It was Ruderham’s second visit to the flagship event of British bowls, and he smiled ruefully as he recalled his first experience in Belfast two years ago: ‘I came up against Scotland’s world-class Wayne Hogg, and he beat me 21-13, but I learnt a lot, and was pleased with my performance today.’ Scott added: ‘Today I started really well, and was 6-0 up after only three ends, then Barry started to find it, and overtook me at 11-7 after 10 ends, and I wondered what I had to do to turn things around.’ When Kane, a highly experienced operator, took the mat up the rink and attempted to deliver a dead short length, he overthrew the jack, and lost it in the ditch.
And that was when Scott played his joker.
‘He handed me the mat, expecting me to take it back to its base position, but I decided to play him at his own game, and it threw him completely,’ said Scott.
‘It was a bold psychological move on my part, but it paid off handsomely.’ Scott regained his touch, and, to the delight of his Jersey team-mates, who cheered him on from the bank, he played consistently, dropping only one more shot as he piled up 14 over the next ten ends to clinch his place in the semi finals.
Standing between young Ruderham and a place in tomorrow’s final is Welsh teenager Ross Tomlinson, a clubmate of John Price at Port Talbot, while Scotland’s Iain McLean, who is also running in the senior event, and Devon star Sam Tolchard clash in the other semi final.
In today’s fours semi final, Jamie MacDonald, Alan Shaw, John Lowery and Thomas Greechan have the task of taking on the England champions, skipped by Steve Tuohy, who chalked up a 31-8 win over Wales yesterday.
