Le Ber sunk by Scottish champ

VALE bowls ace Matt Le Ber, who had high hopes of winning the British Isles men's outdoor singles title at Worthing yesterday, was disappointed to lose in the final to Scottish champion Allister James Reid, 21-14.

It was the second year running that the burly Sarnian, pictured, has had to settle for silver in these championships – but he found little consolation in being told how special that was and how thousands of bowlers all over Britain would willingly swap positions with him.

Having beaten Ireland's Gerard McGleave 21-10 and Jersey's talented teenager Malcolm de Souza, 21-15 to get to the final, Le Ber found life tough in the fast lane and struggled to find line and length.

'Allister's bowls bent a bit more than mine did and that gave him a bit of an advantage, because he could send them out on a wide line and still expect them to come back,' said Le Ber.

'Mine seemed to stick on a wide line, but bent dramatically when I looked for a tighter line and I was in trouble from the start and always chasing the game,' he added disconsolately.

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