NICK VOSS 21 BARRY PATTERSON 18

THE National Singles Area Final proved to be a titanic struggle between two of the top Dorset bowlers.

Moonfleet stalwart Barry Patterson, with nearly 30 years of experience to draw on, went head-to-head with Dorchester’s 24-year-old England junior international Nick Voss.

It was Patterson who was first to shine with a series of deliveries of the highest quality, which gave the impression that he was about to completely blow Voss away.

Patterson stormed to a 10-1 lead and Voss was struggling to find a way to break his opponent’s superb consistency.

Sheer grit kept Voss in the game as he inched his way back into contention.

And he finally managed to gain some reward for his telling bowls by taking five of the next six ends to reduce the deficit to a single shot – but he still trailed 11-10.

It was then the turn of Patterson to go back on the offensive as he extended his lead to 16-10 thanks to three consecutive singles and a brace.

The match continued to ebb and flow with bowls of near perfection as the struggle for supremacy switched from one player to the other.

It took Voss 25 ends before he took the lead for the first time at 18-17, only for Patterson to level, leaving the game evenly poised at 18-18 .

With the outcome uncertain it was Voss who secured a vital count of two shots, leaving him requiring a single for victory.

Play paused on neighbouring rinks as Patterson faced a game down situation and, when his firing shots failed to dislodge, it was a relieved Voss who took the spoils and the reward of a place in the last 32.

The National Singles Finals will be held at Melton Mowbray, starting on Friday, April 11 and Voss will face Lee Barber of Bounds Green (Middlesex) in an afternoon first round game.