DEREK FERGUSON, secretary of the Jersey Bowling Association (JBA), watched proudly yet ruefully from the VIP gallery at Llandrindod Wells yesterday, as Jersey trio Kevin Le Long, Alan Shaw and Peter Le Long lost, 19-12, in the final of the British Isles triples championship.
This week has shown, yet again, that Channel Islanders can hold their own at this level, and it was a great achievement for Kevin, Alan and Peter to get to this stage,’ Ferguson said.
‘At one point, we thought we might be represented in more than one final,”" he added.
“”We had high hopes for Derek Boswell, Steve Hind, Allan ‘AQ’ Quémard and David Le Marquand, but they were a bit below par, and lost out narrowly to Guernsey.’ Ferguson was also full of praise for ‘AQ’, who played well against Martin McHugh in the singles semi final, but who lost to the eventual champion, who showed a clean pair of heels to Guernsey’s Gary Pitschou in the final.
The Jersey trio, who reached the final with a fantastic win over Wales, were desperately unlucky on the opening end against the Scottish champions, from Paisley, skipped by Brian Sinclair.
Sinclair admitted he was fortunate to make four shots, and before Jersey looked round, the Scots were 10-1 ahead after six ends.
Fighting back bravely, the Islanders scored seven shots to Scotland’s one over the next six ends, but their come-back was halted when the Scots hit back with a four, a double and a single to lead, 18-8, after 15.
‘Kevin, who is 24, played a bit a few years ago, but he’s only in his second season of serious play,’ said proud dad Peter Le Long, who partnered David Le Marquand to the British pairs title in 1998.
‘Lofty (Alan Shaw) is always a good man to have at second, and we really clicked on our way to qualifying last season,’ he added.
‘We’re still going strong in this year’s competition,’ Peter said.
‘We put out the favourites, Jamie MacDonald, Tommy Greechan and Lee Nixon last week, and we’re determined to have an other crack at the British title next season.’ The next challenge for Jersey’s bowlers, however, is the men’s outdoor world championships, which get under way at Ayr in Scotland on 23 July.
Article posted on 30th June, 2004 - 12.00am
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