Hughes and Dawson Win Over 60s Pairs
Final Played Wednesday 17th February 2016 Steve Hughes (Melville) and Otto Dawson (Manning) are the 2016 AERO Bowls Men’s State Over 60’s Pairs champions after Wednesday’s final at Osborne Park. They defeated local pair and current Over 60’s Triples champions Steve O’Neill and Grant Nicol 15-13 in a thrilling finish. The team came together in unusual circumstances when a late pull out meant that Hughes would be without a partner before finding Dawson who had been on the late entry list with another player.
O’Neill and Nicol had a minor scare in their semi-final against Tony Cocodis and Glynn Vaughan before powering away. A dominant first half set the tone for the Ossie Park boys when they raced away to an 11-4 lead after nine ends. However the match shifted and Cocodis and Vaughan found their rhythm to win five of the next six ends to bring the score back to be just one shot down with three ends to play. O’Neill and Nicol then steadied and finished strong to score eight shots in the last three ends running out winners 20-11 to take a place in the final.
Hughes and Dawson were never behind in their semi-final against Keith Guelfi and Rance Dewson, however the scores were much tighter with the margin never greater than three shots. The first ten ends went shot for shot with the score at 6-6. Hughes and Dawson finally found a little bit of separation two ends later at 9-6 but Guelfi and Dewson responded with three consecutive singles to bring the score back to 9-9. It was fitting then that the match should go into the final end with the scores deadlocked at 10 all. It was Hughes and Dawson who came to the fore in the decider to take three shots and the match 13-10.
The final was a game of spurts with Hughes and Dawson surging ahead twice to be reeled in by O’Neill and Nicol. The first and possibly most telling of these came in the first seven ends where, despite only winning four of the ends, Hughes and Dawson found themselves 9-3 in front, due mainly to a four on the seventh end. The next four ends went to the Saints boys who scored five shots in that time to bring the score back to 9-8 and make it well and truly a contest again. This surge was matched by Hughes and Dawson who went on a four end run of their own to earn themselves a seven shot advantage after fifteen ends. With just three ends left O’Neill and Nicol needed a way back and got it with a three on the sixteenth to reduce the deficit to four. A single on the penultimate end kept their hopes alive with the score at 15-12. With the locals needing four to win and three to take the contest to an extra end Hughes and Dawson successfully held on, dropping only a single to win 15-13.
