The much rearranged game between Marauders & Minotaurs finally got underway this afternoon in just the sort of weather they had been trying to avoid. Both teams had regular players unavailable, Rob Harris for Marauders and Jayne Dunn & Peter Kensett for Minotaurs. The question was could Minotaurs return to their winning ways after last week’s draw against Monarchs or could Marauders avenge their defeat in the first half of the season.
The match got underway in pouring rain with Marauders, Michelle & Gareth up against Minotaurs, Bernard & Amanda. Minotaurs kept the scoreboard ticking over until after 5 or 6 ends they found themselves 9-1 in the lead. Marauders were having none of it though and started chipping away at the deficit coming back to 9-5 when Minotaurs regained their touch and closed out the game by 13-7.
Playing (not Singing) In the Rain
In the other game Marauders, Phil Roberts & Tom Mills took on Minotaurs, Vickie & Rose Fiera, who was playing her first competitive game this year. Vickie & Rose took an early lead which Phil & Tom were struggling to pull back. Marauders decided to change their playing order with Tom taking over the pointing and they slowly started to eat into Minotaurs lead and finally pulled level at 10-10. Vickie & Rose then had their worst end of the game and Phil & Tom ran out 13-10 winners.
In the reverse pairs Bernard & Amanda rocked Phil and Tom by taking a 9-0 lead after two ends. In the second end, with Marauders out of boule but holding 2 thanks to a clever last boule from Phil, Minotaurs had 5 boule left. Bernard, in attempting to break up the head, had the good fortune to shoot the cosh out into open territory with his boule following it. Minotaurs then pointed in their remaining boules for 5. Marauders put a couple of points on the board but the mountain got higher when Minotaurs took a 2 for a lead of 11-2. Undeterred, Phil & Tom kept pegging away to pull back to 7-11 but then Minotaurs took two singles to wrap up the game by 13-7.
In the final game, Minotaurs again established an early lead which they never relinquished but, as often seen before, with Vickie & Rose on 12, Gareth & Michelle started picking up points winning 4 ends in a row to reduce the deficit to 10-12. In the next end, with Minotaurs holding the 1 they needed to win, Marauders proved they weren’t out of it yet when Gareth shot the cosh for a dead end. The next end proved to be the last when, with Marauders holding but out of boule, Minotaurs took only 2 of the 4 they had in hand with Rose pointing through a crowded head to take the point giving Minotaurs a win by 3-1 (49 -35).
A well fought game in constant rain but special mention must go to rookie Amanda whose pointing was especially accurate. Also a mention for the two spectators, Keith Nott and Sean Smith who stuck it out in the rain for the whole match (no doubt secretly praying for a Marauders win).
SUPER LEAGUE TABLE AFTER ROUND 4
