THIS weekend saw the climax of the annual Ron Thomas Memorial Pairs competition, an annual event which is popular with bowlers from across South Wales.

The numbers were whittled down during the week to allow the semi-final and final to be played on Sunday at the 4Wood green at Barry Island.

The first semi saw Brian Sage and Terry Bratcher build up a healthy lead over Jon Ackland and Matt Gershenson, however scoring ten shots over two ends left the Dinas pair just three shots behind with one end left.

The pressure was building on Whitchurch’s Brian Sage as the head developed in the Dinas pair’s favour, but he held his nerve to draw shot with his final bowl to secure his place in the final.

In the other semi, despite being close for most of the game Clive Todd and Richard Janes pulled away from Craig Maycock and Mark Jones over the last five ends to secure their place in the final.

The final started well with both sides trying to establish an advantage, but it was the Dinas Powys pair of Clive Todd and Richard Janes who found the pace of the green first and quickly established a commanding lead, eventually running out victors by 25 shots to 8.

They were presented with their trophy and winners’ cheques by Mary Thomas, with thanks to the kind sponsorship of BTI and Watkins and Gunn.

Tournament organiser Mike Vaughan, who had worked tirelessly throughout the week with his team of bar and kitchen staff to make the tournament a success said he was pleased with how the tournament had gone.

He said: "This is a very popular annual tournament, played on one of the best greens in Wales.

"It was played in the right spirit throughout and it was great to see a local pair pick up the honours."

Barry Athletic’s woes on the road continued as they slipped to another away defeat against Ystradfechan on the weekend, losing by nine shots.

There was some consolation for the Barry team, as they collected the points for winning the two rinks skipped by Richard Bowen and David Wright, but it was never going to be enough to overturn the overall deficit.

The match started quite well for Barry and the shots difference was very close at the mid point. Richard Bowen, up against the experience of Bob Gilbert and captain Mike Stuckey had built up a 14-4 lead, whilst David Wright had built a 12-6 lead over Chris Price.

Glyn Thomas, with pairs partner Martin Clarke at third, was in touch with the rink of Ceri Evans but five shots dropped on the 10th end contributed to a 14-5 deficit they were never going to fully claw back, eventually slipping to a four shot defeat.

Robert Horgan’s rink with Dick Cowling at third were always in trouble against former Athletic player Mark Thomas. With Lol Paige and Chris Wright failing to match the consistency of the home side’s front end, Robert was always looking to defend on the challenging Treorchy surface.

With the majority of bowls in the head, Mark Thomas was able to frustrate the experienced Barry skip and record a 14 shot home victory to win 23-9.

Elsewhere, Bob Gilbert was making a determined comeback against Richard Bowen, winning four ends in a row including a count of four on the 13th end to reduce the deficit to 14 shots to 11.

Another run of four ends saw the score move the home rink within two shots of the Barry rink, but a determined effort with telling bowls when needed by Russ Harris, John Caldwell and Geoff Whittaker saw Richard Bowen navigate his way to another rink win, returning a 20-16 scorecard.

David Wright - with Peter Rogers very effective again at third - were able to build on their advantage at 10 ends and open up a 21-7 lead. At this point the Barry side were in a good position overall to build their advantage and take the away victory and the important winning bonus points.

However, a disastrous run over the last five ends saw the Barry rink have their lead cut by 9 shots and gave the home side the advantage needed to record the valuable win.

Despite this third away loss in a row, the Barry side are still optimistic on their prospects of survival in the top division, however next up was buoyant Carruthers semi-finalists Merthyr West End, where the home side slipped to their first home defeat of the season.

Barry had home advantage on the 4Wood green at Barry Island, but it was the visitors that demonstrated the mastery of the surface as they cruised to a 53 shot victory over a depleted Barry side.

All four of the Barry rinks slipped to defeat with only Glyn Thomas’s rink showing any resistance against their opponents, eventually losing by seven shots.

The rinks of Robert Horgan, Richard Bowen and David Wright were all well beaten on the day with many of the Barry players not performing at anything close to their ability, nor at the level required to be competitive in what is the toughest league in Welsh bowls.

Elsewhere, the PG2 side had back to back fixtures to cement themselves as promotion favourites.

The weekend started well with a comfortable victory against Cardiff Athletic, winning 12 of the 14 points available with rink wins by Paul Webley, Mike Vaughan and Dave Snelling setting the foundation for the victory.

This match was quickly followed by a visit to Pontyclun where a victory would have ensured promotion back to the top division. However, with several of the squad called up to fill gaps in the first team, a depleted Barry side could only manage four points and suffered their first defeat in 8 matches.

Rink wins were secured by Paul Webley by three shots, including an eight on the 20th end, and Mike Vaughan, who played exceptionally well with his father William at third to come away with a one shot victory. However rink defeats for Dave Snelling by nine shots, normally so reliable this season, and Albert Mintern saw the Athletic lose narrowly by an eight shot margin.

Over the next couple of weeks the season’s spoils will be decided and there is still much to play for.

The Athletic’s first team are in a four way battle for survival in the top division and with 84 points still to play for, there is much optimism that sufficient points can be collected to avoid relegation.

The PG2 side are realistically looking for one more win to guarantee promotion but will also be eyeing up the champions tag, as they battle with St Fagans for the crown.

And with a place in the Alun Martin Final to play against Penarth Windsor and a battle with Barry Romilly for the top spot in the Munro Cup, the Athletic players will need to regroup after a disappointing weekend to show their mettle in the closing few weeks of the season.