Umpire

PETER Lawrence (Scarcroft) and Dottie Kay (Burnholme) battled through to Friday's York Open Bowls mixed pairs competition in nail-biting fashion.

Their game against Lynne Tattersall and Eddie Howcroft at Clarence Gardens went down to the wire.

The scores were level at 18-18 with the last end to play.

When the skips went to bowl Lawrence and Kay were holding one shot. However, Howcroft drew a front toucher, all seemed lost, but Lawrence drew a superb bowl to within a fraction of an inch. The head remained unaltered and it was therefore left to the umpire to decide the result of this exciting tie.

The result was a win for Lawrence and Kay by the thickness of a bowls card and they will now meet Frank Turner (Haxby Road) and Pat Wilson (York RI) who beat Tony and Val Thornton in their quarter-final.

The match was level at 10-10 after 14 ends but Wilson and Turner won the last four ends to triumph 19-10.

The other semi-final will see York RI pairing Iain Boyle and Shirley Stacey take on Betty Richardson and Ian Hodge.

Boyle and Stacey beat Gill Godden and David Johnson 23-14 in their quarter-final while Richardson and Hodge defeated Nestl Rowntree duo Judy Abel and Bill Dillon 18-8.

Matches were played in humid conditions after an early morning downpour.

In the fourth round, Boyle and Stacey scraped through 17-16 against Kath and Dave Sykes (Copmanthorpe).

In another exciting finish, Gill Godden and David Johnson (Ben Rhydding) beat Maureen Robinson and Alan Ford (York) 20-17 after the scores were level 17-17 at 16 ends.

An all-York battle took place between Abel and Dillon (Nestl Rowntree) who overcame Barbara and Brian Sprigg 21-10.

The final game in this Section 'A' saw Richardson and Hodge have the slight edge over John Holborn (Sunderland) and Margaret Smith (Wigginton), winning 18-12.

Lawrence (Scarcroft) and Kay (Burnholme) had a walkover against P and L Phillips (Bedale), who were unable to fulfil their fourth round match due to sun stroke, having played through three games on Monday in blistering heat.

Turner and Wilson defeated Ray Gilyeat and P Birch (Selby) 21-12 while the Thorntons beat another strong York pair, David Clayden (Nestl) and Sue Chilton (RI).

The final match in the section was between Eddie Howcroft (Haxby Road) and Lynne Tattersall (Clarence Ladies) against the pairing of Maureen Cook and J Kelso (Newcastle), who appeared to be strong contenders for a place in the quarter finals. However, Tattersall and Howcroft had an excellent game winning 16-10.

Semi-finals to be played on Friday, August 2: F Turner and P Wilson v P Lawrence and D Kay; I Boyle and S Stacey v B Richardson and I Hodge.

Results: Page 21

The bowls picture published in last night's Evening Press was of Wendy Zajac (Scarborough) and not as reported.

Updated: 12:12 Wednesday, July 31, 2002