PAIRS REPORT

League games took a rest this week, as it was Pairs competition week, and in the Oxford pairs played at four different venues down to the winner at each, 2018 winners Ian & Steve McAteer from The White House battled their way through at Garsington Sports club to book a place in the semi-finals. In the 1st round they had a comfortable 2-0 win against Gary Coyle and Andy Gorge from The Catherine Wheel 7-5, 8-2. In the next round they found it a bit tougher against Yorkie Finney & Steve Buckle from The Blackbird. They won the first leg 5-4 and had to rely on three sticks in the next leg after it was tied 6-6. In the final game they were up against Simon Jones & Adrian Shepherd from The New Club, who had earlier thrown well to knock out the strong pairing of Kevin Giles & Chris Jenkins from The Gladiators. They won the first leg 6-3 and then were set 7 in the second leg. In reply Jones hit six but Shepherd could only hit one to send it to three sticks. The Glad’s pair winning it 3-0 to level. The final leg a set of 8 by Shepherd and Jones (4-4) was enough to see them through against the McAteer’s.
The New club pair set and won the first leg 7-6 with the McAteer’s winning the next leg 7-3. Final and deciding leg Jones & Shepherd could only set 4, in return a 1 from Steve and 4 from Ian saw them sneak over the line by the smallest of margins.
In an earlier round Chris Jenkins clanged off two sixes in their 2-0 win over Dan & Marcus Reading.

Played at The Tandem Mark Bayliss & Billy Trinder from Littlemore British Legion fought their way through after some close games. In the first round they saw off the Blackbird pairing of Garry Rees & James Dinnen effortlessly 2-0 in the scores of 4-3, 7-1. In the next round they came up against the Black Horse pair of Steve Ducker & Jason Fox. A set of 3 by Trinder & Bayliss was never going to be enough as The Black Horse pair passed that with sticks to spare. Trinder & Bayliss could only set 4 in the next leg which should have been an formality for Ducker & Fox, however they struggled and could only muster up a reply of 3, to give the Legion pair a lifeline, and they took ii in style. Setting again they whacked in a score of 8 which was more than enough to see them through.
In the final game they were pitted up against the Catherine Wheel pairing of Graham Hambridge & Johnny McMahon. In the first leg a set of 5 was enough to give the Legion pair an early lead. Four apiece from Hambridge & McMahon in the second leg was a good set, however Trinder & Bayliss matched it. In the three sticks Hambridge & McMahon set 2, in reply Trinder blobbed out, however Bayliss whipped off all three dolls to win the leg and game.

Played at The Gladiators, Phil Austin and Mick Phipps from The White House had to be on top form as they had some hard battles to make their way through. In the first round they beat Mark Rollins & Jeff Glenister from North Leigh FC 2-0 in the scores of 7-4, 6-5. In the next round they had a tough game against Kevin Stuart & Tom Finney from Littlemore British Legion that could have gone either way. Austin & Phipps won the first leg 6-5 and in the second leg both pairs hit 6, then 3 in the three sticker and one in the one stick shoot out. So back to six sticks and a set of 7 by Phipps and Austin was enough to send them through.
In the final game of the night against Derrick Slater & Willy Waite from Catherine Wheel Austin hit a six and Phipps a 3 for a total of 9 which was enough to win the opening leg. Slater and Waite then set a decent score of 8, however 5 from Austin and 4 from Phipps saw them sneak over the line to give them the leg and game.

The final set of games played at The Swan saw Chris Webb and Dale Jacobs from The Chequers A battle though as the only pair out of the topflight to qualify for the semi-finals. In an early round up against Brian Lester & Tony Gillett from Littlemore British Legion they won the first leg 5-4 and had to rely on three sticks in the next leg after it was tied 4-4.
The next round was a right humdinger against Roger Goodall & Darren Grant from The White House. Webb and Jacobs set the first leg with 8, in reply Goodall whipped off 5 dolls however Grant could only hit 2 to give the first leg to the Masons pair. Goodall and Grant levelled in the next leg setting and winning it 7-3. The final and deciding leg a 4 from Goodall and 5 from Grant gave them a formidable total of 9. Jacobs hit 3 in reply leaving Webb needing all six to tie and he was up for the task clanging off all six to tie the leg. The White House pair then put Webb and Jacobs in to set on the three sticker and it proved to be an error as they hit 4 between then, which proved to be enough as a 2 from Goodall and 1 from Grant left them one short.
In the final round they were drawn against a strong pairing from The Black Horse of Steve Ward & Steve Walton. A score of 9 including a six from Webb saw The Black Horse win the first leg 9-6. Second leg Ward & Walton set 6, in reply Jacobs hit 3 and Webb whipped of the four dolls needed to win the leg and game.
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In the Lower Pairs competition played at one venue down to the finalists at The Black Horse Kidlington, Chris Jilbert & Joe Bandrowski from The Masons Arms ‘B’ and Brian Lovatt & Adi Cox from Rose Hill Club succeeded in getting through some tough matches to make the final. In the first round Jilbert & Bandrowski eased into the second round beating brothers Tom & Luke Parsons from the Six Bells 2-0. In the next round pitted against another pair from The Six Bells Nick Edmonds & Dean Plumstead they dispatched them 2-0 in the scores of 7-3, 4-3. In The semi-final against Dave Rudman & David Lammin from Littlemore Rugby Club they lost their first leg of the competition when a set of 6 by the Rugby pair was enough to give them an early lead. Gilbert & Bandrowski hit straight back in the next leg 6-3 to level and then completed the turnaround in the final leg setting and winning it 4-1.
Lovatt and Cox were drawn against a strong pair of Brian Reidy and Danny Rawlings from The Tandem in the first round. A set of 4 was enough to give them the first leg. In the second leg Reidy and Rawlings levelled in the one stick shoot out after six sticks was tied 4-4 and three sticks also tied 1-1. Final and deciding leg went to Lovatt & Cox 5-3.
The next round they came up against teammates Ray Winfield & William Davenport who won the first leg 4-2. Lovatt and Cox could only set 3 in the second leg, however Winfield and Davenport could not take advantage and could only muster up 1 in reply to send it to a final leg. A set of 7 was enough to send Lovatt and Cox through.
In the Semi-final they were drawn against another pair of teammates Tony Eeles & Mark Faulkner, who set 4 which Lovatt & Cox matched. In the three sticks, chasing a set of 4 Lovatt hit 2 and Cox whipped off all three to give them the leg and level the match. The final and deciding leg Lovatt & Cox won 8-5.

SIXERS
C.Jenkins (Gladiators) 2
C.Webb (Masons Arms) 2
Simon Jones (New Club)
Phil Austin (White House)

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