WBT – @ West Lothian Indoor BC
Session 3
Paul Foster MBE was next onto the streaming stage at West Lothian and faced stalwart PBA member Paul Hartley in round 1. The former World Champion was in fine form in set 1 and converted well at end 4 to lead 6-0. Hartley to his credit barely put a foot wrong but just couldn’t get going on the draw and was under some real pressure to attack. The last end of play was a real showpiece with all eight bowls surrounding the jack, Paul Foster emerging with the shot and a comfortable first set win. Set 2 saw Hartley impose his own style of play on the match and returned to the familiar draw approach and forced his way into a 6-3 lead with 2 ends remaining. The Ayrshire man responded with a near perfect end, securing a treble and put the match into a last end ‘tie break’ style, he delivered with his last bowl of the end to turn the jack and leave Hartley with a less than favourable head to draw or attack. The Hartlepool man opted for an over the draw shot, just failing on the top side of his own bowl. Paul Foster MBE beat Paul Hartley 2-0 (11-0, 7-6).
Darren Burnett stormed to an 8-0 lead against Australian qualifier Chris Schell. The Aussie unlucky with a runner at end 5, finding the wrong side of a bowl with a conversion attempt. Schell did make his way onto the card before back-to-back singles sealed the set. Burnett continued to ask the questions into set 2, a run of four scoring ends, collecting a full count of 4 shots on the way saw him hold a familiar 10-1 lead in the second set before seeing the game out. Darren Burnett beat Chris Schell 2-0 (10-1, 10-2)
Aaron Johnson looked to provide another sizeable upset on Day One as he tackled current World Champion Jamie Walker. The U25 star seemed to be in full control of set 1 when he collected a full house on his way to a 10-7 Lead, however a slack last bowl at end 9 left Walker with the opportunity to tie the set, narrowly missing out at turning the jack, much to Johnsons relief. Johnson continued to set the pace in the match into set 2. Walker responded in a champions fashion, winning the latter ends to force the match into a tie-break. Walker held the shot at the conclusion of end 1, Johnson very unfortunate to see his last delivery fall out of the head after moving the shot bowl. He recovered to play one of the bowls of the day, facing a match lie against Johnson expertly drew the winner with dead weight and forced the game into a final end shoot out. Walker held the match lie once again, Johnson taking some time to decide his last bowl choice, opting to swap sides and play a weighted bowl to remove the closest two bowls and win the tie. Aaron Johnson beat Jamie Walker 2-1 (10-8, 4-8, 2-1)
David Gourlay MBE quickly deployed a ‘mat up’ tactic as he looked to shake qualifier James Rippey. A task that proved rather difficult with the Falcon man answering all the questions asked. A tremendous last end of set 1 saw the players share a combined 6 chalkers from their 8 deliveries. Rippey emerging victorious with a great running bowl with his last and via the umpire’s measure. The two could not be separated in set 2, Rippey scoring a single at end 8 to throw the game into a similar ‘tie-break’ shoot out. The qualifier emerged from end 1 of the tie breaker with two excellent bowls as good as back touchers, Gourlay levelled proceedings as he won end 2. A tense last end unfolded with gaps all round. Rippey was unfortunate with his 3rd delivery and David Gourlay survived a last bowl runner to book his place in round 2. David Gourlay beat James Rippey by 2-1 (6-8, 6-5, 2-1)
(Matt Osborne)
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