WELSH NATIONAL MIXED DOUBLES 2018

At last the National Welsh Mixed Doubles 2018 were held at Caerleon PC after being
cancelled due to bad weather on two occasions.
The weather was better than expected and with intervals of cloud and sunshine (no
rain) which put the players in good spirits for the games ahead in this prestigious
event.

Winners for the last 2yrs Foster and Westall (Caerleon / Wenvoe PC’s) were hot
favourites to make it 3 in a row and started their campaign with a win over Vaughan
and Tomczyk who had been runners up in this competition several times a close game
with only 2 points between the teams with one end to go however they showed there
determination as champions and took 4 points on the last end 13-7.
New paring of Brooksbank and Smith (Wheatsheaf / Monkstone PC’s) started with a
convincing win over Gregory and Gregory (Caerleon PC ) who had taken part and won
the BIG Cup for Caerleon A’s the day before.
Monkstone’s Adshead and Griffin started their campaign against Mayfield (Caerleon)
and Spencer (Monkstone) a close game 13-9 with the win going to Mayfield and
Spencer.
Howard and Wheeler (Caerleon) started their day off with a win against Davies and
Morris (Wheatsheaf) 13-8
In the second round Brooksbank and Smith notched up their second win over Howard
and Wheeler, Gregory and Gregory lost their second game to Adshead and Griffin,
Vaughan and Tomczyk gained their first win over Mayfield and Spencer in a tight
game throughout and Foster and Westall took a convincing win over Davies and
Morris.
Third round saw Foster and Westall take on Brooksbank and Smith and taking their 3 rd
win 13-9 in a tight game, Vaughan and Tomczyk had their 2 nd win over the Gregory’s
who still had not performed to their normal standard, Adshead and Griffin also had
their second win 13-5 over Howard and Wheeler and lastly Davies and Morris got off
the mark with a win over Mayfield and Spencer.
Last round before the semi-finals Foster and Westall make it 4 wins in a row,
Brooksbank and Smith take their 3 rd win over Mayfield and Spencer in a very tight
game 13-11, Vaughan and Tomczyk take their 3 rd win, Davies and Morris
Take their 2 nd win.
The Cup semi – final in the cup saw Foster and Westall take on Adshead and Griffin
with a win to the defending champions

Page 2 of 2
The other semi-final Vaughan and Tomczyk finally ended Brooksbank and Smith’s
challenge with the crowd cheering every boule throw by either team.
The Plate Semi-final saw the Gregory’s go through with a win over Davies and Morris
and a place in the final for Mayfield and Spencer over Howard and Wheeler.
The plate final was a closely contested match between the two teams the Gregory’s
finally displaying their experience and took the game (Well done to both teams)
The Cup final between Foster – Westall and Vaughan – Tomczyk was a tense affair
with Vaughan and Tomczyk taking the first 2 points only to be pegged back in the
next end by the reigning champions however the game opened up considerably with
Vaughan and Tomczyk taking a commanding lead 11-4 through some excellent
pointing and shooting from the pair.
It looked like it now was only a formality for the challengers for the title to take 2
more points to win the game, but showing the skill of the true champions they are,
Foster and Westall fought back to make it 10 – 11 much to the dismay of the
challengers.
Game on, the penultimate end was very tight with Vaughan putting a boule within 10
cm of the cosh only to see Foster put her boule on it to take the point 11 – 11 on the
floor with 2 boules left Tomczyk tried to bump Fosters boule off only to narrowly miss
ending up 30cm past the boule, last boule Tomczyk tried the same shot this time with
a little less weight resulting in nestling on Fosters boule but not taking the point,
Westall with 2 boules in had could win the game but it looked virtually impossible to
make another point however he released a high boule which came in and with perfect
accuracy made another point 12-11 could he win the game with his last boule with
the head being so tight and hardly enough room, Westall played the same shot but
more cautiously only to see it stop 30 cm short.
12-11 to the reigning champions, last end
Foster puts the cosh at 9 meters and with several boules around it saw the
challengers holding the point some 30cm to the side, with one boule left foster put
her boule exactly between the cosh and Vaughan’s boule 13-11 on the floor but no
boules left, 3 in hand for Vaughan and Tomczyk, as they were holding 2 nd the
challengers decide to play into the holding boule with a heavy point which would give
them game if Fosters boule was moved back far enough, Vaughan threw her boule
and just narrowly missed but gave the challenges 2 nd and 3 rd boule, minds made up
with 2 boules in hand and game on the floor the only option was for Tomczyk to
shoot, he released his boule and with the accuracy he had displayed throughout the
game hit the holding boule back enough to take the game.
Well done to both teams for exciting final
Thanks to Caerleon PC for their hospitality and hosting the event and all participants
for their support which made for a very exciting competition.