Year: 2011

The Autumn News Letter is now available on the web site , under NEWSLETTER
All future News Letters will be published in this manner

21 players took part in the re-arranged President’s Cup on Sunday 21st August, a reasonable turnout considering several members are away on holiday and we were clashing with the finals of the Southport Flower Show competition at Promenade Bowling Club.
In the top half of the draw, Club Chairman Chris Harding looked intent on claiming the cup, enjoying good wins against Eileen Curtis (21-13) and Norman Parry (21-15). This was followed by a surprisingly comfortable win against Margaret Langley in the quarter-final. Using his favourite corner marks, Chris reached the semi-final, winning 21-6. In the last four, Chris’s opponent was new member Sue Andersen, who had survived a tough 1st Round game with Richard Rawcliffe to win on the final end 21-20. This was followed by another close game with Jim Blundell but it was Sue who won 21-17 to set up a semi-final clash with Chris. Conceding a handicap of 6, Chris needed to get off to a good start but Sue continued to lead well and Chris was unable to get on the marks he had played so well in the previous rounds. In the end, Sue’s consistently good bowling enabled her to secure a 21-7 win, to reach the final playing in only her second Hesketh Arms competition.
The bottom half of the draw saw John Stennett reach the semi-final with wins against Leo Tobin (21-16) and Barry Coates (21-11). His opponent in the last four was Pat Higgins who had reached that stage with wins against the captain of the Hesketh Harriers, Alan Kelly (21-14) and Falcons team-mate Joe Parker (21-16). This semi-final pairing ensured that there would be another first-time finalist in a Hesketh Arms club handicap and it was Pat who was to reach the final with a winning margin of 21-14.
In the final, Pat got off to a decent start, winning 5 of the first 8 ends to lead 10-9. However, in the second half of the game, Sue regained the form she had been showing all afternoon, winning 8 out of the next 9 ends, including four 2s to secure a 21-11 win and claim The President’s Cup. Congratulations to Sue Andersen on overcoming some experienced opponents on the way to her success, having only recently joined the Club.
Many thanks to all those members who have supported the Club’s competitions in 2011.

The final Club event of the season will be a Round Robin to take place on Bank Holiday Monday, 29th August, starting at 2.00pm. All members welcome.

Hesketh Arms v Hoole Village Hall
Burscough League Third Division Cup Final
Friday 19 August 2011
The two previous league meetings between these clubs earlier in the season had produce a resounding 8-2 win for Hoole at the Hesketh and an unexpected 6-4 win for the Hesketh in the return fixture.  However with the Hesketh finishing 24 points adrift of Hoole at the end of the season Hoole were the clear favourites.
Hoole went out with a strong first four picking up three winners and a 30 point aggregate lead.  Norman Parry had an excellent win and John Duckworth, Leo Tobin and Mark Lloyd had to play well to pick up as many chalks as they did.
In the middle four the tide began to turn with wins for Bill Bloor, Mark Rowlinson and Tom James and a very creditable score from Andy Kissack all helping to reduce the aggregate deficit to 13
With the scores tied at 4-4 the comeback was completed with Neil Coulton and Kevin Leddy building on the foundations laid down by the rest of the team, picking up a win each and securing an aggregate win of 16 points.  This meant that the overall score was Hesketh Arms 9 points, Hoole Village Hall A 4 points.
Thanks must go to :-
Alan Wright at Mere Brow for providing the venue and ensuring everything was available for the match to proceed.
The Burscough League for organising the competition which was a much better option that having blank weeks in the diary.
Hoole Village Hall A for contributing to an excellent final and congratulations to them on achieving promotion.

This Friday sees the Club’s Burscough League team take on Hoole Village Hall ‘A’ in the final of the 3rd Division Supplementary Cup.
The game is to take place at Mere Brow Bowling Club, starting at 7.00pm and support from Club members would be very welcome

On Sunday 14th August, 30 players took part in the Club’s latest competition, The Championship Cup. This was a pleasing turnout considering the weather conditions an hour or so before the start.

In the top half of the draw, Mark Rowlinson came through close encounters with Leo Tobin (21-18) and Alan Bond (21-16) to reach the quarter-finals. These were impressive wins as Mark was conceding a handicap of four against each opponent. In the quarter-final, Mark faced the experienced Hesketh Arms player, Margaret Langley, but continued his good form to win through to the semi-final. His semi-final opponent was the winner of this season’s Coronation Cup, Mike Dunlop. Mike had reached the semi-final with wins against John McGurk (21-19), Richard Rawcliffe (21-11) and John Stennett (21-10). In the semi-final, Mike started well but it was Mark who eventually went through to the final with a 21-16 win.

