Tactical errors cost Merrien in final

ALISON MERRIEN shrugged off her troubles and did what she does best at the weekend, when she mixed it with the best in Carlisle, and almost came back to Guernsey with a ticket to play in the Co-operative Funeralcare World Bowls Tour European Tourcard finals next May.

In a star-studded field of 32, who were mostly men, from all over the UK, Merrien was hoping to come out top to stay on course for a Tourcard that would give her automatic entry to all the WBT ranking events on the bowling calendar.

She made it all the way to the final in which she looked the winner all the way when she won the first set at a canter against Ben Sherwen, then built up a four-shot lead with only two ends left to play in the second set.

'I should have won it in straight sets,' said Merrien afterwards.

'But, with the game there for the taking, I made a couple of tactical errors, dropped a treble, to let him back in, then dropped a double on the very last end to lose the set by one.'

Merrien breathed deeply, pulled herself together and took the first end of the best-of-three-ends tiebreak, but it was the Cumbrian who strung together two singles to get out of jail with a 2-8, 8-7, 2-1 scorecard.

More in today's Guernsey Press.