Day 3 - Highlights Bowls: Scottish International Open

APPLAUSE

MUSIC.

Hello, a warm welcome to Perth.

Today we had four matches and

completed the quarterfinal line-up

that three of those had extra spice

because they were Scotland against

England.

MUSIC.

MUSIC.

# Is somebody getting the best of

you?

This is the way the draw looked at

the start of play with Danny

Dennison against Nicky Brett and

Alex Marshall against Les Gillett

and... Let's focus on one match

everybody was looking forward to.

Alex Marshall against Les Gillett.

We have to go back to 2000 to the

last time Les Gillett picked up a

singles win on the

last time Les Gillett picked up a

singles win on the world Tour. A few

months ago he won the indoor pairs

trophy with Jason Greenslade so he

is here in Perth on top form. His

good friend Paul Foster might be

getting closer but in terms of

indoor world titles nobody can live

with Alex Marshall. Les Gillett fell

behind early to find himself 7-2

down with two ends remaining. We

have this chance and narrowly missed

but picked up three shots to go into

the last end trailing by two.

COMMENTATOR: I like a tight set

because then you have a one set

shoot out.

He does not like it, looking at

this, the way that bowl has stop

there. You are told to play the open

hand that they are so good, they can

usually get past anything. He went

with the open hand, not the

favourite side for him.

APPLAUSE

Well, two short bowls when you

aren't looking to pick up a double.

He has found playing away from the

commentary box, dramatic in terms of

short bowls. -- problematic.

He is still there but there is no

chance now Les Gillett winning the

set. He needs a really good bowl to

set up a chance of getting a draw.

Cannot afford to be behind the red

bowl.

That is just enough.

Absolutely. A fine effort.

Alex may have taken time out because

this is an important bowl.

Going down after it. Rarely does

that unless he thinks it's very

close. And he is. Close. Goodness

me.

He picked it up half jack and

the set was over. Did not get enough

to take it with him. Still going to

take a pretty good draw.

Final bowl from each player.

Something is not right.

Having said that, we said Paul

Foster during the week... He knew it

was slightly over the weight but it

might be in for two.

It came back

better than he thought. Two green.

It was the weight more than anything

else. I bet he thought he was half a

yard through.

Alex will take a

time-out.

If he plays a weight shot he might

get the outside green one if he

stands up a little bit. The front

bowl onto the green ball onto the

jack will also do it. The other

option is to draw the shot and that

is not easy.

He is going to disturb something. He

needs a hit. Currently tied. Has he

got the green bowl out?

He has not.

He will be so disappointed.

APPLAUSE

You can see how wide he is pushing

that four out.

-- that bowl.

The gap? Three inches.

Sometimes in other countries you see

the tight lines in the southern

hemisphere, going down with no more

than two, three feet of width. Alex

going early. Nice, really nice.

Whether bowl comes out, it did not

touch the jack. Beautifully split.

There is more art to bowling when

the wide arc has to be used. It is a

game of letting the bowl push out

and coming back, the wide arc. It's

a lot of people'sopinion, who do not

like the straight bowls.

I do not

like tight bowls at all.

Controversial. I'm with you. I do

not like them. The fact these guys

play with big wide bowls proves the

point. Alex looking for across the

rink. Enough weight to punch the

bowl and stay or get the jack claim.

He has got it.

-- jack clean. That

was brilliant.

Les is to appreciate it. There is

nothing you can do about that!

Excellent stuff. Really good

bowling. Les looking for his own

toucher to try to push it in. So

close. People might think that you

should not allow these bowl to go in

the ditch like that but it made no

difference because the jack is

gripped in the ditch by plastic

prongs. That is the marker for the

bowl and jack. You cannot beat it on

the draw, but toucher could go in

because it is alive. The jack cannot

be taken out of the prongs once it

is in there. A lot of normal clubs,

if you let bowl go into the ditch

and it hits the jack, it can move.

Alex Marshall is going to try to

draw to the edge of the ditch.

