DORCHESTER'S Martin Pavey and Steve Gait are through to the final of the County Pairs and have landed a place in the national finals.

It is just two weeks since Pavey earned a Worthing spot in the singles, and now recalls his last visit to the National Championships when in 2009 he and Jamie Lockwood became national pairs champions.

With Lockwood now bowling outdoors with Wellworthy, Pavey needed a new partner and linked up with the experienced Gait for this season’s campaign.

Gait is no stranger to Worthing and this new combination has done well to win through to the county finals. And they have high hopes of national success, with their challenge starting in a preliminary match on August 19.

Their semi-final opponents were Dave Ralph and Barry Patterson of Greenhill , who were providing three teams in the last four.

The game was uncharacteristically one-sided, with Gait and Pavey posting a count of four shots on the first end to which the Greenhill pair responded with a single.

The response was short-lived as four ends later Ralph and Patterson were in an unhealthy 13-1 situation. Another solitary shot to Ralph and Patterson was followed by losses of two shots and a shattering five to leave them staring down the barrel at 20-2 adrift.

Patterson, who had turned the tables many times over his long and distinguished career, was on this occasion unable to break the stranglehold that Gait and Pavey maintained.

With 16 of the scheduled 21 ends completed and the Dorchester duo out of sight at 29-10, Ralph and Patterson shook hands with their opponents and brought proceedings to a close.

Gait and Pavey will play the winners of the second semi-final – father and son combination Ed and Dave Smith of Greenhill – who won a contrasting thriller against their fellow club-mates Doug Rumble and the youthful skip Martin Puckett, to fill the second Dorset spot in the National Championships.

The match was finely poised at 9-8 to the Puckett pairing when they suffered a double whammy two-end disaster, dropping counts of four and three to slump to 15-9 adrift.

Smith and Smith were pulled back to 18-16 but they then won a close measure for a vital shot, to go into the final end three ahead at 19-16.

Rumble and Puckett did manage to gain two of the required three shots, failing by the narrowest of margins to force an extra end. However, the Smith family combination took the honours at 19-18.

County Under-25 Final FURTHER success came the way of Dorchester when Steven Huttley, 23, took on the talented Alexandra Park player Daniel Tomberry.

For his part, Tomberry is gaining a ‘nearly man’ reputation as he has failed to gain ultimate success in a number of finals and tight contests. He did open by taking shots on the first end to establish a 3-0 lead, before Huttley settled and began to compete, claiming the next six ends in a row – albeit just a single shot on each occasion.

From a 6-3 lead, Huttley then slipped to 8-6 behind, before forcing his way back to 10-all and then 12-apiece. The next end, when he was three down, Huttley drew a shot to regain the lead.

Tomberry would not give an inch and at 16-15 in favour of Huttley it was anyone’s game. However, it was Huttley who remained composed as he progressed to accumulate the five shots he required for victory and take the title.

Huttley now represents Dorset in the National Championships at Worthing, playing his first game on Saturday, August 11.

Having appeared in no less than nine national championships in his relatively short career – all previous visits to Worthing have been in pairs, triples and fours – Dorchester’s young star now makes it number 10 with a chance to showcase his skills as a single player.