Mens Competition Report
Club Competition Secretary Report - Paul Hughes
This years Club Competitions Finals Day took place on Sunday 20th September. The fine weather helped ensure another enjoyable and entertaining day.
Finals Day had to be held over three sessions due to the success of Dave Bennett and in his first season with Greenbank Gerry Coffield reaching three finals.
The first final to be played was the Pairs which put the two successful club members against each other. Gerry’s partner was Richard Marsh who was
appearing in his first final at Greenbank. Dave’s partner was Roy Burnett and it seems this will be Roy’s last final at Greenbank as he will be moving back
to Weymouth shortly.
Rich and Gerry scored a five on the fourth end to take an early 6-2 lead, but this just seemed to inspire Dave and Roy who over the next seven ends built
a lead of 17-7, and with only five ends to play and 19-10 in front everything looked set for Dave and Roy to cruise to victory. Gerry and Rich had other ideas
and scored a six on the seventeenth end to set up a nail biting finish. But Dave and Roy held their nerve and won the remaining ends to win the Final 24-16.
Roy had lost in the Pairs final twelve months before and was delighted to have won a final in what looks like his last year with Greenbank.
The second session had two Finals. Firstly the Two Wood Final between Dave Bennett and John Ind. Unfortunately the rink did not suit Dave at all and he
may still have been celebrating his Pairs victory. John produced a masterly display of drawing and won the Final 21-4.
The Open Singles Final was between two players in their first season at Greenbank. Gerry Coffield and Steve Andrews. This final went right to the wire
and it was impossible to predict who would take their first Greenbank title. The open Singles Final is the best of three sets; each set is the race to
obtain nine shots. The first set was nip and tuck all the way, with there never being more than two shots between them until Gerry scored a three on the
tenth end to win the first set 9-6. Gerry started set two with a score of three and on the fourth end scored a full house of four to lead 7-3 only two shots
from victory. But Steve still had some fight in him and scored two three’s to win the second set 9-7. Steve started the Final set the stronger taking a 7-2
lead, but this time Gerry fought back and going into what proved to be the last end Steve lead 8-7. Gerry scored a double to take the title 9-8 in the Final
set. It could not have been closer.
The Final session started with the Billy Gibbons Final, which is for the clubs novices. This was a repeat of the Open Singles Final so Steve was looking
for revenge over Gerry. At nine ends it looked like another close final would develop, with the scores tied at seven all. But from then Steve took control
and revenge and won the Final 21-10.
To complete finals day the Premier Competition The Club Championship took place. This would be between Dave Bennett and Lee Peacock who was trying to win
the title for a remarkable third year in a row. Lee started strongly building up a 10-0 lead. Dave did then start to master the conditions and pulled back to
12-5. But Lee’s determination to retain his crown proved too strong and Lee stayed ahead and won decisively 21-9.