BOWLS: MARK Royal, the 1998 singles champion, will face 1999 champion Chris Love in this year's Suffolk EBA County final at Marlborough BC next Sunday.Royal overcame Kelvyn Earthroll in his semi-final on the same Ipswich green while Love defeated David Newman.

Mark Royal, the 1998 singles champion, will face 1999 champion Chris Love in this year's Suffolk EBA County final at Marlborough BC next Sunday.

Royal overcame Kelvyn Earthroll in his semi-final on the same Ipswich green while Love defeated David Newman.

Royal's clash with Earthroll proved a tight and enthralling encounter as both players produced excellent bowls.

Throughout the match there was never more than three shots between them. The major turning point came with Royal leading 16-15 and facing a score of four against him.

He drove at the tight head, brushing the shot bowl and sending the jack sideways to score a single. Royal then won the next two ends to secure a 21-15 victory.

In his semi final Love had to come from behind to secure his place in the final. Trailing 8-3 and 10-5 he found his form to overhaul Newman. The second half of the game definitely belonged to Love as he scored 16 shots to his opponent's four on his way to a 21-14 victory.

The pairs final will see the Felixstowe and Suffolk pairing of Andy Meikle and Adrian Holden take on Jack Jermy and John Catchpole.

The Felixstowe pair were always in control of their semi-final against last year's finalists George Ward and Duncan Snape. Leading 10-7 after ten ends they piled in the pressure to win 22-8 in 18 ends.

Jermy and John Catchpole (Beccles) were involved in a much tighter affair against the Debenham pairing of Neil Frohawk and Percy Rowe.

Trailing 8-6 after nine ends the Beecles pair hit back over the next six ends to lead 15-11. Back came Frohawk and Rowe to go into the last end just two shots in arrears but they only managing a single so was Jermy and Catchpole who booked their place in the final and a trip the Worthing for the national finals.

In the triples the Rookery rink of Richard Leeder, Tony Wright and Carl Finbow will be the most disappointed not to make the final as they raced into a 11-1 lead after just four ends.

Their Melton opposition did not panic and Norman Wilcock, Brian Bennett and Ken Diaper slowly clawed themselves back into the game.

As the Melton rink grew in confidence they began to bowl much better and by the 15th end trailed by just a single shot 18-17. Rookery then score a single to lead by two, back came Melton over the next two ends with two singles to send the game to an extra end.

By the time Finbow came to bowl his final wood he was match down and faced a very difficult shot to execute which he failed to do, to send the Melton rink through to the final, much to the delight of their supporters.

In the final they will meet another surprise package in this competition in the shape of Ken Reynolds, Peter Muirhead and Ivan Turrell of the Lowestoft Railway Bowls Club. They defeated the Grampion Bowls Club rink of Ken Davies, Paul Bennett and Jim Feeney.

It was a close encounter over the first half of the game and at nine ends the Lowestoft rink led by a single shot 9-8.

In the second half of the match it was Turrell and his men who held the upper hand winning 20-13.

In the fours, last years champions John Rednall, Mark Addison, Clive Webb and Adrian Holden had a comfortable victory over last years runners up, Mark Todd, Jack Jermy, John Catchpole and Robin Norman.

Restricting their opponents to just four scoring ends they ran out 28-10 winners in just 16 ends. It was an excellent all round team performance from the Felixstowe and Suffolk quartet.

Their opponents in the final will have home advantage as Peter Peakman, Philip Last, Ashley Sale and Andrew Friend of the Marlborough Club disposed of Keith Bloomfield, Colin Denny, Mick Frohawk and Tom Bowden (Debenham).

The Marlborough men led throughout of the match, although the Debenham rink tried to stay in the match the Marlborough rink proved to strong on the day eventually winning 25-15.

The champion of champions final will be between Duncan Snape of Melton BC and Eric Moule of Sudbury BC. Snape defeated Paul Proctor of Felixstowe 21-11 while Moule defeated Brian Insley of Felixstowe and Suffolk BC 21-12.

In the Under 25's Stuart Gaught of Risbygate BC had a comfortable win over Michael Rice of Margaret Catchpole BC. Gaught, an experienced campaigner who has played for the Middleton Cup team, dominated the game winning 21-6 in 13 ends.

His opponent in the final, Duane Hart of Ipswich BC, had an even more comfortable passage to the final when his semi-final opponent Stuart Brimlow (Needham Market) failed to show for the match.