Men’s Championship
Mark Gooch beat Basil Larkins 22-14

Mark won the men’s top trophy at the first time of asking with a consummate performance against the far more experienced Basil, who was seeking his third championship title. In a match of the highest quality, the contest was even until the 10th end, when, with Basil on the jack, Mark produced one of the shots of the weekend to not only oust Basil’s but earn all four shots. Despite a late rally, Basil found the metronomic accuracy of Mark’s long jacks beyond him as Mark eased to an impressive debut success and put the disappointment of the previous day’s John Martin Shield defeat behind him.

Ladies’ Championship
Linda Huntley beat Dorothy Glasby 21-15

Linda also became a first-time winner - of the Ladies’ Championship - with a deserved victory over a persistent Dorothy. Linda might have put the match to bed considerably earlier after switching up a gear from the 11th, when the score was 10-10. She reeled off seven unanswered points to lead 17-10 and then 20-13, but tenacious Dorothy forced Linda to wait another three ends before claiming victory – and the title.

Handicap
John Box beat Mark Howell 21-14

With a starting advantage of one point, John won the first of his two finals of the day thanks to a finishing flourish. In a match that ebbed and flowed, Mark was 7-4 up after seven, 9-10 down after nine and 13-10 up after 16 ends. But John won six of the last seven ends to take the title.

Veterans
John Box beat Anne Bosman 14-12

John’s second win of the day; Anne’s second defeat. The final was very close all the way through and was level as they began the final end. But John scored two – the same as his trophy tally for the day.

Sam Farmer Trophy
Neville Dalton beat Anne Bosman 21-13

My first ever singles title and Anne’s first defeat of the day. I made a good start to go 7-0 up by the fourth end and was 15-2 ahead at 11. Anne threatened a comeback as she made it 16-7. We both had to deal with a number of distractions, but I rediscovered my composure to see out the win – which I dedicated to my late Mum.

John Martin Shield
Neville Dalton beat Mark Gooch 21-14

I won my second final of the day in almost identical fashion to my first – a quick start, thanks to a four on the second end, which made it 6-0, but Mark clawed back to 6-5 before I started pulling away again. The match looked to be over on the 17th when – needing two to win – I held three shots before Mark torpedoed the lot with a brilliant shot that earned him two points. It meant we played the final end in pouring rain but I held on. That was for Dad.

Drawn Pairs
Anne Bosman and Mark Howell beat Andrew Croft and Bill Mann 20-16

Fair’s fair. Andrew had already sewn up one pairs title, Mark had lost in the Handicap and Anne had been beaten in two finals. So it felt just that the honours should be evened out a bit in the last final of the weekend. Anne and Mark led for pretty much the whole match, but at 2-16 on the eighth end (boosted by a six on the previous end), Andrew and Bill hit back, winning seven of the last 10 ends – but it was too little, too late.

Mixed Pairs
Andrew and Gwen Croft beat Peter and Linda Huntley 21-12

A six on the fourth end gave the Crofts an 8-3 lead in the battle of the spouses, but it was 8-8 by the eighth and 10-9 to Linda and Peter with eight to play. But as Andrew and Gwen switched to short jacks, the Huntleys failed to score for six ends, by which time the Crofts had built up an unassailable lead to give a badly hobbling Andrew yet another title and Gwen her very first.

Photos supplied by Tara de Silva, Dorothy Glasby and Neville Dalton

Linda and Goochy make their Mark