Warm September sunshine greeted the start of the Sun Bowls Club Finals weekend on Saturday 21stSeptember. The first session got under way with 3 finals being played. In the Mixed Drawn Triples, Dave De Gruchy, John Bewhay and Ann Hunt finished level on 20 shots each with Matt Herve, Sheila Baudains and Andy Achler after the allotted 18 ends. So an extra end had to played which resulted in a win for De Gruchy’s team. The Ladies Novice was a thrilling final for the spectators to watch. Gill Blampied, in her first season, got off to a convincing start against Steph Parrot and took a commanding lead. However, Steph fought back to get herself back in contention as Gill faltered a little. But she rallied and regained her composure to seal the victory 21 -19. In the Veteran Pairs, Tim Knight and Jim Larkin took the honours 21 – 11 over Norman Queree and David Cadoret.
In the afternoon session, five finals were contested. The Married Pairs was a family affair with Maurice and Margaret Andrieux taking on son Kevin and daughter-in-law Terri Boss-Andrieux. In a keenly contested match, it was Maurice and Margaret who won the trophy 19 – 16. In the Open Pairs, Greg Davis and Cathy Le Sueur proved too strong on the day for Norman Queree and Don Le Quesne to retain their title 26 – 18. And in the Ladies Pairs, Sue Cockle and Monica De Gruchy overcame Christine Langlois and Jenny Rimeur, 22 – 12. The Men’s and Ladies Saturday Singles League titles are decided by the top 2 men and the top 2 ladies playing each other. Jackie Knight triumphed over Margaret Le Sueur 21 – 15 and Russell Eyre overcame Dave De Gruchy 21 -17.
Conditions on Sunday 22nd were cooler and the green a little heavier after overnight rain. Five titles were contested in the morning session. The Ladies Handicap was a nip and tuck affair which saw Abbey Andrieux come from behind to beat Jackie Knight 21 – 17. In the Open Singles, Malcolm De Sousa was in dominant form and ran out a 21 – 4 winner over Matt Herve. The Mixed Drawn Fours was another keenly contested final which could have gone either way. But with a final score of 16 – 14, it was the team of Dave De Gruchy, Christine Langlois, Mel Birch and Dave Jordan who just edged out Kevin Andrieux, Lorraine Bowman, John Bewhay and Sophie Long. The Men’s Drawn Pairs saw Bradley Vowden and Josh Band take on Norman Queree and John Le Gros. Vowden and Band stretched out a good lead only for Queree and Le Gros to fight back and level the scores on 17 all after the 18 ends. So once again, an extra end was needed which resulted in a win for Vowden and Band.
The afternoon session consisted of 5 singles games. In the Men’s Handicap, Ross Davis overcame Maurice Andrieux 21 – 7. In the Ladies Championship, Abbey Andrieux secured her second victory of the day with a 21 – 12 win over Cathy Le Sueur, whilst Kevin Andrieux took the Over 55s title beating Don Le Quesne 21 – 19. The Men’s Championship saw Malcolm De Sousa once again take on Matt Herve in a repeat of the morning’s Open Singles. Herve took the lead early on but De Sousa fought back in what was an enthralling final to watch with some excellent bowls on show by both players. In the end, it was revenge for Herve as he secured the prestigious title 21 -20. But it was the Men’s Novice Final which was arguably the highlight of the weekend. Tom De La Cour took an early lead against Dave Jordan but then got stuck on 15 points for 8 ends, allowing Jordan to get back in contention and take the lead for the first time in the contest. With the score at 19 – 16 in Jordan’s favour, De La Cour achieved a maximum count of 4 to go 20 – 19 ahead. In what turned out to be the final end, Jordan held the 2 shots that he needed for victory, only for De La Cour to draw in and take the winning shot with his last wood. Both players are to be congratulated on a very high quality final, in which they both played some outstanding bowls.
Club President Peter Davis commented: ‘The high quality of bowls across the whole weekend resulted in some exciting and enthralling games fitting for finals weekend and congratulations must go to all the players who took part’.
Sun Bowls Club, Jersey 