Eight clubs were represented at the Pairs Competition at Hemsby Village Hall. Four teams on each of the four mats contested the Round Robin stage, with a winning pair and a runner-up pair from each group progressing to the Knock-out.
The first quarter final on Mat 1 between Jackie and Peter Matthews of Martham and Tom Gourlay and Tony Addy of Hemsby Harvesters ended in victory for Jackie and Peter. Mat 2’s pairs were Phil Fiske and Mike Brett from Bradwell Robins and Debbie and Ray Staniford representing Hemsby Beachcombers, the Hemsby pair emerged the winners. Woodbastwick Owls Norma and Peter Jablonowski played Lianne and Matthew Mills of Woodbastwick Eagles. Young Matthew playing in his first Coastal Competition bowled impressively with his mother to gain a victory against fellow Woodies. The last quarter final between Hemsby Beachcombers Vera Bowman and Alan Marker and Keith Baker and Ray Lamb from Bradwell Dynamos was a very close contest, the Beachcombers duo just pipping the Dynamos by one shot.
In the Semi Finals, played on mats moved from their initial positions, Jackie and Peter of Martham played excellent bowls to win 11-6 against Vera and Alan of the Beachcombers. Matthew again played very well with Lianne, but the Eagles pair could not quite overcome the strong pair of Beachcomber’s Debbie and Ray who won 8-4.
In an exciting final, Debbie’s lead bowls were consistently accurate, and Ray succeeded in putting his bowls in positions to make it difficult for Peter and Jackie to score. The match ended 13-3, but the score did not reflect the quality of another very good final. Debbie & Ray Staniford are pictured with their trophies.
