Islanders hold off Chancers' fightback

DEFENDING champions Islanders gained the upper hand in the HSBC Bank Guernsey Open Fours Tournament after a remarkable clash with Chancers. Paul and Carol Ingrouille and Ian and Paul Merrien traded singles with Neal and Dennis Mollet, Matt Le Ber and Nick Donaldson, but then picked up two excellent fives on the bounce and a single to lead 12-1.

Chancers clawed back to trail 12-7 and then 13-7 before another Le Ber pile driver removed all the orange bowls, leaving Islanders with four and with Paul Merrien adding two bowls and Nick Donaldson unable to reply, six was the score and a 19-7 lead established at 10 ends.

However, Chancers fought back gamely and over the remaining eight ends piled on the pressure, with Le Ber and Donaldson in particular drawing well to close the game down.

Going into the last end, Chancers trailed by three and the Ingrouilles laid two merely inches from the jack.

Ultimately Donaldson had to play with weight and hope for a ricochet off a back bowl to count three.

He duly got the ricochet but the jack went right rather than left and resulted in a single rather than a match winning four and an 18-20 reversal and a memorable game was completed with sighs of relief breathed by the Islanders.

Michael Merritt's RSRB enjoyed a titanic tussle with Wilma Le Feuvre's Les Filles.

Lynn Small ditched the jack on the 16th end to come out with five and this followed by a single saw Les Filles trail by one shot at 16-15.

However, Merritt's men held their nerve and two shots on the last end saw them run out victors by 18-15.

Daniel de la Mare was in action again for visiting side Alcopops who saw John Hagan lead with Dave McCullough at two and Peter Axon at third.

De la Mare skipped the side to an emphatic 21-9 win over Lucy Beere's side of Keith and Gwen de la Mare and Martyn Dorey.

Scorpions faced Rat 'R' st and with Dave Mahy retaining the skip's role and John Martel playing at third, they combined with lead John Wallis and second Richard Hill to thwart the in form Gary Pitschou and his team at every opportunity.

Terry Boreham, Richard Richards, Craig Dorey and Pitschou played well but Mahy seemed always to have an answer and none more so than on the 13th end when Rat 'R' st lay five or six and he threaded through a third wood to cut the score to two. Scorpions led by two on the last end and came out with a single to win 16-13.