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Awards Evening report

AWARDS EVENING REPORT – 2018 SEASON

The Club’s seventh annual Awards Evening was held on Saturday at the Churchtown Conservative Club, when members celebrated a successful 2018 season. The evening was again compered by Club Chairman, Chris Harding, who congratulated all the members on another excellent season.

Awards were made to the winners and runners-up of the Club’s nine internal competitions and team merit winners, details of which have been reported during the course of the season and in the 2018 Season Review. These were followed by the Club’s special awards, presented to the Team of the Year and the Club Member of the Year. The team award was again keenly contested, which several of our teams enjoying successful campaigns. The Kites (Parks League), Vultures (Burscough League) and Hawks (Aughton League) all achieved either promotion or knockout cup success but the final choice was between the three teams that had finished as champions of their respective divisions. In the Southport LV League, the Club achieved a notable double, with the Harriers winning the 1st Division and the Eagles finishing as Premier Division champions, the first time this title had been won by the Hesketh Arms in over twenty years. Our third champions were the Owls, who under the captaincy of Sue Davies, won the league and cup double in the Maghull League 4th Division. As several members of the Committee are either captain of one of these teams or play for them, an independent panel was appointed and the 2018 Team of the Year was adjudged to be the Eagles in recognition of winning the LV League Premier Division. The trophy was accepted on the team’s behalf by Chris Harding, who has been captain of this team for nineteen consecutive seasons.

The final presentation of the evening is made to the Club Member Of The Year and this year it was deservedly awarded to George Hitchmough. George has been Club Secretary since 2011 and in addition to the usual duties involved in this role, George has set up and administered the Club’s website, overseen numerous maintenance projects at the green, organised the Club’s social and fundraising events and provided a vital link to the Conservative Club, which we use as the venue for our functions and meetings. George has also been a successful captain of two of our afternoon teams, the Hawks and the Merlins.

The Committee would like to thank the Churchtown Conservative Club for allowing us to use their excellent facilities once again. Thanks in particular to Gill for her hard work on the night and to Brian Whitley, who helped Gill behind the bar and with laying out the buffet.

Many thanks to Jason Chapman and Jon Roberts for their help selling the raffle tickets.

A special mention must go to George Hitchmough for co-ordinating the arrangements for the whole evening and to Sue Andersen, who helped George with the catering.

Finally, thank you to all those who supported the event by attending on the night and providing prizes for the raffle. Final proceeds came to £385.30, which will go towards Club funds.

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January News Letter

HESKETH ARMS NEWSLETTER – january 2019

AWARDS EVENING

The Club’s annual Awards Evening will take place on Saturday, 2nd February at the Churchtown Conservative Club, starting at 7.30 pm. As well as presentations to the successful players from the 2018 season, there will be a buffet supper, quiz and raffle.

To order your ticket, priced at £5.00, please contact any club officer or your team captain. All proceeds from the night will go towards club funds.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Members are reminded that the Club’s Annual General Meeting will be held at the Churchtown Conservative Club on Monday 18th February, 7.30 pm start.

Any proposals should be with the Secretary before Thursday 17th January.

CLOSE SEASON WORK & MAINTENANCE

Although the green has been closed since the beginning of October, the Autumn and Winter months are still a busy time for the Club’s Committee, with essential works being carried out on and around the green.

Almost as soon as the green closes at the end of the season, Andrew Church and Lancashire Turf Supplies are given to access the green to enable them to carry out the annual maintenance work, with is crucial to us maintaining a good playing surface for our members. This was particularly important at the end of last season given the unprecedented weather conditions we had experienced during the summer. The Club is again indebted to our Honorary Vice-President, Mr. Bernard O’Malley, of Nationwide Produce, for his generous assistance in funding this work. Bernard has been a staunch supporter of our club for a number of years now and without his support we would not be enjoying the facilities we have today.

The Officers of the Club would like to thank Graham Meadow for his hard work in organising and co-ordinating various jobs around the green, including improved access to the club from the carpark, the replacement of boards around the edges of the green and surgery on several trees which were causing damage to the green.

CLUB COMPETITIONS

The Club will again run a varied programme of competitions and events during the 2019 season, starting with a Round Robin on Sunday, 31st March, 2.00 pm start.

A few changes to our internal competitions are planned this year, as a result of feedback received from members :-

Firstly, the Championship Cup and Ladies’ Championship have been brought forward to the beginning of June to avoid clashing with holidays and other events.

As we now run four club pairs, the Chairman’s Shield will be non-random this season, meaning that members can enter the competition with a partner of their choice.

The President’s Day will commence at the earlier time of 11.00 am due to the larger number of attendees at this event in recent seasons. This should result in an a more timely finish to the competition.

The dates so far set are as follows :-

Sunday 31st March Round Robin 2.00 pm start

Sunday 14th April Rose Bowl (singles handicap) 12.00 pm start

Saturday 11th May Spring Pairs (random doubles) 12.00 pm start

Sunday 2nd June Championship Cup (men’s singles) 12.00 pm start

& Ladies’ Championship (ladies’ singles)

Saturday 15th June Open Singles 10.00 am start

Sunday 30th June Vice Presidents Trophy (random doubles) 12.00 pm start

Saturday 13th July Chairman’s Shield (non-random doubles) 12.00 pm start

Sunday 21st July President’s Cup (singles handicap) 11.00 am start

August (TBC) Friendly v. Emmanuel B.C. TBC

August (TBC) Coronation Cup (singles handicap) 12.00 pm start

September (TBC) Open Doubles 10.00 am start

September (TBC) Last Chance Cup (random doubles) 12.00 pm start

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October News Letter

HESKETH ARMS NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2018

GREEN CLOSURE AND MAINTENANCE

The green is now closed to allow for essential maintenance work to take place and will re-open next Spring in readiness for the 2019 season. Thanks are particularly due this year to Graham Meadow who has had to cope with unhelpful weather conditions both before and during the season. Bearing this in mind, the green has been in excellent condition and has provided a good, if at times challenging, surface to bowl on.

