BARRY Romilly Bowls Club held their joint ladies and gents finals day last Saturday at Romilly Park, with four games taking place in conditions ideal for bowling, despite the weather forecast of heavy showers.

The first session contained both ladies' and men’s novice four bowl singles and two wood singles. Angela Hort comfortably beat Bonnie Harvey 22-7, winning twelve of the seventeen ends played in the novice final, while the two bowl between Myra Newman and Beryl Holmes saw Holmes comfortably beating her opponent, 16-6.

The men's games were expected to be very entertaining, with the two wood affair – a contest between Brian Foscolo and Graham Cogbill – going into the final end with Cogbill 13-12 up, before securing a 15-12 win overall.

The other men’s game saw Dennis Mottram playing Barrie Griffiths, attempting to win the Mottram Cup which had been presented to the club by Dennis’s father on behalf of his grandfather. Mottram did indeed secure a hugely sentimental victory, beating Griffiths 21-8.

The second session consisted of ladies' pairs, men’s handicap and two wood triples.

The ladies four wood pairs was played between Alma Shepherd and Myra Newman against Bonnie Harvey and Joan Walden, with the game remaining close up until the twelfth end with Shepherd and Newman just one shot ahead. Over the next five ends however, Shepherd and Newman extended their lead and eventually went on to win the tie 25-13.

The men’s triples saw Cogbill back on the green partnered by Alan Bannister and Paul Swannick, who helped him to continue his winning ways against the triple of Jerry Daly, Alfie Woolcock and Gwynne Rees 20-11.

The men’s handicap brought Mottram back to the green once more, this time losing out to James in a 24-17 thriller.

The afternoon session contained four games – the men’s rinks and pairs and both ladies' and men’s championships.

The rink of Jerry Daly/Dave Noble/Paul Swannick and Mel Newman outpointed the rink of Alfie Woolcock/Terry Bloomfield/Gwynne Rees and Mike Doyle after a close game that finished 25-15.

The men’s four wood pairs once again brought together Cogbill and Foscolo in opposition, Cogbill joined by Mottram playing their third game of the day and Foscolo partnered by vice-captain Kelvyne Mills. As expected, Mills and Foscolo took control after the seventh end, bowling well to win comfortably 22-11.

The championship finals were between ladies Myra Newman and Angela Hort and the men’s between Jeff Wright and Clive Collins. Ironically, Newman and Hort had played the Ladies Handicap the previous evening with Hort receiving four shots start, and although Hort held the advantage until the 19th, the experienced Newman took command to win 21-16.

The championship game between these two players mirror imaged their previous game, with Hort playing well and forcing Newman to pull out all the stops to remain in touch. Similarly to the handicap final however, the experience of Newman once again came to the fore as she won 21-16.

The men’s championship turned into a thriller as the lead repeatedly changed hands and with the scores level at 12-12 after fourteen ends. Wright scored a maximum to get his head in front, but Collins fought back once again to level on the eighteenth end.

Wright then scored two ones on ends 19 and 20 to go ahead by two. Collins scored three singles to move back in front at 19-18, only for Wright to do enough to turn the tie around on the final end.

A brilliant day was enjoyed by all, with the weather remaining kind to all bowlers. The club would also like to thank Terry Bloomfield and his assistant Paul Clarke, who kept the barbecue going throughout the day, and the ladies for serving teas, coffees and cakes.