Lorna and Ross take the honours on Thurso finals day
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Saturday was finals day at Thurso Bowling Club, albeit in a very different way from previous years. It wasn't the sunniest day of the week at the club but it was certainly the most entertaining.
Starting the day were the ladies' and gents' semi-finalists. On the green were past champions, two Scottish national champions and a Scottish international player so the anticipation was high.
Despite the grey skies everyone put a smile on the faces of the spectators with excellent bowls and games played in a good spirit.
Lynne Swanson took an early lead against Leah Taylor, and despite her opponent playing some lovely bowls an in-form Lynne managed to keep the lead throughout. She reached the required 21 shots after 18 ends.
Joan Elder and Lorna Cormack both played very good bowls and up to the 11th end it was nip and tuck. Then Lorna started a charge, scoring seven shots in four ends. A valiant Joan kept on pushing but after 21 ends Lorna won through to the final.
The final did not disappoint the crowd, with Lynne Swanson and Lorna Cormack playing outstanding bowls. At six shots to three down, Lynne started to claw back and at the 16th end was leading by 11 shots to seven.
But then Lorna started to find form and four ends later she was leading 17-11. Lynne rallied and kept Lorna at 17 shots while she moved up to 16.
It could have gone either way but Lorna clinched the game on the last three ends. So after 27 ends of bowls Lorna Cormack became the ladies' champion for the third year in a row.
In the first of the gents' semi-finals, Ross Cowan took an early lead but Charlie Smith soon found his form. Both players played excellent bowls but Ross had the edge, leaving Charlie chasing the score all the way through. Ross reached the 21 shots after 19 ends.
Then came a battle royal between gents' captain Henny Henderson and the club president Brian Cormack.
Brian took an early lead and although Henny played some really good bowls he was unable to stop Brian. After 15 ends it was Brian who went forward to meet Ross in the final.
With a good crowd watching, the final did not disappoint. Playing on a tricky rink, both players found form early on with Ross just nudging ahead.
At the 11th end Brian was just one shot behind. Ross kept his head down and carried on pipping Brian for the next few ends, eventually winning the game to become the gents' champion for the first time.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the beginners' championship could not be played. For this year only there were no extensions to games so Billy Husband became beginners' champion.
Ladies' captain Julie Knapp said: "Henny and I would like to thank everyone who made the finals day possible. This has not been an easy year for any of us but we hope our diluted finals day helped to keep everyone smiling.
"Special thanks to Gary Youngson Wealth Management for his continued sponsorship of the ladies' and gents' championships."
Forthcoming events are the Fraser Round-Robin Triples sponsored by Douglas Fraser, a fun day for all Thurso Bowling Club members (September 11), and Fun Nominated Pairs (September 18), with entries via the online booking system.
