Form book in tatters as favourites fail to fire

NICK DONALDSON may have retained his island singles crown, but any celebrations for the three-times indoor champion were cut short by two monumental shock defeats within 24 hours. On day two of the island finals at the Guernsey Bowls Stadium, Donaldson's Chancers triples team crashed to a remarkable 21-1 defeat to the unfancied BPT trio and then, in partnership with Neal Mollet, the pairs to the young Bichard brothers, whose combined age is 34.

The form book was torn to shreds in the triples, as Donaldson, Mollet and Steve Desperques were all but whitewashed by a buoyant BPT team of Phil Schofield, Don Batiste and Terry Dowinton.

The latter were in impressive form, with Schofield dominating Desperques from the first end and Batiste also having the edge over the vastly experienced Mollet at number two. Skip Dowinton was left to clear up and put the positional bowls in as Donaldson resorted to strong-arm tactics.

Batiste, who was drafted into the squad at the semi-final stage after Bernie Wills dropped out through ill health, admitted to being surprised by the ease of the win.

'I thought that if we played at our best, we'd give them a game,' he said.

'But we excelled ourselves and played well together. Obviously, they didn't play as well as they can,' added the team's middle man, who was also surprised with the way the match finished.

'I was surprised they gave up with six ends top go.'

Most would have predicted a comfortable Chancers victory, but the BPT trio had other ideas and fully deserved their very impressive win with a deft display of precision bowling. The teams had traded singles over the opening two ends but a scoring sequence of 1, 2, 1, 6, 3, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2 over the next 10 put BPT firmly into the driving seat with a 21-1 lead. Donaldson killed the 13th end, but by then Chancers had had enough and handshakes all around brought the match to a close with six ends remaining as the skip threw in the towel.

BPT now await the Jersey champions and a place in the British Isles Championships is at stake for the winners.

Mollet and Donaldson were soon in action again as the Chancers pairs team faced the Crocker Civil Engineering Ltd pairing of Shaun and Kris Bichard.

The brothers were entitled to feel a little nervous going into this encounter, but did not show it on the night as they opened with a three and a four to lead 7-0.

Donaldson and Mollet countered with a five on the third, but solid play by the youngsters saw them lead 16-8 after nine ends.

Sixteen-year-old Shaun laid a solid foundation for big brother Kris with a superb display of precision draw bowling and he kept Mollet under pressure end after end.

Kris played a steady game and kept his nerve when under pressure to ensure that they kept their noses in front.

Over the second half, Mollet began to find a bit of form and with Donaldson also beginning to find some of the consistency displayed in his singles game, picked up a four, a single and two threes to lead 19-16 themselves.

But the lads were not finished yet and a two and a three saw them edge ahead 21-19.

Threes were traded over the next two ends so that the Bichards led by two.

This lead was eaten away by Donaldson over the next two ends to tie the game 24-all with two ends to go.

However, a single to the Bichards followed by a double on the last end finished a very mature performance.

Mollet and Donaldson have figured in the final stages of this competition ever since they teamed up and they would certainly rank as the most experienced pairing in the GIBA, so this victory ranks right up there among the greatest domestic results of all time.

The women's fours saw another great encounter between Alison Merrien and Lianna Bichard as opposing skips of Wonder Women and Bowl City Rollers respectively.

The Rollers got away to a 6-1 lead, but Merrien's Wonder Women pegged them back and took the lead 10-6 before the Rollers came back to 10-all at 14 ends.

This game was nip and tuck all the way and Anna Brehaut, Eunice Trebert, Angela Bartie and skip Merrien drew slightly ahead over the next six to lead 15-12 playing the last end. However, Bichard's team of Gwen de la Mare, Shirley Petit and Mavis Richards were not about to keel over yet and Merrien found herself in all sorts of trouble on the 21st end as Bichard's team drew all their bowls around the jack to lie five, possibly six when the skips came to bowl.

