It’s been a long wait, but finally SPBC has some silverware coming to the club – with Scott Walker and Glenn Pauling taking out the prestigious Doubleview Masters Pairs on Tuesday night. It is the first major title for either player, with the pair knocking on the door of a big win after several deep runs in big tournaments over the years.
| Glenn Pauling & Scott Walker | Ends | Kyle Mcllroy & Mark Simpson |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 19 | 10 |
In the Sunday sectional play, Scott and Glenn escaped with a 1-shot win first up over Scott Edmonds & Ross Dempsey – courtesy of a last end 5. They then beat State Over 60’s pair champions Jim Barry & Bruce Eagles by 10, and despite losing their last game by 5 shots to Sam Perica and Harold Christensen they sneaked through the section on percentage.
In the Monday knockout stage, Scott couldn’t get the time off work to play, so in stepped Farley Anderson – a previous winner of the event with Neil Payne in 2011. Farley lead superbly, and the first knockout game against current Stirling Premier League skips Paul Kelly and Dinko Golem was effectively over after just a handful of ends. Leading 18-1, the South Perth duo were in complete control, and Stirling called an end to the game with 5 ends to play.
The second knockout game went much the same as the first. Despite changing greens, to a quicker surface, and a very stiff breeze, Farley in particular made the game look easy. Again the South Perth duo raced to a 18-1 lead, playing the Bassendean pair of Chris Margin and Andy Elmer. Chris then sunk the jack for 3, giving the pair hopes of a revival, but despite some close heads and good conversions Glenn and Farley ran out winners 25-5.
It was still unknown whether Scott could get time off to play the semi final on Tuesday morning, but at 9am he was given the all clear from his work, and it was back to the long standing Walker / Pauling combination. Their semi final opponent was the in-form Brad Ball from Sorrento, with the very experienced Steve Novak. Brad & Steve had just knocked out South Perth pair Neale Griffin and Mitch Biglin in the quarter finals, in a very high standard tight match.
The South Perth duo started well, leading 9-2 and playing consistent bowls, but Brad and Steve steadied and got a run on – culminating in a 4 to level the match at 9-9. Scott and Glenn then won 4 of the next 5 ends, and going into the last they held a 5 shot lead. Despite some fantastic shot-making from both Brad and Steve, with both killing ends, they couldn’t get the shots needed and Scott and Glenn were into the final. Total match time was 4 hours 10 minutes – a marathon, which included at least 8 killed ends.
The Final was against two of the best bowlers in WA – local Doubleview player Kyle Mcllroy and Mark Simpson from Dudley Park. The game was one of contrasts – Kyle and Mark were preferring a short length, by bringing the mat up and playing to a T-length jack. Scott and Glenn were generally playing 3/4 to full length jacks. There was also a noticeable difference in tempo – with Kyle and Mark quick players on the mat and the crossover.
Played over 19 ends, no side was able to gain an advantage in the first half of the game, and the most a team conceded was two shots. At 10-10 Scott and Glenn managed to string multiple end wins together, and going into the last they had a 6 shot lead. Given the tight nature of the game, it was always going to be a monumental task for Kyle and Mark to get a 6 to force an extra end, and so it proved – with Kyle’s last bowl drive snicking the jack but staying inbounds.
Congratulations Scott & Glenn, a fantastic result individually as well as for South Perth. Also a huge well done to super-sub Farley Anderson who stepped in for Scott and played magnificently!