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As has become the tradition in recent years the 2009 Gents and Ladies Championship Finals were played on the same evening on rinks 1 and 3 respectively. The Gents final was a replay of the last two years with Brian Hunter and Alistair Russell once again vying to win the Gents major competition. Meanwhile the Ladies final was between the experienced Janette Hunter and a young debutant in the final, Laura Brunton.The gents game on rink one was always going to be a close affair and it started off in just this way. There was hardly any ends played when the call went out for the Umpire to decide who held the shot. It was a surprise that he was little needed during the games although he did have to decide shots in both finals at one time or another.
As the score reached 6-6 in the men's final it was obvious at that early stage that there was a long evening ahead. Over on rink three the game was the direct opposite, with the experience of Janette showing from the start, and she used it to build up a comfortable lead. She raced to a commanding 7-0 lead before Laura could get into her stride. The crowd was very much in Laura's favour not only because she was the underdog, but also because she has grown to be a very good bowler and deserved her place in the final.
While Laura was having a tough time as she tried to fight back in her game, there was no inch asked or given in the Gent's as the two players traded shots without either able to build up a sizeable lead. The standard of bowling was as you would expect from two of the club's best players. They both had good reason for wanting so much to win the championship as Brian was trying to beat Alistair in the final at the third attempt, having lost the previous two, while Alistair was hoping to join an elite few who had won the competition three years in a row.
Janette's relentless charge towards the Ladies title continued with Laura finding it very hard to get back into the match. It was very good to see - particularly in someone so young - that at no time did Laura's head drop, she just kept on fighting to get back into the game, hoping even for some kind of break that could change things in her favour. But Janette was in no mood to ease up and she continued to regularly win ends. As a consequence the Ladies game was the first to finish with Janette winning 21-3, but with Laura coming out of it with a lot of credit, particularly the mature way she handled herself throughout.
With both of the Gents finalists playing very well they continued to demonstrate that if their opponent wanted to win the trophy he would have to play to a high standard to do so. The game was decided in a way that probably everyone present had expected. The game had reached a score of 20-20 and it was impossible to decide who would emerge as winner. As it turned out, at the next end Alistair was lying shot and Brian had one bowl left to change things in his favour, but could he do it? He was unable to and Alistair made it a hat-trick of wins in the championship.
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