Of course, with Covid-19 restrictions it was never going to be the usual Madeira Finals, writes Jude Latta.

However, members who had played regularly since the greens had opened, were more than happy to sign up.

While a number of our more experienced players have not been able to play outdoors, we were very pleased that several of our new members were keen to take part.

The competitions that would run were: Mixed Triples, men’s Triples and both Men’s and Ladies’ Pairs.

Following preliminary rounds, we began Competition Day One with glorious weather and a large number of spectators.

Madeira is so fortunate to have lots of space outside so social distancing was never a problem.

We are also lucky to be based next door to Exmouth Cricket Club’s Tea Hut with Kay and Lucy providing their usual excellent range of food to keep us nourished.

In the men’s quarter final matches, Chris Reed and Jeff Clark were 11-1 adrift at the ninth end, but then won successive ends, but there was no fairy tale ending as Ian Thomson and Phil Thompson won the last end to take the honours 13-11.

In the other matches, Ron Cook and Andy Lock beat Geoff Furminger and Clive Brinkworth 20-6; Dave Moody and Danny Doran beat Bob Walker and Alan Porter, 16-11 and Graham Cottey with Chris Price beat Vic Doidge and Tony Howle.

In the ladies’ semi-finals, Joan Brinkworth and Ann Maloney got off to a cracking start to hold a four-shot lead after the first end and never looked back, winning 16-7 against Myra Furminger and Janet Grundy.

In the other semi-final, Jude Latta and Sylvia Cook had built up a comfortable lead only to see Jacky Howle and Maureen England take five shots on the final end, but Jude and Sylvia still prevailed, winning 14-11.

The mixed triples semi-final saw Ron Cook, Myra Furminger and Vic Doidge achieve four on the first end, only to then see Geoff Furminger, Janet Grundy and Phil Thompson level the score on the next end.

However, Ron’s team gradually inched ahead to win 16-10.

The other semi-final between the trio of Jacky Howle, Joan Brinkworth and Clive Brinkworth taking on Bob Walker, Barbara Walker and Tony Howle, saw scores level after 10 ends at 8-8.

But Jackie’s team allowed their opponents to win just one more end after that, taking the overall match honours 13-9.

The men’s pairs semi-final concluded the day’s action.

Ian Thomson and Phil Thompson played Graham Cottey and Chris Price.

Each team won a similar number of ends, but taking four shots on end nine followed by five shots a couple of ends later meant that Ian and Phil won comfortably 17-8.

The other match which saw Ron Cook and Andy Lock taking on Dave Moody and Danny Doran, was a much closer affair with scores evenly matched all the way through until the final stages.

Although Dave and Danny won the last end by one shot, Ron and Andy had picked up four on the previous two ends to win 14-11.

Well done, to our new bowlers: Ann Maloney, Maureen England, Jeff Clark and Phil Thompson for some great play.

Special mention must also be made of Phil Thompson and Ron Cook who won all three of their matches today.