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Stamford IBC member Stephen Harris (25) added another title to his growing treasure chest of silverware on Thursday, when with Graham Smith he captured the British Isles pairs crown in Belfast.
Stamford IBC member Stephen Harris (25) added another title to his growing treasure chest of silverware on Thursday, when with Graham Smith he captured the British Isles pairs crown in Belfast.
Stephen has dual membership with Spalding IBC and it was with his club colleague that they won the English pairs in 2020 but were unable to challenge for the British Isles title in April this year because of the Covid outbreak. However, they made up for the delay in style today with a late surge over the last two ends of the 16-end match against Scotland’s Kennedy and Mellor.
They trailed 3-8 and 9-11 with two ends to play but picked up a four-count and a single to clinch the trophy before joining the England squad for the first game of the International Series.
Earlier they beat two from the Channel Isles (28-8) then beat a Welsh pairing 16-10 after trailing 6-9 with six ends to play.
Stephen went on to lead for Potters legend Greg Harlow, world indoor singles champion Les Gillett and singles specialist Martin Puckett in the international series against Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
Making his senior debut, Stephen recalls: "After our success in the pairs, in my first game against Wales I was drawn on the same end rink on the 13-rink complex.
“We knew it would be tough against David Harding but Martin and I got us off to some good starts and Les and Greg cleaned up when needed. We led 15-6 and 24-9 to give England a good platform to get the win to start the series.
“Our final score ended 29-14, with the overall score 129-97.”
On The final day of the series, Stephen admitted he was feeling the fatigue but knew a win against Ireland would set up a decider against Scotland in the afternoon.
“We started slowly against some great bowls by Irish skip Ian McClure and his young rink, but a couple of good ends turned the game for us, and we went on to win 30-5 as the team triumphed 139-83,” said Stephen.
“With Scotland also winning twice it was all to play for in our final match and again we started well. But we knew if they had got ahead their team overall would come back us. So, we kept it tight and took a 16-9 lead with a 6-count on the 11th end. On the adjoining rink Jamie Walker was winning 18-3 so we urged each other on to give the team 77-47 lead at halfway.”
Stephen’s quartet eventually won 22-18 to emerge unbeaten and England (131-94) the overall winners.
“It was a great experience to win my first senior series and to play alongside Martin Puckett, who apparently just pipped me for player of the series, Les and Greg who were all very encouraging and supportive.
“I hope there will be many more opportunities to play at this level.”
Stephen Harris Centre showing skip Greg Harlow where to bowl in the 2022 international against Wales which England won by 129-97 with their rink winning 29-14. Alongside Harris are Les Gillett (Melton & District) (left ) & Martin Puckett (Dorchester)(right).
On Friday Oct 14 England face Ireland (am) and the auld Enemy, Scotland (pm),
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