Ian ‘Gus’ Hodgetts and Cyril Renouf’s pairs final against Dickie and Terry Allen was close, tied at 13-all after 17 ends.
But Hodgetts and Renouf won three of the last four ends to take their place in the CI finals next month.
‘Yeah, I’m pleased with the pairs title win – but I lost the singles final (beaten by Jamie MacDonald) and another semi (men’s triples), so overall the weekend could have been better!,’ Hodgetts – aka Skippy to the bowlers – said.
However there was some consolation with a semi-final win in the men’s fours.
Hodgetts, who reached the British Isles triples in the past, said: ‘I’m not sure what year – probably 2003 – when we were knocked out in the semi-finals by one of the top-ranked bowlers in Britain.
But the great thing is that when you play the game at that level you are playing some of the best bowlers around.’ He is looking forward to the meeting with Guernsey.
‘They’re always competitive, no matter who’s playing, and on their home turf it’s going to be very tough,’ he said.
In the Ladies’ Fours final, Lindsey Greechan with her new team of Sue Noel, Chris Grimes and junior Rachel MacDonald, led from the start and saw off Alison Camacho, Betty Carré, Myrtle de la Haye and Carol Allen, 24-11.
‘This was the fourth year in a row I’d been in the winning four, with four different teams,’ Greechan said.
‘I hope we can take the triples title too.’ That final will pit Greechan’s team against the trio led by her mother-in-law, Helen.
‘We get on very well,’ Lindsey said, ‘I’m sure it’ll be a good competition.’ She was beaten in the singles final by Gaynor Thomas.
‘I was disappointed, but she played good bowls.
I had a couple of loose ends and she took advantage – it was nice to have got to the final again, at least.’ Now six months pregnant, Lindsey plans to take a break from bowling once the CI finals are over, early in January.
‘If we win the CI title, the British Isles competition is in April so I could probably go over for a couple of days – but we’ll have to wait and see what happens in Guernsey first.’ Three semi-finals were also played, the men’s fours, and the men’s and ladies’ triples.
Last year’s fours champs, Gus McKinnon, Ken McNeil, Kevin Le Long and Alex Stewart, were up against Gus Hodgetts, Cyril Renouf, Maurice Andrieux and Derek Boswell.
Hodgetts and co raced away, their flying start seeing them to a comfortable 21-13 victory.
They will play Thomas Greechan, John Lowery, Alan Shaw and Jamie MacDonald in tomorrow’s final, after Greechan’s quartet eased to a comfortable 18-9 win against Dickie and Terry Allen, Colin Horman and Brian Cabot.
Also on Friday, the Ladies triples final will see mother-in-law and daughter-in-law Helen and Lindsey Greechan on opposing teams after Helen, Brenda Foord and Gaynor Thomas beat Alison Camacho, Margaret Breen and Carol Allen 20-12, and Lindsey, Sue Noel and Chris Grimes beat Carol Ruderham, Tracy O’Connor and Josie Gregory 25-6.
Gus McKinnon, Derek Boswell and Scott Ruderham earned their final place against Roddy MacDonald, Kevin Le Long and Darren Clark 22-14, while Thomas Greechan, James MacDonald and junior Malcolm De Sousa beat Gus Hodgetts, Cyril Renouf and Maurice Andrieux 21-18.
This final takes place on Saturday.
