By Stephen Helliwell
Pasquale Cestrone and Phil Stone, of Kingston, won the Halifax Association’s Men’s Pairs at Hove Edge on Sunday. They defeated Julian and B
ailey Dawson of Akroydon Victoria by 15-0 in the final of the event, sponsored by Richard Pilling.
Cestrone and Stone made a tentative start to their day, trailing by 5-12 in their first game against Brendan Malone and Martin Greenwood, of Siddal, before running out to win by 15-12. They were comfortable 15-6 winners against Ian. & Martin Atkinson of Laurel Crescent to reach the quarter-final, where they raced to a 10-0 lead against Jordan Crabtree and Shayne Greaves of Hill Crest. A determined fight-back by the King Cross duo brought them to 12 but Cestrone and Stone were not to be denied their place in the semi-final, winning by 15-12. The semi-final, against Peter O’Callaghan and Mark McLoughlin King Cross proved to be their trickiest challenge, finding themselves behind by 10-6 before running out to win by 15-10.
The Dawsons have already enjoyed a successful season, Bailey winning the Sowerby Bridge Roberts Rose Bowl at West End back in May while Julian picked up the Halifax Merit Trophy only last week. Their combined skills earned them a 15-12 first round win against Chris Jepson and Steve Lowther of Outlane followed by a 15-10 victory over Trevor and Tom Gasson of Hove Edge In their quarter-final, against Luddendenfoot John and Ben Halliday they went ahead by 10-3 then held off their opponent’s late recovery to win by 15-12 before reaching the final with a 15-5 victory over Glenn McCafferty and Simon Page of Asa Briggs.
The final score does not reflect the contribution of both pairs to an entertaining final but it was Cestrone and Stone who dominated from the start. Cestrone quality leading, backed by Stone’s solid support combined to secure the title after only seven ends.