He

has done enough with the previous

one! Pretty good effort. Good end.

STUDIO: Marshall took singles in the

next two ends, but he was able to

claw his way back.

COMMENTATOR: Leslie's wife might be

watching. And the three girls, I

imagine they are at school. But they

will see their dad playing very good

bowls again in Perth. Very much a

family man, Les Gillett.

A very small gap, Alex. He may

decide to run this.

Turned his back on it must be too

wide.

He knew immediately. When you

get such a good opening bowl...

He is closing his eyes and trying to

refocus on what he needs to do.

Les is coming round for the respot.

Going back to the draw. Prepare to

have one go, but...

Really good effort and did a very

good place. That will be hard to

cover because Les has to get close

to his own bowl.

Going for cover on the other side.

That is the problem for Les, he

knows he cannot get that close to

cover the red bowl. And there is

nothing he can do is Alex plays this

perfectly.

He is certainly the man I would not

want to be out there against and

relying on him missing.

He is very

close. He wanted to disturb the

jack. Just to the side it goes. He

obviously thought he was right on

it.

This is where the problem really

is for Les. He has got things

covered. The respot is not a

particular issue, but he really

wants to be this position. That is

where he wants is bowl to be, but,

the jack on the respot, he has got

that covered. That is not a

particular problem. The other spot

is not a particular problem. The

other spotters covered, as well. So

again, that is covered. He knows

Alex will play the forehand so we

changed to Alex's bowl and he will

look to draw in here and move the

jack if he can into this position.

Let's see what Les Gillett does. The

match is in his hands at the moment.

Ultimately, Alex needs only one shot

to get the tie-break bowl. It is all

or nothing. It is a match shot. That

is why Les is trying to get to the

red bowls but he is also trying to

be careful.

Almost there, but not

quite. Pretty good effort. Yes.

The

angle is not right with the way the

jack is sitting on the shot bowl.

And Alex Marshall, well, over to you

Paul.

He has the reputation, rightly

so, six time world champion. Can he

find his way out of the hole?

It is

holding. It is not getting back.

Almost the same bowl again. Great

effort, but not there.

It was not to

be for Alex Marshall adds Les

Gillett takes the scalp of the

Scotsman in what was a cracking

match.

STUDIO: First blood to England this

afternoon with Les Gillett through

STUDIO: First blood to England this

afternoon with Les Gillett through

to the quarterfinals. Great game,

well played.

It was a fantastic

game. Me and Alex always seem to

have epic encounters. I would not

say we both bowled to the full

potential. It was tough at times but

you do what you can and I hope we

gave a good performance.

You did. It

was great to watch. Quite hard I

think for both of you, struggling

with line and length.

There were

some fantastic ends. But some loose

ones. Kicking myself. I played two

loose ends. But he put some good

ends in. The last end, I drew 18

inches behind the white.

You must of

been thinking, let's get this over

and done with and get the second set

but great to get the half.

Definitely. I consoled myself to

losing the first, and probably

relaxed because of that, and just

about got back into it. But I had to

bowl fantastic stuff just to get a

tie. Where it came from, I don't

know, but it did.

At the start of

the second set, we thought this was

the way it was going to go. The jack

had been moved and you drew to the

bowl, a fantastic shot.

I played two

first good bowls and he smacked it

out of the rink. I said to Alex,

that is a lovely spot and I drew a

fantastic bowl and I thought perhaps

he will miss one. It was not to be.

It was fantastic, he couldn't have

done any better. I shook his hand

after because it was such a great

bowl.

You did what he had to do? It

was the only way I could get the

shot. Set it and stay or hit the

jack.

Beating the six time world

champion. Next, a former winner,

Nicky Brett against Danny Dennison.

