- Mixed Triples – Steve Wicks, Adrian Hirst & Geraldine Scaresbrook vs Daron Ayris, Tony McMahon & Marion Stilwell
In the 1st of our 2026 Finals, Daron, Tony and Marion stormed ahead in the first 9 ends, to lead 11-5 at the half way point. However, Steve W, Adrian and Geraldine fought back, winning 7 of the final 9 ends, including a game changing 6 on the 16th end, to secure a 21-13 victory.
2. Ladies Handicap – Karen Ayris vs Jain Garrod
Jain started with 3 points advantage, reflecting her handicap, and got off to a flier, leading 9-0 after 3 ends, before Karen got into her stride by winning the next 3 ends to close the gap to 1 point, and then moving 17-11 ahead after 12 ends. In a really exciting game, Jain fought back to level the scores at 17-17 on the 16th end and 19-19 on the 20th end, before scoring 2 points on the final end, to win the game and secure her first singles title at Denham Bowls Club.
3. Men’s Pairs – Daron Ayris & David Quy vs Andy Allison & Tony McMahon
The 2 teams were evenly matched for the first 7 ends, after which Daron and David Q started moving ahead, but were pegged back when Andy and Tony scored 4 points on the 10th end, and subsequently a further 2 points on the 12th end closed the score to 12-11 in favour of Daron and David Q, who went on to win 5 of the next 6 ends to secure victory by 22 points to 11. This meant David Q had retained his Men’s Pairs title, having won last year with a different partner (Steve M).
4. Lilley Cup – Karen Ayris vs Steve Wicks
In his 2nd final of the day, Steve W was very fast out of the blocks, winning the 1st 9 ends to lead 12-0. Karen fought back strongly in the 2nd half of the game, winning 5 ends and securing 11 points to close the gap to 3 points on the 16th end. Steve W then scored 2 points on the 17th end to win the game 16-11.
5. Men’s Two Woods – Daron Ayris vs Andy Allison
At the start of the first game on the second day of the Finals Weekend, it took a Mexican Wave from the early supporters to create the perfect atmosphere for a thrilling game of Men’s Two Woods. The lead changed hands several times all the way to the 16th end, at which the game was all square at 11 points each, after which Daron slowly pulled away to win 16-12 after 21 ends.
6. Mixed Pairs – Karen Ayris & Steve Wicks vs Daron Ayris & Chloe McMeekin
Daron and Chloe took an early lead with 4 points on the first end, before being pegged back to 5-5 by Karen and Steve W on the 5th end. Karen and Steve scored 2 points on the 7th end to take a 7-6 lead, but then got stuck on 7 points for (you’ve guessed it) the next 7 ends, by which time Daron and Chloe were in an almost unassailable position at 19-7 ahead. Undeterred, Karen and Steve refused to give up and won the next 3 ends, before finally accepting Daron and Chloe could not be beaten with only 1 end to play. The final score was 19-13 in favour of Daron and Chloe.
7. Men’s Championship – Daron Ayris vs Howard Butler
Howard raced into an 8-0 lead after the first 3 ends, before Daron won 4 out of the next 5 ends to close the gap to 4 points in difficult weather conditions. The next 8 ends were all close and low scoring, before Daron scored 4 points on the 17th end to close the gap to 3 points. Going into the final end the gap was still 3 points in favour of Howard, before Howard closed the game out at 21-17 to win the Men’s Championship. 16 years after his previous win in the Men’s Championship, Howard is once again the Men’s Champion.
8. Ladies Championship – Karen Ayris vs Geraldine Scaresbrook
The first 7 ends in the Ladies Championship were very even, with the scores level at 7 points to apiece. After 10 ends, the scores were still very close at 10-9 in favour of Karen, before Geraldine got firmly rooted (please forgive the gardening pun, Geraldine) on 9 points. Karen won the next 5 ends to close the game out at 23-9 on the 15th end, and win the Ladies Championship for the second time.
9. Eddie Neal Cup – David Quy vs Steve Wicks
Steve W got off to a flying start, racing into a 6-1 lead after 5 ends. David Q then rallied and won the next 6 ends, to lead 12-6, before Steve scored 3 on the 12th end and closed the gap to 3 points. The ends remained close and low scoring before David secured a 19-13 win after 21 ends. This was David’s second successive year in the final of the Eddie Neal Cup and he has now secured his first singles win in a Club competition and his second win in this year’s finals.
10. Golden Oldies – David & Geraldine Scaresbrook vs Daron & Karen Ayris
After 8 ends, the 2 teams were very evenly matched at 9 points each, before Daron and Karen scored a game changing 7 points on the 10th end, to take a 5 points lead. The final 8 ends were again evenly shared, leaving Daron and Karen to close the game out on the 18th end with a 23-18 win.
11. Ladies Two Woods – Jean Simpson vs Karen Ayris
Details to follow.
12. Men’s Handicap – Daron Ayris vs Steve Wicks
With Daron appearing in his 7th final of this year’s competitions and Steve W in his 5th final, expectations for a fine game of bowls were high and we were not disappointed. Steve started with 6 points advantage, reflecting his handicap as a new bowler and was 15-2 ahead after 7 ends. Daron won the next 4 ends, which narrowed the gap to 7 points, before Steve closed the game out with an excellent 3 points on the 17th end, to win the Men’s Handicap 21-10, which was his 3rd win of the Finals Weekend.
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