THE result was very much in the balance until the closing stages of Ryde Marina Bowling Club’s first official competition of the season on Ryde Esplanade.

The Frank Sansom Trophy attracted 30 members — a three-wood triples competition, in which entrants were randomly drawn into teams of three, with allowances made for differing standards and ensuring no partners played together.

There were four games of four ends, each played in a round-robin format, with teams moving to a different rink against different opposition for each game, and with teams not playing on the same rink twice.

The result was to be decided by the number of matches won and, if the scores were level, by shot difference, which proved to be the case.

Two teams finished on three wins and a loss.

By winning their final one 9-3, the team of Liz Allen, Dave Wolton and John Wright just pipped the team of Paul Keehan, Dave Gibbons and Jenny Wright, who lost their last game 6-2.

There was also a tussle for the wooden spoon, where the team with the worst record had to be decided on shot difference.

However, the team of Barry Rodwell, Jim Munro and Heather Mill were awarded the booby prize, with a slightly inferior shot difference.