After Myrtle Le Marquand, Gene Vibert, Jean Holmes and Joan de Gruchy struck gold in the British Isles fours championship on Friday, the Island’s 24-woman team were determined to show they could hold their own in the team event.And they were manifestly delighted to walk off with the spoils against Ireland yesterday afternoon, beating their hosts 117-108 and chalking up their first ever win at this level.Great wins from the rinks skipped by Alison Birch and Sue Noel, and a hard-earned draw from Sue Dingle’s rink, set up the famous victory, making up for the disappointment of a narrow three-shots defeat at the hands of the Irish in Wales last year.Alison Birch and her rink-mates Gill Ingram, Betty Thomas and Margaret Breen, have proved to be the outstanding success story of the championships, while Claudette Renouf, Sue Silcox, Jean Jones and Dingle have put in some amazing performances.Birch and company opened on Saturday with a good win against England’s 24-year-old Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Amy Monkhouse, but they will remember their double whammy yesterday for as long as they live.Against Wales, they were Jersey’s only winning rink, edging past the previously irrepressible Betty Morgan, who created a remarkable record on Friday when she won three British titles.But that was just for starters! Drawn to play a rink skipped by Ireland’s legendary Margaret Johnston after lunch, they powered into a 19-9 lead by the 13th end and on to a memorable 26-19 victory.Dingle’s rink opened with a 25-11 win over England’s Jean Baker, lost by five against Wales, and drew against Ireland; Noel’s rink lost by six against England and by one against Wales before beating Dessa Baird’s Irish rink, 25-13, yesterday.For the record, Jersey lost to England on Saturday by 21 shots (141-112) – though it could have been a lot more if it had not been for a gritty fightback over the last quarter of the match.In a heavy 130-90 defeat against Wales yesterday morning, the two bright spots were provided by Birch and Noel, who won and lost by one shot respectively.Today, Jersey will have to bedware over-confidence as they take on Scotland, who will surely have something to prove after losing to England by 25 shots yesterday, thereby losing their grip on the title.
