Doubles Triumph for Engineers Trophy

Doubles Triumph for Engineers Duo

Luke Saunders and Mark Ganderton of Engineers were never headed in the final on their way to success in the Redditch Skittles Doubles Competition although they had to fight off a late challenge from fellow Engineers, Craig Sears and Andy Clewlow.

First though were the semi finals to negotiate. In their semi final group of six pairs from which only the top two scoring teams would progress to the final, Saunders and Ganderton comfortably finished second although it took them until the penultimate leg to pull away from the pursuing pack. Topping this group were Julian Workman and Scott Few (The Borough) who started very quickly with each recording 12 pin stacks in the first of the six legs. Few was at it again in leg two with a 14 pin stack as the pair extended their lead and could then afford to relax for the rest of the semi. Both Workman & Few finished with 48 pins while Saunders made 42 and Ganderton 40.

 In the other semi final group, also with six teams, Craig Sears (38 pins) and Andy Clewlow (43) eased through at the top to leave the battle for the second qualifying spot to be contested by three pairs – Keith and Craig Ellis (Engineers), Jamie McGill and Tim Jones (Lodge Farmers), and Jim Williamson and Craig McSweeney (Bernie’s Bolts). Only two pins separated the three pairs at the end, but the Ellis team did just enough to earn their final spot with a total of 78 pins with father Keith making 31 and son Craig 47.

The five leg final was initially close with Saunders & Ganderton just one pin ahead of the Sears/Clewlow combination and two pins ahead of Workman & Few after leg two. But with leg three completed,  Workman & Few, finding it difficult to replicate their semi final heroics, were slipping behind while the Ellis duo had dropped even further off the pace. Saunders & Ganderton then kept their foot down over the remaining two legs although they still had to survive one very late scare. This came from Clewlow, who needing a 12 pin stack to steal a win, narrowly missed out having all pins restacked and had to be satisfied with just eight pins. So Saunders & Ganderton duly finished on top, having bowled well throughout the competition.