Thomas Mahy led his triples team to victory in both their Plate competition rubbers in County Antrim. (0783894)

GUERNSEY’S young brother-and-sister duo Connor and Sophie Rabey teamed up with Thomas Mahy and grew in confidence as the groundbreaking British Isles under-18 team bowls championship unfolded in County Antrim at the weekend.

A nervous Channel Islands team, which also included Jersey trio Ryan Videgrain, Ross Davies and Guy Walton, made a slow start, but showed their real quality when they reached the Plate final.

‘You could see these youngsters growing in self-belief with every outing,’ said Irish team manager Roy McCune.

‘This new event opens a pathway for the development of our sport, and it was clearly a great success.’

There was not much success for the Channel Islanders at the group stage, although the Guernsey trio – aged 16, 13 and 15 respectively – put up stern resistance against Wales and Scotland, and actually beat England in an 8-7, 6-6 thriller.

Qualifying for a crack at the Plate competition, the Channel Islands faced Wales and hit form together to inflict a 3-0 whitewash on the Welsh opponents, who looked shell-shocked.