AUTUMN NEWSLETTER
BURSCOUGH LEAGUE PRESENTATION
The Burscough & Lathom Bowling League held its Presentation Meeting recently and Andy Draper was presented with his award for winning the 1st Division Merit. Andy is pictured being presented with the shield by League President, Duncan Crabtree .
LEAGUE SEASON REVIEW – 2025
INTRODUCTION
The 2025 season saw the Hesketh Arms Bowling Club field eleven teams in various local leagues. A lot of work and commitment goes into running these teams and thanks go to the captains who take on this important role. Our captains this year were :- Chris Harding (Eagles & Vulture) ; Jim Halsall (Ospreys) ; Mike Milne (Owls) ;
John Townsend (Sparrowhawks) ; John Unsworth (Kites) ; Brian Sutton (Kestrels) ; George Hitchmough (Hawks & Merlins) ; John Hughes (Hobbies) ; Debbie Barnes (Buzzards).
Below is a summary of our teams’ performances, along with their individual merit winners. Full tables can be found on the results website for each league.
SOUTHPORT LV LEAGUE
The Eagles continued to compete strongly in the top half of the Premier Division, eventually finishing in 3rd place.
In the Knockout Cup, the Eagles were defeated 6-4 by Tarleton in the semi-final, played at Fleetwood Hesketh.
Eagles Merit Winner – Jim Halsall (14 wins)
BURSCOUGH & LATHOM LEAGUE
We continued to run two teams in the Burscough & Lathom League, one of the strongest leagues in the area. The Vultures again performed well, finishing level on points with Banks St. Stephen’s, nine points behind champions Bretherton ‘A’. Unfortunately, they lost the play-off for the runners-up spot and so had to settle for 3rd place.
Congratulations to Andy Draper, who had an outstanding season. He won 14 out of the 16 games to win the League Player of the Season award.
The Ospreys, under new captain Jim Halsall, were playing in the 2nd Division, having been relegated from the top-flight. They had an enjoyable season and ended the season exactly half-way in 5th place.
Vultures Merit Winner – Andy Draper (14 wins)
Ospreys Merit Winner – Jim Halsall (13 wins)
MAGHULL LEAGUE
With the Sparrowhawks having been promoted, both our Maghull League teams were competing in the 1st Division. The Owls welcomed several new recruits to the team to replace players who had moved from the area or couldn’t play due to work commitments. The team competed well and finished in a mid-table position. In their first season in the top division, the Sparrowhawks found wins hard to come by in what is a tough standard and finished in 11th place. They did, however, enjoy a notable success in winning the first “derby” fixture against the Owls.
Owls Merit Winner – Andy Draper (18 wins)
Sparrowhawks Merit Winner – Pat McArthur (8 wins)
SOUTHPORT PARKS LEAGUE
Our Parks League team, the Kites, were expecting to be relegated having finished bottom of the Premier Division in 2024 but got a reprieve following a restructuring of the league. The 2025 season saw a great improvement in the team’s performances thanks to impressive contributions from several new signings and they finished in a healthy 6th place, the exact half-way point in the division.
Kites Merit Winner – Mike Milne (15 wins)
AUGHTON SENIOR CITIZENS’ LEAGUE
Both our Wednesday afternoon teams were in the 1st Division for 2025. The Hawks had gained promotion by finishing as runners-up in Division 2 the previous season, whilst the Kestrels were placed above the 1st Division relegation places following a decision made at the League’s Annual General Meeting.
The top division of the Aughton League is a tough one and wins can be hard to come by. At the end of the season, the Kestrels had won six matches to finish in 8th place and the Hawks were one place below in 9th having won five games.
Kestrels Merit Winner – Jim Halsall (15 wins)
Hawks Merit Winner – Peter Smith (11 wins)
SOUTHPORT VETERANS’ LEAGUE
In the Monday afternoon Southport Veterans’ League, the Merlins were competing in the top-flight after winning the 2nd Division in 2024. They had a season of consolidation in the 1st Division, winning nine matches to finish the season in a comfortable 8th place.
The Hobbies were playing in Division 3, having been relegated at the end of the previous season. Several of the team were new to league bowling in 2024 but they ended the 2025 season strongly to finish 4th, having won an impressive 14 games out of 22 played.
The season ended on a positive note with both our teams reaching their divisional cup finals. The Merlins played against league runners-up Banks ‘A’, losing narrowly in the final, played at Fleetwood Hesketh. The Hobbies, however, won their final against Sandbrook ‘B’ at Crossens Bowling Club. This was despite having to concede a handicap of 89 chalks. This is their second cup win, having won the Dick Wareing Trophy in 2024. Congratulations to captain John Hughes and his team on winning the 2025 Joe Bond Trophy.
Merlins Merit Winner – Steve Goulding (16 wins)
Hobbies Merit Winner – Alan Lloyd (17 Wins)
SOUTHPORT LADIES’ LEAGUE
Having been relegated to the 2nd Division at the end of the 2024 season, the Buzzards were hoping to bounce straight back to the top division at the first attempt. With the help of some new signings, they achieved this emphatically by finishing as champions, three points ahead of Victoria Park ‘A’. They lost just one league game all season, winning thirteen out of their fourteen fixtures. Congratulations to captain Debbie Barnes, who led the way with 12 wins to finish top of the divisional merit table.
The Buzzards ended the season in style when they made it a double success by defeating their rivals Victoria Park ‘A’ by 11 chalks in the final of the Knockout Cup, played at Formby Sports & Social.
Buzzards Merit Winner – Debbie Barnes (12 wins)
Mike Milne
OCTOBER NEWSLETTER
Southport Veterans League
JOE BOND TROPHY
Congratulations to the Hesketh Hobbies on winning the Southport Veterans’ League Joe Bond Trophy. In the final, which was played at Crossens Bowling Club, they had to concede a handicap of 89 chalks against Sandbrook Park ‘B’. They got off to a flying start, winning all of the first four games and taking an aggregate advantage of 57 chalks. Three of the next four games were won, with a further 22 points being gained. This meant that with the last two games on the green and taking the handicap into account, the Hobbies were still ten chalks adrift. A 21-11 win by Andy Draper put the scores level, leaving the outcome of the final in the balance. The last Hobbies player on the green was Mike Burrill and he produced a tremendous fightback to come from 13-1 down to win 21-14, giving the Hobbies the aggregate by just 7 chalks. Congratulations to captain John Hughes and all of the Hobbies squad who have played throughout the season.
Southport Veterans League
Fred Brockley trophy
The Hesketh Merlins the 1st Division team were involved in the 1st Division cup final. The game was won by Banks A by 14 chalks.
ROUND ROBINS
The popular Tuesday and Friday Round Robins have again been held throughout the 2025 season and given the better weather we have enjoyed this year, attendances have been much higher than in the last couple of seasons. These sessions are an integral part of the Club’s programme of events and are an ideal way of meeting other members of the club and gaining experience of playing against different players. Many thanks to Peter and Lynne Smith for hosting the Round Robins and to those who have helped out in any way or stood in for Peter and Lynne when they have been unable to attend.
GREEN MAINTENANCE
Members will be aware that the green is now closed for the winter and will reopen in Spring 2026. The annual maintenance work on the green has commenced and we hope that the green will be back to its usual high standard after a period of very challenging weather conditions. The Committee will endeavour to keep members updated on the work carried out on the green and progress being made throughout the course of the close season.
We will be looking for help from our members for out of season clean up work.
The club would welcome any donations of unwanted Astro turf to complete the lining of the bowling green gutters. Please contact George Hitchmough who can arrange collection.