DORCHESTER 60

FOXHILL 58

DORCHESTER edged past Foxhill in the quarter final of the National Denny Plate competition at neutral venue Lodden Vale in Basingstoke.

The hosts were hoping to get a Men’s team into the National Semi-final for the first time in the club’s 27 year history.

It was a closely-fought contest which saw Foxhill hold a narrow advantage for the majority of the game, with Dorchester hanging on to stay in touch.

At the midpoint, Buckinghamshire-based Foxhill held a 36-34 lead and it was clear that the contest was going to go to the wire.

No rink epitomised the topsy-turvy nature of the game more than the rink of Brian Paulson, Ged Costello, Phil Hallett and skipper Colin Gifford, who saw their 7-3 lead slip to end up 9-7 behind, before a huge twist in the last end saw them over the line.

Pressure had also built on the Kevin Holbrook, Leigh Meyers, Eddie Young and George Spracklen rink as they slumped to 9-0 down and were being out bowled by Foxhill skip Paul Maynard, but Spracklen and co chipped away at the deficit to get themselves near to level terms.

In stark contrast, Corbin-Willetts, Terry Greenman and Martin Patterson and top skip Nick Voss held their Foxhill opponents at bay, to lead 13-7, before losing ground over the next four ends.

The skipper led by example and kept a cool head as he regained control to take his four into another top rink situation.

Elsewhere, Clive Matthews, John Lawlor, Dave Joslin and skip Roger Nicholas built up a 12-10 lead after twelve ends before faltering on the run-in, losing the next five ends to be 18-12 behind after the completion of the penultimate end.

Despite the fall away on the Nicholas rink, the match moved into its closing stages with Dorchester responding on other rinks to close down the gap and eventually level the aggregate score to 55-55, with all rinks to play their final end.

The drama then unfolded as Nicholas dropped a two count on his final end, and Spracklen who had comeback in fine style was holding one shot for an outright win, before the Foxhill skip Maynard drew the shot for the opposition with his final bowl to secure a 13-12 win.

Voss’s rink gained a single shot on their final end to win 20-12, but amid great tension the Gifford rink which was trailing 13-12, secured a last-end haul of four shots and manufactured a critical 16-13 success that put the county town men into a national team event semi-final, for the first time since 1990.

The history making semi-final fixture will take place at a neutral venue in the Midlands on March 11, as they aim to overcome Darlington Bowls Club, who won the Denny Plate in 2009 and 2011.