The Men’s and Women’s Major Pairs Champions have been decided after matches played in the last fortnight. Unfortunately, the very strong and gusty spring winds made conditions very challenging on both days of play.
Before the finals could be played the second semi-final in the Men’s Championship had to be played. It was played on Thursday September 25th with the wind at its worst. To their credit the players handled the conditions well and a very close match was played. Neil Mather and Peter Macdonald played Mark Velder and Allan Etheredge. In a low scoring match, Macdonald set up a good lead of 10 – 3 after 10 of the 18 ends. However, Allan Etheredge started to dominate play with some precision bowling and his side grabbed the lead at 9 – 8 after 13 ends. Macdonald was able to draw level at 9 all after 14 ends but the 15th end proved critical. Velder and Etheredge dominated this end forcing Macdonald to try some attacking bowls but the high-risk strategy proved costly. Etheredge picked up 6 shots to set up a 15 – 9 advantage with just three ends to play.
Macdonald picked up a shot on the 16th end for some hope but when Etheredge picked up 2 shots on the penultimate end Macdonald needed a miracle to pull the match out of the fire. Macdonald did play an excellent bowl with his final shot and was able to trail the jack and pick up 4 shots but he needed 7 shots to force the game into an extra end. Velder and Etheredge moved into the final with a 17 – 14 win.
Both of the Finals were played on Thursday October 2nd and once again the players were greeted by strong, gusty winds that made conditions very hard given the very fast green they were playing on. It is fair to say that Rose Farrington and Irene Macdonald started their game with Judy Bramble and Lorraine Wake as favourites but the conditions evened the odds. Bramble and Wake started well in a very low scoring match and lead 5 – 1 after 6 ends. Some outstanding bowling from Lorraine Wake helped her side continue their dominance of the scoreboards. Farrington and Macdonald held shots on several ends only to see Wake either knock shots out or dead draw to the jack to win the end. After 11 ends Wake’s lead had extended to 12 – 1 and Macdonald needed to score multiples to have any chance.
The 15th end gave them some hope when they were able to pick up 4 shots and narrow the margin to 13 – 7 with three ends to play. Wake knew that her team had to play carefully – getting the shot didn’t matter as long as they restricted the ability of Farrington and Macdonald to score multiple shots. Bramble and Wake did this well. They won the 16th end to give them a 14 – 7 lead that made their opponents task that much harder given the conditions. Macdonald was able to win the last two ends but they only scored 2 shots on each meaning that Bramble and Wake are the new Champions with their 14 – 11 win!!
The Men’s Final was also a very close affair between Col Fletcher and Marcel Kors and Mark Velder and Allan Etheredge. The windy conditions made it difficult for the players to build heads and the majority of ends were won by a single shot. Fletcher and Kors dominated in the early ends and they held a 8 – 1 lead after 5 ends. Etheredge play a very good ‘on-shot’ on the 6th end to pick up 3 shots to kick start his team. By the 10th end the score had narrowed to a 10 – 7 lead to Kors. Some excellent bowls from Fletcher in the next period of play allowed his side to increase their lead to 14 – 7 after 13 ends. Once again Etheredge picked up 3 shots from an attacking bowl that moved Kors’ shot bowl. However, Fletcher and Kors were able to restore their 7 shot lead when they combined well to pick up 3 shots on the 16th end. The last three ends were very closely contested and although Etheredge won all 3 ends they could only score single shots and they fell short of the target needed. Fletcher and Kors won 17 – 13 to go one step further than last year when they were runners-up in this event! They are the 2025/26 Major Pairs Champions! Well done to both sides who battled hard in the very trying conditions!