SATURDAY and Sunday saw the culmination of the summer rounds in both Men's and Ladies' Club competitions at Penarth Bowling Club.

With reasonably settled and fine weather anticipated the weekend's event commenced with the Ladies 2 wood Novice final competed between Christina Church and Pam Halbert.

A game scheduled for 21 ends only took 14 to reach a result, as Christina managed to take complete control and post an unassailable lead of 17-2. Pam battled hard throughout but was not able to overcome the more experienced opponent.

Tony Holmes and Alex Forsyth took on Clive Fry and Mike England in the 4 wood final which Clive and Mike dominated for most of the game.

They led 21-6 by the 12th end and seemed home and dry.

However a spirited fight back resulted in a final score of 24-14 in favour of Mike and Clive. Shots lost over the early ends made life very difficult for Tony and Alex.

Mixed pairs finalists were Sandra Roberts and Bob Horne up against Joan and Bob Lewis. Again early dominance saw Joan and Bob command a 18-6 lead after 13 ends. Their lead was never threatened and they ran out comfortable winners by 19-10.

The afternoon session commenced at 2pm with Viv Duckers and Jayne Edwards taking on Chris Davies and Kath Jenkins. In a very close and competitive encounter, when the lead changed at least 8 times, Viv and Jayne were able to score a total of 5 shots on the last 3 ends to overhaul a 11-14 losing position to win by 16-14 and take the Ladies 4 wood pairs title.

Nearby the men's 2 wood final was being fought out between Tony Holmes and Neil Gaskell.

The designated 21 ends were not needed as Tony was able to command a lead of 10 shots on the 17th end, with Neil not able to catch him. The run of 8 secured shots over the last 5 ends ensured that Tony took the title.

Tony Holmes was back on the green to do battle for the men's handicap title with Paul Church his opponent. Again the result was influenced and settled through the early ends when Tony secured a lead of 14 shots, going on to win by 21-7.

Sunday morning at 10.00 am saw a bright and breezy Tony Holmes partner Alex Forsyth against Mike England and Ken Thorne, competing in the men's 2 wood final over 21 ends.

Tony and Alex controlled the first 9 ends to hold a confident 10-3 lead. However they failed to score on the next 6 ends enabling Ken and Mike to draw level at 10-10.

Tony and Alex then regained the initiative took control again to run out 18-13.

The ladies 2 wood pairs involved the experienced Tricia Brinkworth paired with Viv Duckers against Kath Jenkins and Christina Church. Kath and Chris raced away to a 13-0 lead after 7 ends and maintained the upper hand throughout to secure a confident win by 27-11.

Two of the elder statesmen of the club pitted their wits in the Men's Senior final.This game was knock for knock throughout 25 ends played, before Bob just managed to wrestle the game from Phil picking up 3 shots to run out winner by 23-18. One for the connoisseurs was this.

The Jean Alexander Memorial Cup was won this year by Christina Church and Pam Halbert who were just too good for the brave pairing of Sandra Roberts and Jayne Edwards. Steady bowling by both pairs ensured an enjoyable battle with Chris and Pam securing a win by 17-11

With all the supporting games being concluded, the main events were then eagerly awaited.

The Ladies and Men's Champions were to be decided at 4pm.

Wendy Grant was to take on Viv Duckers in what turned out to be an intriguing affair Viv putting up a brave showing against her experienced opponent. Viv in fact managed to hold the lead by 11-10 at the 10th end before Wendy took charge and ran out the winner and champion by 21-12.

Wendy scored a total of 10 shots in the closing 4 ends to make sure of a comfortable win in the end.

At the same time, Tony Holmes made his fifth appearance of the weekend when he came to contest the Championship with Ken Thorne.

Ken stole the initiative during the early ends and led by 10-5 after 9 ends. Tony by this time was looking for a boost of energy, which duly came around the 13th end. With the scores even at 13 all on the 17th end, he picked up a full house and then two singles to lead 19-13.

Back came Ken with a pair of two's for a score or 17-19.

Tony however steeled himself to collect 2 shots on the next and final end to run out champion by 21-17.

Congratulations to all finalists and competitors throughout the summer and the organisers and officials on the day. It all went very smoothly, I think