The only tournament played in Western zone in which the ladies bowlers are very much in demand is St. Macartin’s Mixed Pairs which was played towards the end of March. The competition was run over three nights of play with eight pairs back on the final night to compete for the prizes on offer which were very kindly sponsored by Monaghan Bros, Lisnaskea and Scotts Fuels, Beragh.
In the first round the following skips won with J Morris beating W Wray 9–4, T Vance beat N Lafferty 8–3, G McNabb won his game against V Vennard 11–4 and C Scott won narrowly 7–6 against G Dunwoody.
Now at the semi stages, Jude Morris and Joy Stewart were against Caroline Scott and Harold Nixon on mat one, after two ends played Jude was leading 5–0. During the third end Caroline pulled back three shots only to lose two shots in the fourth end to trail 7–3. However, over the next three ends Caroline and Harold drew the game level at 7–7 and with one end remaining to be played it was Jude who picked up a single shot to win 8–7. The other semi-final played on mat three was Gary and Claire McNabb against Trevor and Kate Vance who found themselves 6–0 down after three ends to Gary. In the fourth end Trevor picked up two shots only then to drop four shots in the fifth end and in the sixth and seventh end Trevor and Kate were only able to secure two single shots to lose overall 10–4.
The final was between Gary and Claire and Jude and Joy (Claire’s sister) over nine ends. After the first two ends the score was level at 1–1 and over the next two ends each pair secured a single to again level the game at 2–2. The game at this stage was a very close affair with both pairs picking up a single shot each in the next two ends to leave the scoreline at 3–3. But during the seventh end Gary broke the deadlock by picking up three shots to lead 6–3 although Jude and Joy were not giving up without a fight and in the eighth end they came back to secure two shots to trail 6–5 going into the last end. It was Gary and Claire who got a single though to claim victory in this competition, winning 7–5.
At conclusion of play Gerry Vennard, Club Chairman, thanked the sponsors for sponsoring this competition which was very much appreciated by the club. He thanked the club members for their help and support in running the tournament and for donating prizes for the draw each night, the ladies for providing the supper each night of play, the bowlers for supporting them again this year and finally he thank the club President Dean Kenneth Hall for his support during the competition. He then called upon Mr. Jim Armitage of Monaghan Bros to come forward to present the winners with their prizes.
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