2008 Magic Touch Island Doubles
Mick Cotillard and Darren Le Brun win Andre Nicol Trophy!
In the sunshine and beautiful surroundings of Samares Manor, 18 teams contested the 2008 Island Triples championship on Saturday 8th June 2008. Teams were drawn into three groups and played all those in their group. The winners of each group went through to the semi-finals along with the best runners up.
The yellow group was won by Colin and Betty Vibert with 4 wins out of 5. Three of the teams each won 3 and of these Ken Vibert and Keaven Taylor lost to the Viberts by just one point. Had they won this the Vibert/Taylor pair would have topped the group. Indeed Colin and Betty also beat Steve and Paula Foster 13-12. Niall Fennessey and Tim Bechelet were the third team with 3 wins.
In the green group there was also just one team with 4 wins. Neil Selby and Chris Pinel beat last year’s champions Joan and Dennis Le Mercier to top the group and their closest challenge came from Gordon and Dorothy De Gruchy whom they beat 13-11. The De Gruchy’s were runners up in this group with 3 wins and they in turn lost by one point by Ken and Jeanne Le Brun.
In the blue group Darren Le Brun and Mick Cotillard were unbeaten after their first 4 games. In their final game against Fred and Elaine Paisnel they were beaten 13-4. This resulted in the Paisnel’s topping the group with a net score of +29 to LeBrun/Cotillard’s +14.
However the latter pair qualified for the semi-finals as the best runner’s up. The only all lady team Mary Fennessey and Barbara Bechelet came third in this group.
The first semi-final saw the Viberts unable to get into the game and before they knew it Cotillard and Le Brun won 13-0. The second semi was a much closer affair. From 2 all, Selby and Pinel pulled away to a 10-4 lead. The Paisnel’s pulled back to 10-11 before the Selby/Pinel pair who were overall the better team, winning 13-10.
In the final the teams were closely matched to a point of 5-5. With Selby/Pinel then leading at 7-6 and out of boules, Mick Cotillard fired and as a result the jack was sent flying well back but not ‘out of bounds’ allowing ample space for Cotillard/Le Brun to take 5 points. From their position at 7-11 down, Selby/Pinel fought valiantly to retrieve the situation, however Cotillard and Le Brun won the trophy with a win of 13-10.
The finalists were presented with their medals by the Philip and Dawn Heard directors of Magic Touch, the JPA’s new sponsors, and the new champions received the ‘Andre Nicol Trophy’.