Ray Schafer and Allan Marr have won the Yamba 2015 Major/Minor Pairs Championship with a 23 shot to 21 victory over Bruce Angel and Don Freeman in a dramatic and enthralling final last Sunday afternoon. The final was a typically tight contest with the scores locked together at nine shots each after eight ends. Bruce and Don then surged with some good team bowling and established what appeared to be a championship winning lead with the scorecard indicating a 21 shot to 12 advantage after 15 ends. However, from this point of the match Ray and Allan gained control of the mat denying their opposition the opportunity to find the final few shots that would put the contest out of reach. Ray Schafer then played a number of sensational final bowls to further frustrate Bruce and Don when it appeared that they had built the head necessary for victory. Ray and Allan had clawed themselves back into the game by winning five consecutive ends and were finally receiving some of the good fortune that had evaded them earlier in the contest. At the commencement of the final end Ray and Allan needed three shots to force a draw and an extra end or four to win. Bruce and Don played what appeared to be ‘match winning’ bowls but were forced to witness the championship title slip away through the sheer brilliance of Allan Marr’s lead bowls and Ray’s astute skipping. In the end, Ray and Allan had judged their run home to perfection scoring an awe-inspiring five shots on the final end to record a sensational and well deserved 23 shot to 21 victory. In the morning’s semi-finals Ray and Allan defeated the well preformed pairing of Erik Pedder and Mark Scobie 21 shots to 11. Again, this victory was secured through a well timed surge to the end with Ray and Allan winning the final nine ends of the contest after trailing 11 shots to 8 after 12 closely contested ends. Bruce Angel and Don Freeman secured their place in the final with a solid 23 shot to 10 victory over the courageous duo of Jeff Cook and Alan Turnbull 23 shots to 10. Jeff and Alan had created a lot of interest in the championship with their underdog victories over several fancied and well-preformed combinations in the lead up rounds. Championship bowls continues at the Yamba Bowling and Recreation Club this weekend with the first round of the 2015 Minor Pairs Championship to be played on Saturday 5th September commencing at 1pm; followed by rounds two and three on Sunday 6th September commencing at 9.00am and 1.00pm respectively. The nomination sheet for the 2015 Major Triples Championship is on the notice board with nominations closing on Wednesday 30th September. This event will be followed by the Mixed Fours and Handicap Fours Championships. The nomination sheets for these championship events will be on the notice board in the coming weeks. The Tweed Heads Bowling Club will be visiting on Saturday 12th September for a day of mixed bowls fun on our great greens. Visitors are most welcomed to participate. A participation sheet is on the notice board. Social bowls continues with pairs played on Wednesday and triples on Friday. All games commence at 1pm and names need to be on the respective nomination sheets by 11.30am on the day of play. All nominations are guaranteed a game and visitors are most welcomed. Results from last week were: Wednesday 26th August: Winners: Rod O’Brien and John Parkinson. Runners Up: Vic Miller and Ian Lambert. Consolation: Bruce Blanch and Greg Johnson. Friday 21st August: Winners: Laurie Thompson, Bill Cox and Peter Forrester. Runners Up: Vern Nielsen, Jim Stone and Steve Grodzki. Consolation: Basil Glover, Andy Duke-Yonge and Steve Burns. Don Freeman