Dennison came into the match having

seen off Jason Greenslade but the

world number two Nicky Brett was in

no mood to allow another upset. He

took

no mood to allow another upset. He

took the first 8-7 and got off to a

great start in the second with

singles in the first two ends

followed by a double in the third

courtesy of this nice draw. An

English international with 35 caps,

Dennison won his Tour card at the

European Masters this year and got

off the mark before putting himself

in pole position in the fifth with

this finely judged shot. But Brett

produced a better response to

convert another single and retain

the advantage with four ends left to

play. Although Dennison grabbed a

double in the next, it was not

enough to turn the tide, with Brett

taking the next two and with that

the match. The 43-year-old from

Peter Brough was into the

quarterfinals. Nicky Brett looking

pretty good. I wonder if he will be

here at the business end of the

tournament. Now another England

versus Scotland affair. Robert

Paxton against Darren Burnett.

Recently he has been nothing if not

consistent, with Darren finishing

four quarterfinal finishes last

season. Robert Paxton is fond of

Perth, the venue of his first

singles title on the world Tour and

he got the semifinals last year.

Darren Burnett took four of the

first five ends.

Your commentators, David Corkill and

Nicky Brett.

COMMENTATOR: Difficult to have a

career and played top-level bowls

indoor and outdoor and you know all

about it, Nick. It is a difficult

mix. The family there, as well.

It

is very time-consuming, if you are

going to hold a standard. Darren

Byrne shifts, as well, it would be

even harder.

He is a policeman, of

course. No 9-5 there.

With Scotland's commitments in the

World Championships, Commonwealth

Games, Test matches,...

Yes, it is

very tough, no doubt about that. A

lot of other sports at this level,

you can make a comfortable living.

Sadly, not in the sport of bowls.

Anyway, I think he likes being a

policeman.

I hope so, he has been

doing it while!

The house.

-- he has. The only policeman in

Scotland to get special leave during

the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. What

can I say? Everybody else was on

duty and he was winning a gold

medal!

Well, you did what he was

there to do.

Absolutely.

Robert needs to get hold of this

jack and change the length.

He has

still got time.

He cannot afford to lose any more

shots. Five behind is doable, but...

Any more than that, the ends start

to run away.

This is one of those

that needs to be added, otherwise, I

am sure Darren won't get that gap

next time around.

He needed a clear one and he got it.

Good stuff. You might see a heavy

shot coming out here.

Darren Burnett

trotting back. Yes, he is looking

forward to this.

Two bowls will go,

the jack is good, as well. The two

bowls will go out very clean.

The

way the angles are set, the bounces

go that way, as well.

Looking at two

now. It goes off the rink on the

respot.

Very predictable. As we said

at the top of the game, he has one

of the best runners in the game. Two

of the three times it has been on

show, he has hit pretty much where

he wanted to. Just enough to hold a

nice line and he gets it away.

He is looking for this to stop. It

is running a shade. Well. It dropped

back. It might just make it, but it

is very close.

It may be second but

I favour at least one red, and so

does Darren.

Took one way, that is

not counting. It is a measure for

shot. Once again, it is an important

measure.

This is close. Equity -- equidistant

would suit fine. Red bowl.

Darren Burnett in control of the

first set which he took 11-1 but

Paxton fought back. When we pick it

up he is leading 5-2.

Once again, another good start. Has

not been able to capitalise in terms

of scoring shots with these.

Not as

yet.

Well, a slight protector but he was

after the red bowl.

It is not easy.

It is not a bad position, depending

on whether Darren can find the

winner here. And it is not far.

Waiting for the green to fall but at

the moment it is hanging on. It must

move now, surely.

Forcing Robert to

change hands.

I can see what he is worried about.

People take a time-out here. If he

the green bowl the jack could easily

come out into the open and that is

what he is worried about. It is

understandable. If he gets any

connection, the jack could easily

just bounce out into this sort of

position and then you are in trouble

because then you are looking at a

trail shot to red bowl.

Ideally he

would love to miss the green and sit

passed between the jack and the red

bowl. And, being greedy, he would

like it to count, as well.

The

forehand is full of danger.

Can he

missed? -- miss.

