Western Indoor Bowling Association held the annual Wesley Phair Pairs tournament in the Unionist Hall, Enniskillen recently. The final saw seven ladies among the 16 bowlers back to contest for the Tyrone Crystal Trophy and the finalist prizes which wer kindly sponsored by Home, Field & Stream. The association is very much indebted to Home, Field & Stream and to Paul Wilson’s for their help in supporting this tournament again this year.

At the start of the final night, an open draw was made with the eight pairs eagerly waiting to see who they met. The pairing of M Moore/G Brian played I McElroy/R Nixon with R Nixon winning 9 – 2; J Parkinson/J Carson met R Kelly/G Burke with G Burke winning 9 – 8 after a tied end; D Benson/P Harpur played I Duncan/M White with the Donegal pair of Duncan and White winning 9 – 5 and M Ferguson/G Ferguson met M Nelson/E Forster with E Forster winning 8 – 6.

The semi-finals were played straight after the first round games with both games going right down to the last bowl. In the game between Roly Nixon and Gary Burke, Ian and Roly were 3 – 1 up after four ends and in the fifth end Rodney and Gary picked up two shots to level the game at three apiece. However, in the next end, Gary secured a single only for Roly to pick up a single in the seventh end to level the game at 4 – 4 with one end remaining to be played. It was Ian and Roly who made their way into the final by landing the shot and winning 5 – 4. In the other semi-final, Margaret and Esther were 3 – 2 down after three ends played but by the sixth end Esther was winning 6 – 3 to only then lose three shots in the seventh end to leave the scoreline at 6 – 6 going into the last end. After the final bowl had been delivered it was Margaret & Esther who moved into the final by winning their game 7 – 6.

After a very welcome cup of tea, the final was played over nine ends with Ian and Roly picking up two single shots to lead 2 – 0 after two ends. However, over the course of the next four ends it was Margaret and Esther who moved in front to lead 7 – 2 after picking up three twos and a single. But Ian and Roly where not giving up without a fight and they clinched the next three ends with a single and two twos to level the game at 7 – 7 after the nine ends had been played. A tied end then had to be played to decide which names was going on the trophy and it was Margaret and Esther who held their nerve to win by the narrowest of margins, 8 – 7.

At the conclusion of the night the Zone Convener Mrs Jean Parkinson thanked everyone for their support and help over the four nights of play and called upon Mr Jude Morris on behalf of the Phair Family to come forward to present the prizes to the finalists and to present the Wesley Phair Trophy to the winners, Margaret and Esther.