Elland pair's winning streak

Actions fro the Hx Association men's pairs, at Elland C & BC. Pictured is Nigel Mitchell

Steve Lowther and Nigel Mitchell won the Halifax Association's Men's Pairs, sponsored by Richard Pilling, at Hipperholme on Sunday.

Fresh from helping their Elland CA & BC team to victory in the Rose Bowl on Friday, they completed a highly successful three days with a 15-10 victory over Martin Greenwood and Brendan Malone.

Lowther and Mitchell began strongly, taking an 11-4 lead in their first game against David Helliwell and Lewis Pilling. Their opponents fought back to 10-12 before Lowther and Mitchell ran out to win by 15-12.

They trailed by 3-6 in their quarter-final, against Bob Woodhead and Ernie Rickman, but recovered to level on six and went on to win by 15-9.

In a remarkable semi-final, they scored the opening single against Brian Winrow and John Sharp but were then left standing by a break of 10 by their opponents.

Winrow and Sharp were still ahead by 13-2 but Lowther and Mitchell hit back with a break of 12 to lead by one. Winrow and Sharp drew level with a single but it was Lowther and Mitchell who claimed the final end to snatch victory by 15-14.

After a comfortable 15-3 win in their preliminary game against P. Stead and T.Jackson, Malone and Greenwood led by 6-2 and 8-4 in their next game against Peter Denton and Paul Nolan, but fell behind by 8-11 and 11-13 before finishing with a four to win by 15-13.

They led by 9-4 in their quarter-final against Mark Holden and Graham Roberts and although Roberts and Holden narrowed the gap to two at 8-10, Malone and Greenwood held on to win by 15-9.

Their semi-final, against Julian and Bailey Dawson, was closely contested to start with. The scores were level at five, six and nine but Malone and Greenwood finished strongly to win by 15-11.

In the final, Malone and Greenwood scored three at the first end but Mitchell and Lowery went ahead with a break of six. After an exchange of jacks the gap was still the same at 9-6 before Malone and Greenwood went ahead by 10-9. Their recovery ended there as Lowther and Mitchell ran out to win by 15-10.