PAIRS REPORT

League games took a rest this week, as it was Pairs competition week, and in the Oxford pairs played at two different venues down to the finalists at each, The 2024 final between winners and holders Chris Webb and Dale Jacobs from The Masons Arms and Ian & Steve McAteer from The White House was repeated in the first round played at The Ampleforth Arms. With the game nicely poised at a leg each the Masons pair set the final and deciding leg with 7, which was not quite enough as both McAteer’s hit 4 apiece to see them win the leg to proceed to the next round. In the next round they were drawn against a strong pairing of Mark Bayliss and Billy Trinder from Littlemore British Legion ‘A’. The Legion pair set and won the first leg on three sticks 3-2 after it was tied 5-5 in the six sticks. McAteer’s levelled in the second leg setting and winning it 6-4. Legion set the final leg with 5 which proved to be no problem for the McAteer’s as they surpassed that hitting 6 with sticks to spare.
In the next round they had a right ding dong battle against Kevin Baker & Scott Thompson from Littlemore British Legion ‘C’. A straightforward first leg win 5-4 went to the Legion pair however after that it could have gone either way. Baker & Thompson set the second leg with 6 which the McAteer’s matched. They both hit 2 in the three sticks and 1 in the oner sticker, so back to six sticks where the Legion pair set 6. McAteer’s were up to the task and whipped off the seven dolls needed to win the leg and send it to a final deciding leg. The Legion pair set again with 6, which was matched by the McAteer’s. Baker & Thompson set an impressive 4 in the three sticker however once again the McAteer’s were not to be beaten with Steve hitting two and son Ian clanging off all three to win the leg in an exciting close game and send them through to the semi-final play offs.
Pete Rampton and Steve Walton from The Black Horse ‘A’ will be joining them after they battled their way through. In the first round they came up against a formidable pairing of Pip Goulding and Pete Shepherd from The New Club and the first leg was a long drawn-out affair. With the New Club pairing setting every throw it started off with them both hitting 6 apiece. Three sticks were tied as well as the one sticker so back to six sticks which Goulding and Shepherd won 8-6. Rampton and Ward set and won the second leg 8-3 to send it to a final leg. A poor set by Goulding and Shepherd of 2 was never going to be enough to trouble the Black Horse pairing as Rampton hit the three dolls needed himself.
In the next round they were up against their B team, teammates Alan Goodgame and Alan Surman who set a challenging 8 in the first leg, which they matched. Three sticks were tied before Rampton and Walton won the leg on one stick. A set of 4 by Rampton and Walton was nowhere enough to trouble Goodgame and Surman who hit 5 to level the game, however a set of 4 in the final and deciding leg never troubled Rampton and Walton who passed that with sticks to spare.
In their final game of the night against Ray Cooper & Adey Cooper from Yarnton British Legion they scrapped by in the first leg. When chasing a set of 6, Rampton only hit two leaving Walton to whip off the five dolls needed to win the leg by the smallest of margins. They then set and won the next leg with a score of 6.

There were some shock results played at The Masons Arms with the unlikely Section 2 pairings of Tom Finney & Steve Buckle from The Blackbird and Jack Lane & Patrick Giraleo from The Six Bells fighting their way to the semi-final playoffs.
Finney & Buckle had a bye in the first round and were then drawn against a strong pair from The White House Phil Austin and Mick Phipps who won the first leg 7-5. Finney and Buckle only set 4 in the second leg which should have been a formality for the White House pair, however they struggled and could only match the score. A set of 2 in the three sticks by the Blackbird pair was enough to win them the leg. Finney and Buckle set the final and deciding leg with an imposing 9 which was more than enough to see them through. In the final round they beat Keith Powell and Lee Thompson from The Swan 2-0 in the leg scores of 6-4, 3-2.
Jack Lane and Patrick Giraleo had a tough first round game against Adam Williams and Yorkie Finney from The Blackbird. With the game poised at a leg each the Blackbird pair set 7 in the final leg. A 5 from Lane and 3 from Giraleo saw them through. They then had a straight forward win in the next round against Henry Johnson & Dave Benham from Yarnton Legion 2-0.
Their final game against Mark Poulter & Carl Edgington from Yarnton Legion saw them chasing a set of 5 in the opening leg. Four dolls from Lane and two from Giraleo saw them over the line. They then set and won the next leg 5-3 to send them through to the semi-final play offs.

In the lower section pairs the final will be contested between Arthur & Steven Bowers from The Red Lion Yarnton and Chris Thorne and Steve Brock from Bletchingdon Sports after they both battled their way through at The Red Lion Cassington.
The Bowers had a bye in the first round and then were pitted up against Bletchingdon sports Liam Brookbanks & Will Cormack who they beat 2-0. First leg they won 4-2 and in the second leg had to rely on three sticks after it was tied 3-3. In their final game up against another pair from Bletchingdon Sports Walter and Wayne Harwood they both won a leg apiece and in the final leg The Bowers set 5 which the Walters equalled. Bowers won the three sticker 1-0 to send them to their first pairs final.
Thorne & Brock had a difficult first leg against Brendan Walsh and Jake Durban from The New Club when they had to rely on a three sticker after it was tied 4-4. They then won the second leg 4-3 to send them through to the next round who they were pitted up against a strong pairing of Joe Bandrowski and Chris Jilbert from The Masons Arms ‘B’. In a difficult first leg six sticks was tied 4-4, three sticks 2-2, one stick 0-0 and back to six sticks which the Bletch pair won 2-1. They then made sure of victory in the final leg with a set of 5.
In the final round Thorne & Brock had a comfortable 2-0 win against John Cleaton & Kaylem Patterson from The New Club ‘B’

Back to reports page