A WONDER wood halted the tremendous title bid of 16-year-old York sensation Zoe Eagles in the final of the Golden Charter English Women's National Under-25s Singles Bowls at Loddon Vale, Basingstoke.
There wasn't a swinging golf club celebration to be seen as Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, contender Annalisa Bellamy nailed a bowl on the jack to stop the battling Eagles in her track.
An explosive start to the final saw Eagles soar high with a vengeance letting rip to take the opening set by an incredible 15-0 margin.
Leading 3-2 in the second set, Eagles was rocked as Lancashire-born Bolton Wanderers fan Bellamy - who claims no link with Liverpool's controversial striker Craig Bellamy - powered back to carry an 8-3 advantage into the last three ends of the set.
A tenacious Eagles clawed back a treble and the teenager held shot with a deadly wood just six inches from the jack at the penultimate end.
Eagles, who only needed to drop a set to take the title, was poised to enter the last end just one shot adrift, but Bellamy landed her last delivery on top of the jack to notch a single and went on to clinch the set 10-6 to force a decider.
In the showdown, Bellamy, three years Eagles' senior and an England under-25s International, swooped, edging home 2-0 to seize the crown.
Earlier, Eagles took the scalp of England junior cap Vicki Foot from White Oak, Kent, in the first round, and despatched Clevedon's Stephanie Brandfield - daughter of former top England maestro Pip Branfield - in the quarter-finals.
Eagles advanced to see off Thornaby's Lauren Copeland 7-7, 12-5 in the semi-finals.
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