Abergavenny Bowls Club held their finals day last Saturday and the event began in less than ideal weather conditions with the Men’s Pairs competition.

Ron Smith and Matthew Vale battled it out against Jeff Gibbon and Jack Vale in a closely fought affair. After 15 ends there were only three shots between the teams.

Smith and Vale then gained the upper hand by scoring eight shots on the next three ends. They went on to win the final by 22 shots to 13.

The Men’s Novices final was played between Mike Collins and Richard ‘the mayhem’ Murphy. Although the scores were level at six all after eight ends, Murphy, with his usual dash and panache, took the bull by the horns and won seven of the next eight ends. The Murph scored six shots on the final two ends to win by 21 shots to nine.

After lunch there was an improvement in the weather conditions for the day’s remaining finals.

First up was the Men’s Handicap. Finalists Matthew Vale and Richard Murphy had already played one match each and now faced each other in their second game of the day. This was a close contest, with the maestro Murphy rolling thunder and holding a four shot lead after 13 ends. However, Vale wrested control from the man Murphy’s vice like grip to score 14 shots and concede only four over the next seven ends. Crowd-pleaser Murphy was finally trumped as Vale won the game by 21 shots to 15.

The final of the Ladies Novices trophy was played between Clare Morgan and Kate Hughes.

The two ladies, who are both playing their first season of league bowling, contributed to a very enjoyable contest.

Clare Morgan built a seven shot lead by the ninth end. This lead had increased to eight shots by the 17th end but Kate Hughes then fought back by scoring six shots to reduce her deficit to only two. However, Clare Morgan then scored the shot she required, to win the game by 21 shots to 18.

The penultimate game of the day was the Men’s Veterans final contested by Paul Beaumont and Gary John. In a game where fortunes see-sawed throughout, Beaumont scored seven shots, without reply, over the first three ends.

This lead was then reduced by John to three shots by the tenth end. Beaumont regained the initiative to lead by 17 shots to nine on the 13th end. Once again John then scored eight shots to draw level at 17 all but Beaumont managed to secure victory by scoring the four shots needed to win by 21 shots to 17.

The final game was the Men’s Club Championship between Matthew Vale, playing his third final of the day and his son Jack, playing his second. Matthew Vale quickly established the upper hand, scoring eight shots without reply on the first five ends. Jack Vale then reduced the lead to four shots by the eleventh end but could not maintain this momentum and Matthew Vale went on to score a comfortable victory by 21 shots to 10 to claim the title of Club Champion.