OXFORD won the second-tier Pairs Championship for the first time in club history at Poole on Wednesday night.
Cheetahs' duo Sam Masters and Anders Rowe overcame Berwick's Peter Kildemand and Nick Morris in the final after finishing top of the qualifying scorechart on 26 points. Hosts Poole were second on 23 but Pirates' pair Richard Lawson and Zach Cook, the pre-meeting favourites, were knocked out 5-4 in the sem-final by Berwick with Lawson relegated to the back. Glasgow secured the fourth qualifying berth but were downed by the Cheetahs in the semis when Rowe relegated Leon Flint to last place, while Masters took the chequered flag ahead of Chris Harris. Masters led the final with Kildemand in second place but Rowe's third place ahead of Morris secured a 6-3 victory and the title. Masters said: “It was nice to finally get a gold. We’ve had a lot of silver since I’ve joined the club but we’ve finally got a gold, and it’s come at the end of the toughest year in the club’s history. “A big thank you to all the fans who came to support us today – you could see what it meant to them. “Poole were favourites, and Berwick did us a massive favour by knocking them out in the semi-finals. But I felt we deserved to win – we were the best pair throughout the evening, including in the qualifying races."
