Round 19 came to a conclusion today at the Airlie Beach Bowls Club, when Dom Friend and Art McMinn went head-to-head for the last time this season.
Dom, who picked up a bad knee injury during the week, was able to put that to one side on the day and play some strong darts.
Art too has been playing well of late, but just couldn’t get enough going consistently in the scoring department to cause Dom enough problems.
After Dom took a 5/1 lead, the writing was on the wall for Art, with Dom winning the match comfortably, 7/2.
That brings us to the 2023 finals series.
In the 1st qualifying final, we had 2nd place Joe Wilson taking on 3rd place Dom Friend. The averages were in the mid to high 50’s range in this contest, with Joe also hitting a lovely 177 along the way.
The defending champion was able to put that injury out of his mind all day to keep his chances of back-to-back titles well and truly alive.
Dom advances straight to the preliminary final in 3 weeks’ time, whereas Joe will have another crack at it in 2 weeks’ time in the Semi Finals.
Which takes me to the next match of the day. The 1st of 2 elimination finals between Gary Robbie and Art McMinn.
Art dug deep to make a game of it, but his efforts were in vain, as he succumbed in the end to an 8/4 defeat.
The last game of the day was the 2nd elimination final between Andy Peel and Kameron Reason. Both players were evenly matched in this one, the difference being the finishing.
Andy’s had his struggles in this department all year, and his woes continued here against Kam, who finished his Premier League season strongly.
Thank you to our sponsored Mika Airlie Whitsunday Tattooing Airlie Beach and Master Butchers Whitsunday & MBW On the Barbie
Contributed with thanks to Jamie Maher.
Gary Robbie and Art McMinn in action. Photos supplied
