JUNIOR OPEN SINGLES 2017
Saturday 2nd September saw the third staging of the Bernard O’Malley Vice-President’s Trophy which is an open competition for bowlers aged 18 and under.
This year, a change in format meant that the early stages were run as a round robin to ensure that all the players got a full afternoon of bowling. The top four then qualified for the semi-finals and these were Kyle Dawes and Fergal Wright from the host club, Matty Greenwood (Mere Brow) and Harvey Stansfield from Singleton Bowling Club. All four semi-finalists are junior county bowlers which ensured an extremely high standard of play.
The first semi-final saw the two Hesketh Arms players playing each other, in a repeat of last year’s final but on this occasion it was Kyle who gained revenge by winning on a last end decider to go through 21-20. His opponent in the final was Matty Greenwood from Mere Brow, who had recovered from 9-2 down to win 21-15 against Harvey Stansfield, the scores having been level at 15-15. The final was another high quality encounter which could have gone either way but it Kyle Dawes who deservedly took the title with a narrow 21-18 victory.
Many thanks to the Committee of the Hesketh Arms Bowling Club for allowing us to run this event, which is held in the name of our Honorary Vice-President, Bernard O’Malley, who has provided greatly appreciated support to our Club over a number of years.
A special mention must be made of Graham Pickavance, our referee for the day, who once again gave his time freely to ensure that the competition ran smoothly. Thanks also to those who came down to watch the bowling and helped out with marking and measuring and lastly to the bowlers who took part and provided a memorable and entertaining tournament.