PHYLLIS NOLAN and Margaret Johnston, chasing a record breaking third successive Women's World Bowls pairs title at Lemington Spa near Birmingham, swept through to the final yesterday. The Irish pair were successful in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1988 and at Ayr, Scotland, in 1992.

Nolan and Johnston will play Jersey's Jean Jones and Sheila Syvret this afternoon in a repeat of the 1992 Ireland v Jersey World final, although this time Jones takes over as lead in place of Mavis Le Marquand for the Jersey pair. The Irish internationals won that final 23-11.

Nolan and Johnston completed their round robin league campaign in style beating Zimbabwe 26-12 and Zambia 24-16 to finish four points clear of South Africa at the top of their league of 16 nations.