A MEMORABLE singles final saw Jonathan Darley of Clee BC seal a hat-trick of victories in the Singles at the close of the Grimsby Open Bowls Tournament.

On Finals Day, Darley began his quest for a third title with a semi-final clash against Clee BC rival Simon Dent, 22, who has held the Cleethorpes Open Rinks of Three title on two occasions

Darley – the Singles winner in 2003 and 2005, and Player of the Tournament winner at this year's Cleethorpes Bowls Open – held a 9-8 lead at the two-thirds stage, after the scores were level at 4-4 after seven ends.

The last third saw Darley up a gear, taking points from five of the six player ends to book his place in the final with a 15-9 victory.

The remaining semi-final was one of the closest and tensest contests of the week.

Hull bowler Tim Winter (West Park BC) was attempting to keep the silverware on the North Bank after last year's Singles winner Dennis Cheater, from Walkington, was unable to defend his title due to injury. Facing Winter was Tony Hebblewhite (Goxhill BC), who reached the Rinks of Three final.

Hebblewhite led 5-1 after six ends before Winter levelled the scores after ten.

And the match was still tied, at nine all, after 14 ends.

Winter then scored a sequence of 1:1:1:2 to lead 14-9 after 18 ends before Hebblewhite came back over the remaining three ends to score 2:1:1 – but he fell short and Winter reached the final by a 14-13 score.

In the Blue Riband finale, Winter opened well, taking a 6-2 lead after seven ends.

But Darley responded and turned the match around in his favour to lead 12-9 after 13 ends.

Winter then took 1:1:2:1 to lead 14-12 but after 20 ends the scores were level at 15 points each.

As the tension built around the green Darley edged ahead to 19-16 and within two points of the title after 24 ends, only for Winter to hit back to 19-18 on the 26th end.

But Darley scored single points on the next two ends to win 21-18 and secure a hat-trick of Grimsby Open Singles titles over the last eight years.

BILSTHORPE BC's Bob Stevens and Longden Terrace BC partner Janet Eames rolled their way to glory in the Open Pairs.

Stevens, the 2006 winner, and Eames, runner-up in the same year, were paired against tournament regulars Ted Marsh and Ian Ransby (Ordsall BC) in their semi-final

The experienced Stevens and Eames pairing were dominant from the start. They took points from ten of the first 14 ends to lead 18-6.

Their heavy scoring was decisive as they continued to build their lead and book a place in the final with a 24-10 win.

The second semi-final involved Tracy Dent and her 22-year-old son Simon (Clee BC) who were continuing their excellent form this year.

Simon, who reached the semi-finals of the Singles, had also held the Triples honour on two occasions.

And last year, Tracy's husband Paul was runner-up in the competition. She went one better, though, by winning the Mixed Pairs title at this year's Cleethorpes Bowls Open.

Facing Simon and Tracy were the Lincoln pairing of Ted and Iris Coulson (Eagle BC), who were also enjoying an excellent week having reached the Rinks of Three semi-final.

The Dents were quickly into their stride to lead 7-1 after eight ends before the Coulson's began to pull back the scores to trail 9-6 after 12 ends.

The turnaround continued with the Eagle BC pair cruising ahead to 14-9 after 16 ends before eventually taking their place in the final with a 17-10 victory.

The final turned proved to be another highly competitive and entertaining game.

After eight ends there was nothing to separate the four players, the scores tied at eight all.

After 13 ends Stevens and Eames had opened a 15-11 lead – but the Coulsons came back on the next two ends to trail 15-14.

The 16th and 17th ends proved decisive for Stevens and Eames. They took them 2:3 to lead 20-14.

And that was a sufficiently large margin for them to hold over the last four ends and they clinched the title 21-16.

The play-off for third and fourth places proved a classic encounter.

After 14 ends the pairs were tied at 10 all.

Marsh and Ransby inched ahead over the next three, taking 2:2:1 to lead 15-10.

But the Dents dug deep and pulled to 15 all over the next three ends.

And the deciding final end was taken by just a single shot, the Dents edging it to win 16-15.

BOB Stevens lifted the Player of the Tournament title at Grimsby Open Bowls week – but it was in doubt until the closing stages of Finals Day.

Bilsthorpe BC's Stevens, runner-up in 2006, lead the field after the semi-finals, but Ted Coulson of Eagle BC was also in contention.

Indeed, if Coulson had beaten Stevens in the Open Pairs final, he would have taken the Player of the Tournament title and his wife Iris would have finished runner-up. Stevens' victory in the Open Pairs final, however, saw him also bag the individual honour, with 51 points.

Coulson finished joint runner-up with Tony Hebblewhite third, on 42 points. Iris Coulson was a close fourth on 39 points.

The semi-finals were played on the Number Four green, with the afternoon's finals on the Number Two green.

Players throughout the tournament produced a high standard of play on all four competition greens – so credit is due to green keeper Ian Dye and his grounds staff for both performance and presentation.