Veteran sub Hurford turns the heat on Jersey

DEREK HURFORD, a sprightly 79-year-old from the Guernsey Bowling Club who was drafted in as a substitute for Ricky Brehaut, impressed everyone at the British Isles outdoor championships at Sighthill in Edinburgh yesterday with his stamina as well as his skill. One of the oldest players ever to compete at this level, Hurford played his part in an exciting last-gasp 16-15 fours win over inter-insular rivals Jersey, then returned to the green for the quarter-finals of the triples.

Geoff Savident, Phil Schofield, Hurford and Paul Sargeant did it the hard way against the Jersey quartet, Roddy MacDonald, Kenny McNeil, Billy McPhee and Ian Hodgetts, who led 7-1 after five ends.

The Guernsey team then enjoyed a profitable mid-game spell, scoring 14 shots to three over the next 12 to lead 15-10, only to be caught at 15-15, when Jersey picked up a single and two doubles.

With the scores all square, the tense last end produced moments of drama, but Jersey looked likely to emerge the winners when they held the shot halfway through the end.

In attempting to trail the jack to the back of the rink to make the position safer, Jersey third man was unlucky to slice the jack to a Guernsey bowl and the three remaining Jersey deliveries were off target, leaving Sargeant's men celebrating the narrowest of wins.

But that was Guernsey's only win of the day, because Savident, Hurford and Sargeant were beaten by England 17-12 in the triples, after spending at least eight hours on the green, sometimes in bright sunshine, sometimes in the rain.

Earlier Gary Pitschou, who did well recently in the WIBC world indoor singles championship, suffered a 21-11 defeat at the hands of four-times Irish champion Marty McHugh, who is hoping to win the British title for the third time in four years, while Ricky Nash and Don Batiste lost to Wales 22-15 in the pairs.

'I enjoyed every minute of that game,' said pairs skip Batiste, who was making only his second appearance at this level.

'Our opposition were top players and the skip Andrew Fleming, has done it all - but we were doing really well until the rain came.'

Leading,11-10 after 11 ends, the Guernsey duo admitted they had not adapted to the wet conditions as well as their opponents.

Today, the Guernsey four will play the English champions from Cornwall, for a place in the fours final, while in another inter-insular encounter, Matt Le Ber takes on Jersey's Jamie MacDonald in the semis of the under-25 singles.