But, in a cruel turn of fate, Renouf, who had played some outstanding bowls, pushed an enemy bowl into the count, allowing Wales to score a championship winning treble that gave them victory, 16-15.
Jersey had led throughout, except for a brief spell early on, and, with the score 15-13, their followers held their breath as the Welsh duo established a lie of two shots that would have tied things up at 15-15.
‘I had to try to get one in,’ said Renouf.
‘If I had left things as they were, Robert would probably have drawn another shot, so I gave it my best, and made sure I was up.’ His well-weighted delivery was only the width of a bowl off-target, but it ploughed agonizingly into a short Welsh bowl, and promoted it into a scoring position.
Selway punched the air with delight, and Renouf threw his duster on to the green, but there was no way back – the match was over in the most disappointing and unsatisfactory manner.
‘Yes, of course we’re disappointed,’ said Renouf.
‘But if you had told us at the start of the tournament that we’d be getting a silver medal, we’d have bitten your hand off!’ Jersey had reached the final with a fine 23-20 win over Spain, which was more comfortable than the score suggests.
Boswell and Renouf had recovered from 0-7 to take the lead at 16-11, and went into the last end with a cushion of seven shots at 23-16, before dropping four shots, which merely made the Spanish defeat more respectable.
Fate was cruel to Chris Grimes and Lindsey Greechan, too.
The Jersey pair looked certain to reach the final when they led top Scots Kay Moran and Margaret Letham, 12-4, with only four ends left to play.
A five for Scotland changed everything, and three successive Scottish singles tied things up at 12-12 after the allotted 18 ends, so that an extra end was required.
As the rain started, Greechan killed the extra end the first time of asking, and came close to claiming the vital shot on the replay, but the Scots collected a crucial double to take them into the final.
Unlucky to be consigned to the bronze medal play-off after lunch, Grimes and Greechan were pipped 19-15 by Israel’s Irit Grenchel and Ruti Gilor.
Following the completion of the pairs and triples events, the five-strong teams from thirteen countries will now re-group to challenge for singles and fours titles.
Gaynor Thomas will carry Jersey’s hopes in the singles, while Grimes, Joan Renouf, Liz Cole and Greechan line up in the fours.
In the men’s event, Jamie MacDonald occupies the singles berth, while Boswell, Alan Shaw, Renouf and Thomas Greechan form a formidable quartet.
