Broadway seal last-end thriller (From Evesham Journal)

Broadway seal last-end thriller

3:50pm Saturday 23rd June 2012 in Sport

BROADWAY won 39-38 on a thrilling extra end to get the better of Worcester in the national double rink bowls competition.

Facing an uphill task against a team of Middleton Cup bowlers, a nail-biting finish was required after the game finished allsquare.

Andrew Walters was pitted against Rob Stanley’s rink as Broadway scored six shots to lead 16-9 and extended the scoreline to 20-10 with one end to go.

But a bad end saw four shots disappear as Walters won 20-14.

Steve Aldren’s rink against Andy Wills was 11-4 down after seven ends but nine shots without reply saw him edge ahead.

Wills’ rink hit back and won five ends on the run to establish a 24-17 lead. With the pressure mounting, Colin Cooper managed to draw the shot before the skips went to bowl. Wills was unable to change the head with his two woods and Aldren narrowly missed an opportunity to force the game into an extra end for Walters and Stanley.

Stanley fired his final throw into the pack only for the jack to richochet and finish next to a Broadway wood for the narrowest of victories.

In a Concorde League game, Broadway entertained Pershore, who shocked the hosts with a 101-93 victory by winning three out of five rinks.

Pershore captain Mike Laight was in good form as he got the better of John Oliver by scoring 12 shots without reply on the last eight ends to win 27-13.

Mike Curran scored freely against Dennis Hall to establish a 26-7 lead but 10 shots on the last three ends made the score look more respectable at 26-17.

Mark Rainbow was always behind against Neil Richardson and went down 23-14.

Broadway had two winning rinks with Cooper finishing stronger than Maurice Rogers to win by five shots, while Aldren won 28-9.

Rink scores (Broadway first): N Furminger, M Allard, M Aubrey, RJ Oliver 13, S Brough, J McKeon, C Thring, M Laight 27; N Goodman, B Sturgess, A Beale, C Cooper 21, B Holloway, D Lee, J Hall, M Rogers 16; T Chambers, E Shorthouse, D Cresswell, S Aldren 28, J Verrall, G Russell, P Allies, D Hutchings 9; D Oldcorn, H Keyte, B Ford, M Rainbow 14, B Denyer, L Yarranton, C Lee, N Richardson 23; T Mao, D Bartlett, A Stretton, D Hall 17, A Gobbin, A Fletcher, C Tustin, M Curran 26.