What an amazing climax to the conclusion of the second round matches in the @Ambassador Cruise Line World Indoor Open Pairs Championship @Potters Resorts with Irish qualifiers Matthew Crawford and Mark Foster knocking off the world renowned partnership of Paul Foster MBE and Alex Marshall MBE to take the last of the quarter finals spots.
The Scottish twosome only dropped one end in the opening set and won 8-1, however the second set was a treasure chest of twists and turns with Ireland scoring singles on four of the first five ends and the Scotland chalking up a double to trail 2-4.
However from there on in the action was heightened with both teams changing the landscape of any potential outcome. The Scots scored a treble and full count of four on alternate ends over the closing stages while Ireland rolled in a treble to be 7-9 adrift of the pace playing the last - where they needed nothing less than a treble to take the match to a tie break.
And what an amazing last bowl shot Irish skip Foster played to turn the Scot's holding shot out of contention and trail the jack for a treble to do exactly that, count the necessary treble and take the match to a shoot out by 10-9.
And the drama didn't end there! The Scots took the first count in the best of three end decider. On the second end Foster was once again the hero, playing into the head and counting the vital shot with game against him when the dust settled.
On the defining end, Crawford left Ireland holding the match winner and his counter stayed in the frame until the end for Ireland to post a sensational result after playing some incredible bowls 1-8, 10-9, 2-1.
Heaping praise on his opponents, Marshall said "their skip played some really sensational bowls. Paul and I have absolutely no complaints and wish them well in their chase to take the title. It was a good game".
The Irish pair continue their title charge tomorrow evening (Monday 13th January at 7.30pm) against Damian Doubler and Dan Salmon from Wales.
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