Bichard's boys scrape home

GUERNSEY juniors have claimed their first inter-insular win. Although they lost the fours format, the local side edged ahead in the triples and the singles to win the match, only the second inter-insular staged at under-18 level, 10-8.

Coach Steve Bichard said that his team were caught out at last year's inaugural event in Jersey, when they discovered that the home side were taking things much more seriously.

Better prepared this time round, they played in front of a large and sometimes raucous crowd at the Guernsey Bowls Stadium.

'There were more people down there than there were for the senior inter-insular. The noise was unbelievable,' said Bichard.

'We have worked really hard with them this year. We were determined that we wanted to put up a good show.'

Guernsey took the opening triples 2-1. Scott Le Page, Michael Le Page and Kris Bichard were caught out by a late surge from their Jersey opposition to lose their match. They were 8-7 ahead after 10 ends, but the Jersey team picked up four scores of three in the last five ends.

But Tom Cluett, Will Ceillam and Todd Priaulx reversed the situation in their match. Trailing 3-10 after nine ends, they dropped only a single shot in the last six ends, clinching the last point to win the match 12-11 on the 15th.

Jacob Fitch, Ben Marley and Matt Bourgaize won convincingly 14-6, though the scores were level after eight ends.

The fours saw a narrow 10-9 defeat. Jersey took a 4-0 lead after four ends but Guernsey got back into contention and lost the match only on a measure on the last.

Alderney's Will Ceillam, who goes to the Grammar School and plays bowls in both islands, was the star of the singles matches. He beat Matthew Herve 21-2 over 10 ends.

Consistent drawing from Bichard earned him a 21-8 win against Malcolm De Sousa, and Le Page claimed the scalp of Scott Ruderham, who had just returned from the British Isles championships, 21-14, and did not drop a shot after the 10th end.

Priaulx went down 8-21 to Luke Le Sueur after 16 ends and 11-year-old Thomas Mahy battled hard against CI under-18 champion Greg Davis before going down 21-16.

Bichard said that there were about 30 youngsters from the age of seven involved in junior indoor bowls. The team for the match featured youngsters between the ages of 11 and 17.