against Barbara & Derek Friend and Derrick Orr. Barbara, Derek and Derrick lead by 7 shots to 2 after 6 ends but a 6 for Carol, Roy and Geoff on the 7th end saw the latter team take the lead. Barbara, Derek and Derrick moved ahead to lead by 12 shots to 9 after 12 ends. However, Carol, Roy and Geoff stepped it up in the last 6 ends outscoring their opponents by 7 shots to 2 to claim victory by 16 shots to 14.
In the Men’s Veteran’s final Patrick O’Gara took on Roger Goodhew, another first-time finalist. Patrick controlled the final from the first end and ran out a comfortable winner by 25 shots to 8.
The weekend ended on Sunday afternoon with the Ladies’ and Men’s Singles Championship finals. In the Ladies’ event Chris Davies took on Hilary Warren. Chris won 6 of the first 8 ends to lead by 15 shots to 2. Hilary staged a come-back over the next 7 ends to trail by 17 shots to 12. 2 shots to Chris on the 16th end saw her just need two more shots for victory. Hilary held her at bay for a couple of ends but on the 19th end Chris secured the 2 shots she needed for victory.
In the Men’s event Paul Elliott took on John Chiswell. John produced a consistent display of draw bowling throughout to claim a very comfortable victory by 21 shots to 5.
The finals were well supported by members of the Club and it remained dry for all the matches over the three days.
Congratulations to all the winners.