In the bottom half of the draw, Jim Finnimore was in fine form and cruised through to the semi-final where his opponent was George Hitchmough, who had survived a close 1st Round match against one of the Club’s new members Barry Coates, just edging home 21-20. Jim continued to play well in the semi-final, using a round peg mark on the far side of the green and it was Jim who reached the final with a 21-11 success.

Jim carried his good form into the final against Mark, winning 8 of the first 9 ends to establish a 12-4 lead. This start was to prove decisive and despite Mark threatening to get back in the game with a couple of 2s, it was to be Jim’s day, winning one end by beating a 6″ bowl with a side toucher. Having played well throughout the afternoon and having come close in other competitions, Jim was a worthy winner of The Championship Cup, the final score being 21-9.

It was pleasing to see several new members taking part in this event. However, special mention must go to Jim Halsall for reaching the quarter-finals in his first competition, enjoying good wins against experienced opponents.

The final competition of the season, The President’s Cup, will be held next Sunday 21st August, starting at 1.00pm

On Sunday 24th July, 24 members and guests competed for the Chairman’s Shield. This is a doubles competition for which the pairings are drawn at random.

The early stages saw some close and competitive games but the highlights were 21-20 wins for Les Miller and Joe Parker against Shirley Kelly and Leo Tobin and also for Roy Heyes and Bill Nowell, who overcame Pat Higgins and Ray Lowe by the same margin. The winners of these games then faced each other in the semi-final and although at one stage it was looking like it was going down to the wire, Les and Joe progressed to the final with a 21-15 success.

In the top half of the draw one of our guests for the day, Mark Eustace, was drawn to partner seasoned campaigner Bill Nuttall. With the help of Bill’s experience and knowledge of the green , Mark and Bill were able to reach the semi-final with wins against Harry Brown and Pat Miller (21-7) and Jim Huyton and Norman Parry (21-16). In the semi-final, they came up against the pairing of one of last year’s winners, Eileen Curtis, and Alan Bond, who has produced some good performances in his first season at the Hesketh Arms. With Eileen putting up some consistently good leads, it was Alan and Eileen who won a close game 21-17 to reach the final.

The final was an exciting game which could have gone either way but in the end the Chairman’s Shield went to Les Miller and Joe Parker, overcoming Alan and Eileen with a 21-18 victory. Congratulations to Les and Joe on their first competition success at the Hesketh Arms.

Members are reminded that the next club competition is The Championship Cup on Sunday 14th August, followed by the re-arranged President’s Cup a week later on Sunday 21st August. Both competitions will start at 1.00pm

Sunday 10th July saw another good entry of 27 players taking part in the Club’s latest competition, The Coronation Cup.
Following some close games in the early rounds, the semi-finals brought together Alan Bond v Mike Dunlop and Jim Finnimore v. 2010 winner, Margaret Langley.
Alan Bond, in his first season at the Hesketh Arms, had goods wins in the early rounds against Pat Jones (21-19) and John McGurk (21-14) before meeting Brian Jones in the quarter-final. This proved to be one of games of the day with Alan scoring two at the final end to win through to the semi-final 21-20. In the semi-final Alan came up against Mike Dunlop who had been in fine form all day, recording wins against Harry Brown (21-18), Beryl Jackson (21-18) and George Hitchmough (21-11). Mike continued his good form in the semi-final to record a comfortable 21-8 win.

In the bottom half of the draw, Jim Finnimore had progressed to the semi-final with wins against Norman Parry (21-20) and Bill Nowell (21-10) to face Margaret Langley who did well to overcome the disadvantage of playing off scratch to overcome Shirley Kelly (21-20) and Richard Rawcliffe (21-14). Margaret continued to play well in the semi-final against Jim and reached the final with a 21-10 success.
The final saw Margaret, playing off scratch after several competition victories in recent seasons, playing Mike Dunlop, in his first Hesketh Arms singles final. Starting on +4, Mike got got off to a flying start which was to prove decisive. Despite Margaret bowling well, Mike continued to play as he had been doing throughout the competition and eventually won the final 21-5 to take the 2011 Coronation Cup