Paulley holds his nerve

8:45am Wednesday 9th April 2008

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BEN Paulley came back from the brink of defeat to capture the Dorset Indoor BA singles title after a thriller at Bournemouth.

Dorchester's Nick Voss looked as though he would emulate his younger brother Andrew when holding a match lie at 19-13 lead after 19 ends but Paulley survived that crisis and grew in stature to triumph 22-19.

It completed a county singles hat-trick for the 20-year-old Dolphin member who is a past holder of the under-25 and under-18 trophies and who lost the senior final 21-13 to Andrew Voss last season.

After being 9-8 ahead Nick Voss added a treble to go 12-8 in front and another count of three on the 17th extended the margin to 19-12.

Voss was unfortunate not to add another single on the next end after trailing the jack but only to a Paulley wood.

However, that looked merely a stay of execution for Paulley when Voss held two shots on the 19th end. Paulley fired and missed with his third delivery but his final throw of the dice hit the target, carried the jack into the ditch and gave him a single.

That proved to be the defining end of the match. Paulley was off the hook and the fact that he was still alive and kicking sent his confidence soaring while Voss could never quite recreate the consistency that had put him in such a commanding position.

A double on the next end followed by a Paulley treble levelled matters at 19-19 before he produced a first-wood toucher on the 22nd end to ease 20-19 in front.

That double contained probably the shot of the season. With one shot already in the bag Paulley might easily have settled for that as it was a cluttered and precarious head but he opted to play his final bowl threading it inch perfect into the slenderest of gaps to rest alongside the jack.

Paulley - a national under-25 semi-finalist at Loddon Vale last month - held shot early on the last end and when he placed a second less than a foot from the jack Voss was unable to alter the situation.

Paulley completed a double in the afternoon when combining with Phil Lawrence and Chris Weekes to land the triples 20-8 against Keith Norman, Mike Beales and Clive Bunford of Bournemouth.