Monday 4th March

Our final game of the season was against our own Barracudas. The Sharks went into this game in 2nd place 9 points behind league leaders the Sabres from El Cid so whilst it was mathematically possible for us to win the league we needed two 10-0 results to go our way. We also knew that the Barracudas were going to make us work hard for every point and so it turned out

On rink 2 Graham Marshall, Steve Inglis and Joyce Pope were neck and neck for the first 10 ends against Bert McLean, Pam Coombe and Neville Allen. However, ends 11, 12 and 13 saw them drop 13 shots to go behind 11-24 – it was never going to be easy to recover with so few ends left and they eventually went down 16-26

On rink 3 Trefor Evans with Linda and Richard Saunders were up against Jeff Stevens, Mike Woodage and Fely Croft. There were some very tight heads early on which could have been won by either team but our opponents had the edge after the first 8 ends leading 10-2. However, a spirited fightback saw our guys win the next 5 ends establishing a 1 shot lead in the process. With both teams playing well an exciting finish was on the cards and so it proved. The next 4 ends were shared with the lead changing hands twice more before we went into the final end with a slender 1 shot lead 15-14. After the lead bowls we held shot but there were plenty of opportunities available for both sides but in the end the shot bowl stayed in place and we secured a 16-14 win

On rink 4 Ernie Pope with Grace and Gary Murphy lost 4 of first 5 ends to trail 2-11. However, they steadily played their way back into the game by winning 8 of the next 11 ends to draw level 15-15 after 16 ends. However, their opponents held their nerves and secured the final 2 ends to take the win 21-15

On rink 5 Jeff and Linda Richard with Richard Potts lost 4 of the first 7 ends against Mary and Bob Cockell with Sheila Fairburn but still lead 9-8. On the next 7 ends they scored 13 shots against their opponents 3 shots to establish a 24-11 lead  and whilst they lost 3 of the final 4 ends they secured the win by 27-14

So honours even on the rink and with only 1 shot separating the teams overall (75-74) the Barracudas took the bonus points to win 6-4 overall

As it happened the Sabres beat their own Swords 10-0 so congratulations to them on securing the Northern League title and whilst the Calpe Orcas won all 10 points against the Bonalba Steeds our 4 points were enough to secure 2nd place in the league

Well done Sharks – a great season!