The Taieri women's four of Jan Barclay (skip), Dale Bourke (lead), Lorraine Turnbull (second) and Beth Brown (third) proved a class act when it beat defending champion Fairfield 16-9 in a one-sided final at Balmacewen on Sunday.
But the men's final between Taieri and Fairfield went down to the wire at Forbury Park as the Reece Aiken-skipped Fairfield four, also comprising Roger Barron (lead), Wayne Hewitt (second) and Kris Newall (third), held out a dogged Taieri four skipped by Chris Cookson 18-17.
Fairfield got an early jump on Taieri when it picked up four shots on the third of 18 ends, then a further three shots on the fifth and eighth ends to hold a 12-5 lead at the midway stage. But Taieri came back.
The 13th end almost proved the Fairfield four's undoing. Down three shots with the final bowl of the end to play, Aiken played a miracle bowl through a congested head to draw shot and maintain the lead for his team.
Going into the 18th and final end 18-14 up, Taieri required four shots to force an extra end.
With Fairfield holding shot and just the two skips to play for the match, Aiken played for safety with his first of two bowls. Then Cookson was right on the money with a bowl that dragged the jack into the ditch with it, to hand his team three scoring shots, with two earlier bowls resting near the end of the rink.
With his final bowl Aiken came up short, and after a close study of the head, Cookson stepped up with his final bowl to attempt to tie the game. But light on weight and in a strong crosswind, the bowl rested short and Fairfield secured the title in nail-biting fashion.