Oh, that is a

brilliant shot. That really is a

brilliant shot. Yes, he played it

very well. He had to get so close.

To the front red bowl. He missed by

a fraction.

He would have been

quietly concerned from hand because

it was not quite as wide as he would

have liked.

Forced into playing the green bowl

onto the jack, which is very

difficult. He will have to cover

that.

Without a doubt.

Still need to stretch it a bit. That

is good.

He has covered the touch,

but he is still down on the spot. He

couldn't do both. The front green is

bad for Darren.

Good strike, and not easy. STUDIO:

So, Paxton went on to take the

second set and forced a tie-break.

In the first end, Burnett had a wee

slice of luck when this drive gave

him an unlikely win. But Paxton took

the neck end, so we join it for a

sudden-death final end.

Not a bad one.

Good starter. Dropped

onto Darren's favourite backhand.

In the third end of a tie-break, you

can nominate to destroy the end and

play it over again in the same

direction. Robert, that is the place

you did not want to be.

-Ness, that

his position A of where you would

not want to leave it.

Bit quicker, this one.

Still, better there. It will be

interesting to see what Robert plays

with this, because he really has to

be there.

Not bad.

It looks good for so long.

He has two or three seconds,

depending on what Darren does.

Definitely needs another one in. I

don't think he can afford to leave

that.

He has two to come.

It is merely a blocker.

It wasn't

meant to be a blocker. Perfect line.

Big decision here.

Narrow it down

and go quicker. You can't afford to

drift past it.

It is definitely harder, the less

pace you use.

Goodness me, he is brave. He has

dropped it. He went for the perfect

draw. Didn't quite make it. Darren

Burnett wins the match. Very good

game. STUDIO: Yes, a fine win for

Darren Burnett, but you have to work

hard for that, Durham.

You always

work hard against Durham. Started

well in the first set and then

Robert came on the tie-break was

anybody's.

In that second set, you

started to the jack.

Yeah, Darren's

first two bowls were immaculate and

didn't give me a chance. You just

have to take it on the chin. Toss of

a coin, really.

It was a real

battle, because you lost your way,

but that was down to the pressure he

was putting you under.

Absolutely.

Within myself, I just didn't feel I

was 100%. It is a strange thing to

say because I played well. But I

knew Robert would come back into it.

You must be pleased with the way you

played. You were able to get back

into that second set.

Disappointed

with the result, but pleased with

the way I played the second set. I

fought well.

Let's talk about the

tie-break. It is fair to say in the

first end of the tie-break, you had

a bit of a break.

Yeah, I had a bit

of luck. The jack could have gone

anywhere. You get some of these and

you take them and run.

Robert, what

were you thinking at that point?

I

was hoping for a backhand draw, to

be honest. No, there were loads of

options and it jammed nicely for

Darren. It was a great result for

him.

Darren Burnett got through, but

by the skin of his teeth. Now the

last match was former world champion

David Gallie against Mark Royle.

Illness and a drop in form has

forced Mark Royal down, but now he

is back in the running. The match

got off to the worst possible start

for Gourlay as he considered a full

house when Mark Royal capitalised on

some loose play. But the Scot fought

back strongly and went on to take

the first set 8-6. We are going to

pick up the action in end six of the

second set, with Royal leading 3-2.

second set, with Royal leading 3-2.

Very little to choose between them.

It is not inconceivable that we

could get a tide set here. Two of

the last 12 sets played between

these two players have ended tied.

All three of Mark Royal's wins

against David two have required

tie-breaks. -- against David

Gourlay.

Just needs a dip in. The line he has

got perfect, but it's another good

head. It is quality stuff.

It is

hard even to get a double.

That is good stuff, but I think the

shot is against him. If it is, he is

still in command of the head. For

Mark Royal, this is a nightmare. I

think Mark Royal is going to try and

sneak around the back, keep as close

to the red bowls as he can. So if

David moves it a little bit too

hard, he will be in the receiving

position.

It is available between the green

bowl and the red bowl, but that is

really hard.

