Round 7 of the Super League took place on Tuesday evening and was a double banked affair as the Meteors v Monarchs clash due on Wednesday evening was brought forward in view of the forecast of very poor weather on Wednesday.
Meteors pairings comprised Ash Seath & Steve Hawkey and Melys Phinnemore & Ian Campbell, while Monarchs fielded Roger Griffin & Mike Jones and Keith Nott & Mike Wigg. Melys and Ian played a tight game against Roger and Mike, and with the score at 9-7 to Monarchs it could have gone either way. But good pointing from Mike secured 4 points and the game. It was 5-5 in the other game until Monarchs took the lead 8-5, but Meteors Ash and Steve fought back to within two points. However, Keith and Wiggy kept their nerve to win 13-8.
After the changeover, Melys and Ian were playing well and in the lead against Keith and Wiggy, until Monarchs took 4. With Monarchs now leading 11-7, Wiggy shot the coche in spectacular fashion (that’s his version) to secure the win. In the final game, Ash and Steve were 4-0 up on the first end and kept the lead for most of the game. Mike and Roger then swapped roles and started to come back, finally taking the game 13-10.
In the fixture that was scheduled for Tuesday, Minotaurs took on Mystics who were looking to improve on their draw with Minotaurs earlier in the competition. Minotaurs Barney and Peter K took on the McCarthy duo, Ian & Beryl. Despite some good pointing by Mystics, Barney & Pete took control and ran out 13-7 winners. On the other piste Jayne & Bernard came up against Mystics, Gill Greenwell and Tony Newton. Minotaurs started well but were overhauled by the Gill & Tony combo and soon found themselves 8-12 down. 2 on the next end closed the gap and when this was followed by a 3, the game was up for Mystics going down by the narrowest of margins, 12-13.
When the match resumed Mystics Gill & Tony were nip and tuck with Barney and Pete but the canny Minotaurs managed to pull ahead and closed out the game 13-9. It was déjà vu for Minotaurs Jayne & Bernard against the McCarthy pair. Minotaurs again established an early lead but Mystics got themselves back into the game and edged in front. The McCarthys extended their lead and for the second game in a row Jayne & Bernard found themselves 8-12 down – surely they couldn’t escape again. Minotaurs took a 1 in the next 2 ends and in the following end Beryl opened with 2 boules pointed to within 15 cms of the cosh. After missing almost everything all evening, Bernard suddenly came to life and shot them both out. The end continued and it was game on the floor for Mystics when Jayne, with 1 boule left, pointed onto the coche to give Minotaurs the point to take the score to 11-12. The McCarthys then had probably their worst end of the game and Jayne & Bernard took 2 points for 13-12 to complete their second remarkable recovery of the evening.
It is becoming obvious that both Meteors and Mystics are a force to be reckoned with. With a bit more experience of competition play and, occasionally, the right tactical choices, they will be running the established League teams a lot closer. On the current showings there is not much doubt that Monkstone will have at least one new team in the WPA League next season.
