There were thrills galore at Southend's Priory Park as five finals were staged to bring the 69th Southend Men's Open Bowls Tournament to a tremendous climax.

During the second finals afternoon, no fewer than five trophies were contested - and an extra end was required in two major competitions before the prizes were handed out to complete the two-week long event, sponsored by HSBC Bank.

The pairs final, for the Tweedy Smith Cup and £220 in prize money, proved extra special with two additional ends being required - the first was "burnt" by Bobby Barnes - before he and Tilbury partner John Watson emerged triumphant over the Stock duo of David Platt and Alan Hart.

This latest success added to Barnes's singles triumph four years ago.

The other clash to go to "extra time" was the Mixed Fours, for the Fred Cooper Cup and £240, in which two husband and wife teams, Bert and Maureen Newman plus Fred and Pip Whiting, from Basildon club Carreras, overcame the Lionmede, Chelmsford, quartet of the irrepressible defending champion Joe Stamper 17-16.

The fours proved to be a more straightforward with the Hockley team of Alf Wallis, Alan Cook, Ron Sabatini and John French proving too strong for Tournament competition secretary Trevor Bason's Thorpe Bay line-up of Dennis Richard, Alex Lynam and Percy Boxall to the tune of 21-11.

However, the clash, for the Corporation Trophy and £240, was far closer than the scoreline suggests.

The Hockley quartet, also Southend and District champions this term, had enjoyed something of an escape at the semi-final stage when they edged home 21-17 in a real thriller with the line-up of Prittlewell's Ken Adams and Mike Bowyer - last year's pairs winners - with John Lloyd and Brian Adderley.

The Hockley men roared 8-2 ahead after six ends in the final and, although the Thorpe men reduced the arrears to just two shots at 9-7 after nine, Wallis's troops won the next six ends to move 19-7 ahead.

Whatever Tournament regular Percy Boxall, who enjoyed another excellent Southend Open by reaching two finals, and the Thorpe team threw at them, the Hockley line-up countered and they eventually won by a ten-shot margin.

The consolation mixed fours went to the Shoebury Park team of John Adams, who beat Tony Fakley's Prittlewell line-up 20-15 to take the Jubilee Shield and £10 each.

A similar amount in cash went to Harry Cohen's line-up from Belfairs. They took the consolation pairs trophy, the Bill Parrack Cup, with a 23-9 win over R Lowe (Riverview).

Pairs finalists - John Watson, Bobby Barnes, Alan Hart and David Platt

Picture: STEPHEN LLOYD

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.