Time-out called. This

is well worth taking time over.

Is

it going to hit the jack? If it hits

the jack, he could end up two down.

I think there is some confusion...

Well, the time-out is now called

with about three seconds left on the

clock! I thought David Gourlay had

already asked for it.

40 seconds left on the shot clock,

plenty of time.

Oh, no. That is a horrible result.

Dear, oh, dear. There might have

only been the one shot in it, now

there are three. STUDIO: Gourlay had

a single in the next end. We head

back for the eighth end of the

second set.

David Gourlay has not passed round

two in the last five years in

Scotland. He is pretty close now.

Mark Royal has to score at this end.

That was a terrific effort.

On the red, but that will not matter

to Mark Royal at this stage. It is

more of a problem for David Gourlay,

because he can't afford to go near

it. David will certainly not want to

lose a single.

The movement from David Gourlay

suggested that he knew that was

going through.

Something between the

jack and the green bowl. Mark can

take the red bowl out, there is

nothing David can do about that.

I think he would have preferred it

closer to the green bowl.

Closer and closer.

I think David

will play this a bit different.

It

is a match lie, and the pressure is

always on the match lie.

Take the time-out, seven seconds to

go. If he is playing on the

forehand, would he be playing a

protector or blocker?

Well, he has

got one in terms of the back

position. But a blocker is very

hard.

Well, that is not bad. A foot or so

deeper would have been better.

Just

having a little check. It is a match

lie for David Gourlay, and Mark

Royal will take a time-out to

consider his options.

He is looking at coming down a bit

narrow to make sure he has a chance

to come off the short red bowl.

Don't worry about the three bowls at

the back, just get in to save the

match. That is all he wants to do.

He is trying that slightly inside

line. Got a touch. It was enough.

That was a work of art from Mark

Royal.

The first couple of balls

will be critical of this end. --

couple of bowls.

The opening bowl is not 1 million

miles away, but not in a

particularly useful place.

All he can do is pop another one in

and see what develops over the next

couple of bowls.

That was well played.

David Gourlay looking for the one

bowl that will secure his place in

the quarterfinal.

That is a problem.

He will face three against him in a

moment, or at least he should do.

Mark Royal thinking to himself, no

mistakes here.

Oh, he is heavy. He

need something. That is a mistake.

Mark has got very little he can do

about it. Still a chance of getting

a three, forcing a tie-break. He has

taken the pressure off David Gourlay

to draw this. Goodness, you had the

weight, he just didn't make the gap.

He definitely had the wait to get

there.

It is all over. He can't believe it.

A mistake from Mark Royal at the

end, and David Gourlay finds himself

through into the quarterfinal for

the first time in six years. The set

officially tied. It doesn't matter

to David Gourlay. He did the job in

the first set. David Gourlay is

victorious in round two of the

Scottish International Open,

defeating Mark Royal. 'S STUDIO: The

quarterfinal line-up is complete,

and it looks like this.

Some wonderful shots here at the

Dewars Centre today, and I think I

may know which one will be chosen as

shot of the day.

My shot of the day

comes from the match with Alex

Marshall and Les Gillett. It was

brilliant in the first that, Les

Gillett fighting back to draw at

7-7. Then in the first end, Alex

Marshall played the most perfect

shot you will probably ever see.

Forehand, Les Gillett is only a few

inches away from the jack, right on

the edge of the ditch. He has to

play across the line, something that

no player really practices. The bowl

bends all the way back, picked up

the jack, into the ditch, and that

cannot be beaten. You can see how

much this bowl bends. Beautiful,

controlled weight. Doesn't even

touch the green bowl. Les Gillett

has to clap that bowl. You don't

often see players who can clap

another player's bowls in that way,

but it was such precision that it

have to be my shot of the day.

If you want to see shots like that

or even better, join us for the

quarterfinal coverage on BBC Two

Scotland. In the meantime, from all

of us here at the Dewars Centre in

Perth, it's been a wonderful day.

Sleep well.