Carterton Bowls Club was the venue for this year’s men’s semi-finals.
The morning see three games played, the first of which was the first singles game of the day. This was between Banbury Central’s Lee Young and Headington’s Nick Rae-Welsh. A very good start from both the players see the score at a close 9-7 in Lee’s favour after 11 ends before Nick played the perfect 12th end, picking up 4. This then aided him in stretching his lead to 17-12 over the following 6 ends. The next 4 ends see only single shots being scored, with two apiece which left it at 19-14 after 22 ends. Nick then picked up the 2 shots he required on the 23rd end to book his place in the final and a place at Leamington next month, 21-14 victor.
The next game was an all Headington bout between Jon Philpott, Ray Gaskins, Nathan Lewis and Howard Watts against Sam Watts, Ian Henwood, Jason King and Mark Charlett. Mark’s rink got off to a solid start, being 14-1 up after only 6 ends. 5 shots over the following 2 ends see Howard’s men reduce the deficit to only 8 shots by 8 ends. The next three ends see 3 shots scored to both teams leaving the score at 17-9 after 11. Mark’s rink then won the next 5 ends which gave them the win, 24-9 winners and booking their place at Leamington.
The final game of the morning was between West Witney’s Bradley Squires, Harvey Alder, David Leighfield and Kevin Alder against a Banbury Borough rink consisting of Keith Holloway, Alan Prew, Mark Sykes and A.J. Docherty. A very strong start from the Borough rink see them 13-3 up after 8 ends. Kevin’s rink then won the next 2 ends to take the score to 13-6 before 5 shots picked up from AJ’s men see their lead increase once more. 6 shots to Borough to only 4 from Witney see the Borough rink take their place in next Sunday’s final and the last spot at Leamington up for grabs in the morning, final score 24-10.
After an excellent lunch and a timely performance from the RAF’s Red Arrows, the afternoon session got underway. Again, three games were played in this session.
The first game was the triples between Headington’s Sam Watts, Ray Gaskins and Nick Rae-Welsh against Banbury Central’s Alan Carter, Lee young and Will Campion. The first end see Nick play a fantastic running bowl to make 7 shots. After 5 ends it was 12-4 in Headington’s favour. 5 shots over the next three ends for the Headington trio see their lead extend to 17-4. The next 5 ends see 6 shots to 3 shots in Headington’s favour, once again which see the board at 23-7. A double on their last end see the Headington triple book the first spot of the afternoon to next week’s final.
The next game was a pairs battle between West Witney’s Nigel Siford and Paul Skidmore against a Watlington pairing of Will Soden and Chris Gilkes. A good start from the Witney pair see their lead at 14-5 after 8 ends. The following 5 ends see the Watlington duo reduce the deficit and bring themselves right back into the game, only 2 shots off the pace at 15-13. 5 shots to each pair over the next 4 ends see the gap of 2 shots remain, 20-18 at 17. The next 3 ends see 3 singles scored leaving the Watlington pair to require 3 shots to force an extra end. Will set the head up well for Chris to roll the jack into a packet of his bowls but unfortunately for them he narrowly missed it with his last bowl, giving Nigel and Paul the game, 23-19. A big congratulations for Nigel Siford and Paul Skidmore for qualifying for the first time in their bowling careers to the National Finals at Leamington.
The third game of the afternoon was another West Witney pairing, this time Andy McIntyre and David Leighfield against Headington’s Ian Henwood and Mark Charlett. A good start from both pairs see the score at 11-8 in Witney’s favour at 8 ends. The next 6 ends see Andy and David increase their lead to 17-11 before 3 good ends from Ian and Mark see them scoring 6 shots to make the board level at 17 ends, 17-17. 3 shots to 1 in Witney’s favour left Ian and Mark requiring 2 for an extra end, however they were unsuccessful and could only pick up a single shot, this see the Witney boys through 20-19 winners. Next Sunday will see a West Witney pairs final as they face Nigel and Paul.
After a short break the evening sessions began, this time two games were played.
The second singles game of the day see Banbury Central’s Will Campion up against Banbury Borough’s Keith Holloway. After 8 ends the score was level at 4 shots apiece. Will then won the next 4 ends scoring 8 shots to take the lead, 12-4. Keith then fought back over the next 5 ends, scoring 4 shots to Will’s 1. 8 shots then followed for Keith which see him take the lead 16-14 after 21 ends. Will then reclaimed the lead scoring 5 shots over the following 2 ends, score sitting at 19-16. The next 5 ends see Keith pick up 5 single shots which gave him the win, 21-19 victor in a fantastic battle right the way through.
The last game of the day was the second triples match between West Witney’s Andy McIntyre, David Leighfield and Kevin Alder against Burford Town’s Alan Tuckwell, Roger Hopkins and Bob Parker. Kevin’s trio started impressively, scoring 13 shots to Burford’s 2 after 6 ends. The next 4 ends see the Witney triple increase their lead by picking up singles to go 17-2 up. Burford then scored a single on the 11th end to take the score to 17-3. The Witney triple then scored 7 shots over the following 3 ends to secure their victory, 24-3 winners.
That concluded the day and a big thank you to all of the spectators, Carterton Bowls Club and the markers / umpires for the day, Mick Morris and Paul Demczak. The County Finals day is at Banbury borough Bowling Club on Sunday 21st July.