NatWest Island Games round-up

Janice Gower reports from the NatWest Island Games

Session 1

In the first session of the day of the Open Triples, the feature match, the replay for which is available on our YouTube channel, was Orkney vs Falkland Islands Men. Four shots were exchanged in the first four ends, and this first quarter theme set the tone for the remainder of the match. With two ends to go it didn’t seem out of reach for Orkney who were trailing 7-11 at this point, that was until skip Mark Causer pulled his firing shot slightly wide allowing Falkland Islands to secure another two shots on the 14th end. The bell sounded and Falklands knew they mustn’t drop a big count. A fire from Orkney saw the jack bounce into the ditch, but that wasn’t enough to close the gap.

The other morning match between Guernsey Men and the Jersey Ladies was an equally close affair. Guernsey got off to a great start picking up a three on the first end before Jersey came back to take the lead. Guernsey, having wobbled against the Falkland Islands the day before, looked vulnerable at this point. Trading shots, Guernsey picked up a 2 before dropping 1 to Jersey and then pulled ahead by picking up a very important 4 shots, and Guernsey just had to hang onto their four point advantage until the end of the session. The bell sounded with Jersey needing a three to take the win, but Guernsey did enough taking three shots on that end and the two points for the game. 

Session 2

Guernsey Ladies Triples secured their spot in the final following a win over Western Isles. The Guernsey Ladies Triple made up of Ali Merrien MBE, Shirley Petit and Catherine Bonsall, will now face the winners of Group A tomorrow morning at 9am. Tune into live coverage of this match on the Guernsey Indoor Bowling YouTube. We caught up with Ali Merrien MBE following her match against the Western Isles, see our exclusive interview on our Facebook page.

The Jersey Men secured a bronze medal in this session with a strong win over the Falkland Island Ladies Triple. This will be presented at tomorrow morning’s medal ceremony following the Open Triples final. 

Session 3

The third session saw Falkland Islands Men triumph over the Ynys Mon triple to secure their spot in tomorrow morning’s final against the Guernsey Ladies. Lead Ollie Thompson and second Chris Locke both played their part throughout the game, but Cecil Alexander made a massive difference as skip which saw them pull away from their opponents. This will be a first international final for Ollie Thompson and Chris Locke, who are both relishing the opportunity to play at this level. 

The other match in this session was between Orkney and Jersey Ladies, which was a very friendly match with both teams enjoying their time on the rink. The Orkney team was ultimately successful which allowed them to go into the evening session with the hope of winning the bronze medal in this event.

Session 4

Session 4 was a battle for the bronze medal in Group A of the Open Triples, with Falkland Island Men having already taken the top spot to move into the final. It was Guernsey Men vs Orkney, each equal on match wins, all to play for. The Guernsey team started strong, picking up a few big scores, which meant that Orkney struggled to catch up despite some close heads and great shots. A few unlucky shots for Orkney nearer the end of the match meant that the Guernsey Men took the bronze medal with a 21-10 finish. 

The other game on the go was Ynys Mon vs Jersey Ladies, each yet to win a game. It was a friendly match that started out close, but the Jersey Ladies began to pull away to place above Ynys Mon in the final positions, with a score of 21-7.

Join us for the final of the Open Triples on Tuesday 11th July at 9am, we will be livestreaming the full match on YouTube (search Guernsey Indoor Bowling).