Perseverance paid off for Albion Park twins Maurie and Cliff Bunker who were popular winners of the club's Minor Pairs title for 2014.
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The twins have been trying to win the championship event for about five years - their best previous effort was to make the third round.
Maurie, the elder by a couple of minutes, won the Albion Park Fours in 1999 while Cliff missed out on a spot in the team due to a broken leg suffered in a mining accident.
Maurie also won the Major Minor Pairs with Mick Duprez and was runner-up in the Major Minor Pairs with Ian Barrett.
The twins have been playing bowls casually for 20 years, but took it a bit more seriously in recent years with their victory a highlight for them.
The Minor Pairs final against Trevor Quinn and skip Gary Brown was played on a cold, windy day.
The Bunkers led 7-1 after seven ends and went on to win 17-8.
Meanwhile, Paul Wesley and Ian Barrett won the club's Major Pairs and combined with Richard Kirkpatrick to take out the triples by beating Brett O'Leary, Gary Corkery and Jeff Meredith (skip) 28-16 in the final.
The triples event was played over 25 ends of two-bowls and got off to an even start with skip Barrett leading Meredith 5-2 on the fourth end.
Barrett then won three straight ends to take a 14-2 lead after seven ends.
Meredith fought back to trail 15-11 on 13 ends but Barrett picked up a four on the next end and won six of the next nine ends to establish a 12-shot margin and a strong victory.
John Ferguson won the blue ribbon Albion Park Major Singles for 2014, while Brett O'Leary, Trent Thompson, Paul Oliver and Warren Turner combined to take out the fours.
Club pairs eye zone honours
The top club pairs teams in Illawarra are chasing a Zone 16 title in this weekend’s Champion of Club Champion Pairs at Woonona Bowling Club.
Nineteen Major Pairs winners for 2014 will line up for the preliminary rounds on Saturday, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals on Sunday.
The final is likely to be on Saturday week, at Woonona BC.
Towradgi Park bowls co-ordinator Wes Falconer is chasing back-to-back Champion of Club Champion titles after he won the Singles crown earlier this month.
Falconer partners the experienced Brian Harriott in Saturday’s opening round of Pairs against Jamberoo champions Kevin Harris and Des Harris.
Among the other leading Pairs teams bidding for the zone title are Warilla’s Jesse Noronha and Aaron Teys, Paul Wesley and Ian Barrett (Albion Park), Jason Cheadle and Robbie Warren (Wiseman Park) and Dapto Citizens’ Chris Green and Steve Green.
