There were two cup semi-finals to be played, followed by the presentation of trophies, then followed by the cup final.
Amazingly, both semis were tied level after the first two pairs had played, leaving the final pair to sort out the end result in both cases. In the first of the two semis it was holders, Zimmers, against BFC United, but when Zimmers last man, James Cowan, started with a first end 14 it looked like the writing was on the wall for BFC, and it was. Zimmers eventually winning 187-170.
In the second semi-final it was a similar story, this time with Bad Eggs last man, Sid Solanki, picking up a 16 midway through to seal Pacemakers fate. In the end Bad Eggs moved through to the final beating Pacemakers 183-157.
However, Bad Eggs didn’t stand a chance in the final, as Zimmers were on sparkling form, scoring 202 pins (unheard of in this front-pin-first form) with Bad Eggs only able to muster a meagre 150 pins in response.Top scorer for Zimmers was Steve Pendleton with a magnificent 42. So, its congratulations to Zimmers who retain the trophy they won last year.
The season end trophy presentations for individuals, as well as teams, took place before the final, when the following speech was read out. Firstly, we need to talk about this year's two most dominant players, each securing an impressive three trophies.
Going with ladies first, we start with one of Grovers Rovers star players, and our favourite bar person, Nhamphung Wongprakot. She topped the ladies' averages with a score of 34.39 pins, which was enough to make her 20th in the overall averages.
A lot of this was due to the fact that she went the whole season without scoring less than 29, which also wins her the "highest lowest score" trophy. In addition, and not surprisingly, she also secured the ladies' trophy for the best win record, picking up 83.3% of the possible points, being beaten only twice across the whole season. So that's three trophies for Phung, well done, great season.
On the men's side, Neil Smith was similarly dominant, also picking up three trophies. He is one of only two players averaging over 37 pins, in fact almost 38 (37.95), the other player being Demon top dog, Fish (aka Steve Smith).
In fact, both players scored 40 or more on five occasions, a fantastic achievement in itself. The fact that Neil never scored less than 34 all season was obviously a major contributory factor for the high average, which means he also earns the "highest lowest score" trophy.
We move onto the trophies for highest total pins score for the season. On the men’s side, with one match to come, this was led by Dave Turner, for the Demons.In the last week of the season Neil Smith’s 41 compared to Dave’s 38 was enough to take Neil three pins clear with a total of 721pin, for his third trophy.
But before Neil steps forward, and in the fashion of a true his and hers partnership, Neil’s fellow All Sort (and partner) Sue Batstone, picks up the ladies’ trophy for the ladies highest total pin score, with a total of 628 pins, just six ahead of Sandie Hepburn for the Groovies. Neil and Sue please step forward and collect your trophies.
Whilst Fish just missed out on the average’s trophy, he did manage to share the prize for best percentage points with Joe Somra, both of them winning 16 out of 19 matches giving them a 84.2% points return. So, Steve Smith and Joe Somra pick up a trophy each
Moving on to the highest single game score, firstly for the ladies, Donna Kerr of the Bad Eggs left it until the last but one game of the season to notch up a magnificent 43. That was enough to take the trophy, although Yvette Harris, for the Groovies, just missed out with a 42 in the following week.
For the men it was Jacob Sergeant (aka Rooty) for Grovers Rovers who took the trophy with a spectacular 53, starting with13 on his opening turn and wrapping it up very nicely with a last end 16. Well done Donna and Rooty.
Finally, the presentation of the league shield, together with medals for each of the team members, goes to Grovers Rovers after a nerve-racking last match saw them just hold off a major challenge from Demons, eventually ending up just three points clear at the top. Congratulations to Grovers Rovers and skipper Joe Somra.