Goddard and Bruce dominate in pairs

The Over 60s State Mixed Pairs Finals were held at the Leeming Bowling Club in perfect bowls conditions.

John Goddard (Osborne Park) went into the final looking to clean sweep the Over 60s events this season, having already won the Men’s Singles, Pairs and Triples.

Goddard and his partner Jennie Bruce (Busselton) had a big win in their semi-final up against Graeme and Debbie Smith (Safety Bay).

Smith got a single on the first end but quickly found himself down 9-1 and then 14-2 halfway through the game. The Goddard/Bruce combination were unrelenting and went on to win 26-9.

Daryl Radford (Kardinya) and Julie Savell (Osborne Park) took on Graham Miller (Dudley Park) and Irene Kozak (Port Bouvard) in the second semi-final.

Early proceedings looked similar to the first semi-final when Radford shot out to a big lead early, frequently scoring in multiples.

With the score at 14-4 at the halfway mark, the game looked over. However, Miller and Kozak grabbed a five on the ninth

Women's Country IZRR

end to halve the lead and then scored a further two and three to draw level at 14-14 after eleven ends. Radford surrendered the lead at 15-16 but then steadied by winning four of the last five ends to prevail 20-18.

The final started with Goddard and Bruce getting off the mark with a two and then Radford and Savell doubling the two on the second end to take a four and lead 4-2.

A string of three ends in a row saw Goddard take a two-shot lead and then by end ten, he had stretched it out to a four-shot lead with a 10-6 scoreline. The Radford team stepped up their game and put together their own run of winning ends, including a three and took the lead back to go in front 11-10 with five ends to play.

A single to Goddard levelled it up once again and then a two saw Goddard hit the front.

Another two and the lead had swelled to four with Radford needing to respond with only two ends to play. But it was not to be, and John Goddard and Jennie Bruce continued on their way to win the last two ends to win 18-11 and take the 2023 Over 60’s State Mixed Pairs Championship.