Merrien was a couple of feet short with her first delivery, but adjusted perfectly with her final one to draw the shot and turn the match-winning lie against to one in her favour to enable Wonder Women to triumph by 16 shots to 12.

The women's pairs final saw the unsuccessful Bowl City Roller fours team split in half with the grandmother-and-granddaughter combination of Mavis Richards and Bichard facing Petit and de la Mare.

This proved to be a classic as de la Mare and Petit combined well to open up a 12-3 lead after six ends and then 17-10 after 13.

However, two consecutive fours brought the Island Games silver medallists back into the match to lead 18-17 before an exchange of singles saw the score level 19-all at 18.

De la Mare and Petit picked up a four on the 19th and with two ends to go looked comfortable, although Richards and Bichard were not finished yet and a double left them needing three for a win on the final one.

Bichard did better than that and a fine four secured a 25-23 victory in a high-scoring and very competitive match.

Bichard and Richards were joined by de la Mare for the triples and met the Delancey Parkers team of Angela Bartie, Lorraine Ellis and Jan Lawrence.

Bichard's girls led the way 18-11 after 13 ends, but singles over the next four kept the northerners in touch, so that after 17, Bartie's team trailed by three and were looking for a count of four on the final end.

Disaster looked to be looming for Bichard, as the youngster with the pink bowls faced a count of four and possibly five against when she went to the mat to play her three. Richards and de la Mare looked on anxiously, but need not have worried because Bichard confidently drew the shot to earn a 19-15 win.

But that was the end of the glory road for the Bichard family.

Dad Steve and son Kris formed half the Crocker Civil Engineering Ltd taking on Mafia in an intriguing men's fours contest.

Ricky Brehaut's CCEL team held a good three on the first end, but Paul Merrien indicated the shape of things to come with a ferocious drive that ditched the jack for a count of three to Mafia.

The Bichards continued to draw well throughout the early stages of the game and at the halfway point, CCEL held a count of five.

Paul Merrien attempted a draw to save, but was slightly over weight and Brehaut drew another counter within inches of the jack.

This was like a red rag to a bull for Merrien who was tempted into the all-out drive, which was on target and forced the jack out on to the neighbouring rink. Cue a restart.

Brehaut's team picked up a single, but Mafia upped a gear and, with Ian Merrien finding a better touch, scored three doubles, a single and a four over the next five ends to move ahead 16-11.

Singles were traded over the next five ends and CCEL were left needing four to draw and five to win on the last.

A change of jack position to full length saw all four of Kris and Steve Bichard's bowls near the kitty and Ingrouille added another before being unfortunate enough to tip a Mafia bowl into the head for shot.

Brehaut bravely tried to remove it but failed and Mafia were deserved victors 19-14.

The men's under-25 singles final saw Craig Dorey face his cousin, Garry Collins, who showed he remains a fine bowler.

Dorey was very keen to win this particular contest but Collins was equally determined and opened up a 10-0 lead. Dorey never really got to grips with this game and, although Collins claims to have put playing bowls on the back burner in favour of following an administrative career, he continued to dictate terms and triumphed 21-8.

Veteran table tennis star Len Bretel faced Michael Le Noury in the final of the consolation singles.

The former led 5-1 early on but Le Noury countered with a four, a double and another full house to lead 11-5 and never looked back, winning 21-9.

Ian and Alison Merrien took on Ricky and Anna Brehaut in the married pairs and secured their accustomed place in the Channel Islands final, but only after a precision last bowl from skip Alison saved the day as it finished 18-17.

Olwen and Paul Ingrouille met the grandmother and grandson combination of Mavis Richards and Kris Bichard in the family mixed pairs and although the yellow bowls of gran and grandson peppered the jack in the early stages, the Ingrouilles stayed in touch and with Olwen playing the last two ends particularly well, they edged through 21-20.

The CI finals are scheduled for the weekend of 7/8 January with places at stake in the British Isles finals for the winners of the men's and women's singles, pairs, triples and fours and the winners of the under-25 singles.