Wednesday’s dramatic one shot victory over Ireland was still fresh in the mind, and was a prize worth bringing home – though, at 99-99 with only one end to play, the tension was palpable.
‘To make matters worse, there was a mix-up with the scoring system,’ recalled Jersey team manager Gail Boswell.
‘The scoreboard showed us two shots in front – and we held two shots on Suzie Dingle’s rink, who were playing the last end, but suddenly they discovered the score was wrong and it was all square at 99-99.’ Panic did not set in, but the pressure was racked up considerably, as the Irish tried to disturb the head.
The bowls rattled around, but the all-important Jersey shot remained in place for a nail-biting and memorable victory.
In the last session, England managed to beat their traditional rivals, Scotland, 87-80, and regained the Eve Trophy – but their triumph was marred by murmurs of criticism from the Scots and the Welsh.
The English stood accused of bad sportsmanship, after lodging an official protest on Tuesday when two Welsh rinks had been drawn to play on the same rinks twice in one day.
The objection was sustained, and BIWBC officials agreed that the direction of play should be altered.
‘Quite simply, we didn’t think it fair that two Welsh rinks should have the advantage of playing on a rink they had been learning about all morning,’ said EWBA CEO Pauline Biddlecombe.
Biddlecombe vehemently denied that this was an unsporting action, and also poured scorn on suggestions from the Scottish and Welsh camps that the general behaviour of English players during the series had been stand-off-ish and arrogant.
