ROSS Davis and Malcolm de Sousa held their nerve in a dramatic tie-break to claim a thrilling victory over Niue as Jersey’s bowls campaign continued at the Commonwealth Games.
The island pair looked in complete control after racing into a 7-2 first-set victory, but a spirited response from the Polynesian nation forced the contest into a winner-takes-all tie-break after Jersey slipped to a 5-1 defeat in the second set.
With the match hanging in the balance, it was de Sousa who produced the decisive moment.
Facing just 30 seconds to decide on his shot, the Jerseyman delivered a superb bowl with his penultimate delivery to turn the head in Jersey’s favour before Niue’s final attempt drifted agonisingly wide.
“It was a bit of a relief,” admitted de Sousa afterwards.
“We didn’t really know what shot to play in the end, whether to get closer or cover the tee, and with only 30 seconds you don’t really have much time to talk about it. Luckily they just missed the jack and we came out winners.”
Ross Davis felt the pair had been forced to dig deep after their opponents found another level in the second set.
“We got off to a good start in the first set,” he said. “The second set was a bit more of a struggle. They definitely came onto their game and started to find the line better.”
The victory leaves Jersey with two wins from four matches ahead of their final group fixture against Wales.
“We know the Welsh boys quite well,” Davis added. “We’ll go out there, try and beat them and have some fun.”
Earlier in the day, Abbey Andrieux suffered a fifth successive defeat in the women’s singles, going down in a tie-break to Malta’s Connie-Leigh Rixon despite another spirited display.
The Commonwealth debutant grew into the contest after a difficult opening set but was unable to overturn a strong Malta performance.
