Pavilion battle to the last in bowls league defeat against Grattons

Pavilion were missing four of their top players because of a date clash with the county finals at Horsham but the club were determined to play the league fixture.

Garry Olver's rink of Keith Lyons, Mick Steggell and Richard Maton were 10-0 up after five of the 21 ends in their game and after 15 held a commanding 16-7 lead. Grattons took the next five ends to level the match on the 20th before a single on the last earned Pavilion a 17-16 victory and their only point.

Jim Walmsley, Alan Banks, Arthur White and skip Keith Wadhams looked to be heading for a heavy defeat. They trailed 16-4 after 11 ends and 20-9 with four to play. They took the next three, scoring two, two, six to narrow the deficit to a single shot going to the last. Hopes of an epic comeback were dashed when Ralph Steele's rink took the end with a single to win 21-19. So near and yet so far . . .

Mason Davis, Richard Calvert, Richard Krupa and skip Warwick Davis dropped a six and a four in the first seven ends to Keith Faber's rink. That gave Pavilion a mountain to climb and, although they dug deep, they eventually lost 22-17.

Roger Dutton, Bryan Bodicoat, Graham Morrey and skip Paul Ward started well against Mark Strong's rink, taking the first two ends to build a 5-0 lead. They were overhauled on the sixth and struggled thereafter, scoring only five more shots in a 25-11 defeat.

Terry Ives, Andy Peters, Ken Chapman and skip Tony Beale were 20-1 down after nine ends, having conceded a six and a four. They did much better in the later stages, scoring a four on the 14th, but still lost 32-10.

With two matches left in their league campaign, Pavilion can still finish second, though they will now need two big wins to overhaul Grattons, who are challenging Worthing Indoor for the West Sussex title.