TUESDAY & FRIDAY ROUND ROBINS

Many thanks to Peter and Lynne Smith for again hosting and organising the popular Tuesday and Friday Round Robins throughout the 2018 season. Thanks also to anyone who helped in any way. The midweek Round Robins are an integral part of the Club’s programme and provide social bowling for new and experienced bowlers alike. The long spell of good weather this Summer has meant an increase in the number of members taking part and at the time of writing a total sum approaching £550.00 has been raised through these events, which is a very useful source of additional revenue for the Club.

LEAGUE SUCCESSES

2018 has been another successful year for our league teams. Congratulations to the captains and players of the following teams :-

Eagles – Southport LV League Premier Division Champions

Harriers – Southport LV League 1st Division Champions

Owls – Maghull League 4th Division Champions & 4th Division KO Cup Winners

Vultures – Burscough & Lathom League 2nd Division Runners-up & 2nd Div. Cup Winners

SOUTHPORT FEDERATION

The Southport Federation ended the season by taking part in the Team Knockout Cup, which was hosted this year by Mid Cheshire. The Hesketh Arms was represented by Kez Adams, Chris Porter, Mark Wilde and Fergal Wright, with Mike Milne and Jon Roberts also in attendance to lend support.

The first game took place at Owley Wood in Weaverham, where the opponents were Leeds ‘A’, who had finished in 2nd place in the National League 1st Division. Despite some good performances, this game was lost 6-2 with Kez Adams winning the sweep with an excellent 21-10 win.

Defeat in the 1st Round of the main competition saw the team go into the Supplementary, where they played Cheshire Parks at Davenham Bowling Club. This time it was Southport that ran out 6-2 winners, with wins for Fergal Wright (21-17), Kez Adams (21-14) and Chris Porter (21-18), putting the team into the Supplementary semi-finals.

The next game took place at Castle Private Bowling Club in Northwich and there was more tough opposition in the form of Airedale ‘A’, who have just achieved promotion to the top flight of the National League. Southport got off to a great start, however, with further wins for Fergal (21-3), Kez (21-14) and Chris (21-20). Unfortunately, the second half of the game saw the Airedale side fight back to draw match 4-4 and go through by a single chalk. Nevertheless, this was an excellent effort by the Southport players and bodes well for the 2019 season. 

CLUB COMPETITIONS

This season, the Club has again held a full programme of internal competitions for members, including two new events – the Ladies’ Championship and the Last Chance Cup. These were introduced following feedback received at the end of last season.

The competitions were again well-supported, despite at times some difficult weather conditions. In total, there were 217 entries and the Committee thank all those who took part for their continued support.

MEMBERSHIP

Interest in the Club has remained strong in 2018 and we have ended the season with 140 subscribing members. This is made up of 77 full members and 63 social / junior members.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

The Awards Evening and Annual General Meeting will be held early in 2019. Members will be notified and details posted on our website when the dates have been confirmed.

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Last Chance Cup

LAST CHANCE CUP 2018

The Club’s programme of internal competitions was completed at the weekend when 28 members took part in the inaugural staging of the Last Chance Cup. This is an additional random pairs competition, introduced to conclude the season, as a result of requests from members.

It was fitting that this new event produced two first-time winners of Hesketh Arms competitions in Norma White and Wayne Graham, who had played well all afternoon in defeating Jason Chapman and Norman Simpson (21-6), Bill Bloor and Sue Wignall (21-14) and Terry Corfield and John Hughes (21-15) to reach the final. Their opponents in the decider were the strong pairing of Noel Morgans and Tony Wakefield who had a marathon battle in their semi-final before overcoming Jim Halsall and Lynne Smith 21-20.

In the final, Norma and Wayne got off to a flying start with a three at the first end and were never behind as they established a 20-13 lead. Despite a three for Noel and Tony at the 20th end to close the gap to 16-20, Norma and Wayne were able to score the single chalk required to become the first winners of the Last Chance Cup

The Plate competition for first round losers was won by Mike Milne and Bill Nowell with a 15-10 win in the final against Sue Andersen and Pat Miller.

THE GREEN WILL CLOSE FOR WINTER ON THE 2nd OF OCTOBER
WORKING PARTIES MAY BE REQUIRED DURING THE CLOSE SEASON.

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BERNARD O’MALLEY TROPHY – OPEN DOUBLES 2018

BERNARD O’MALLEY TROPHY – OPEN DOUBLES 2018

Congratulations to John Clark and Barry Davis of Formby Our Lady’s on winning the Bernard O’Malley Trophy. This is the first time the Club has run an Open Doubles and the competition attracted a good mix of Club members, local bowlers, as well as several pairs from further afield. Having overcome some strong pairs to reach the final, John and Barry were to face the home pairing of Chris Harding and Jon Roberts. Chris and Jon had also taken some notable scalps on their way to the final, including Steve McCall and Neil Rigden of New Longton in the semi-final.

The final was a close affair, with only one score of more than two being achieved in the match and Chris and Jon started well to lead at 10-7 and 14-12. However, Barry and John had played consistently well all day and with John finding some crucial final bowls to deny the homesters, the Formby pair were able to count at five out of the last six ends to win the game 21-15. All the finalists played well in what was a fitting finale to an excellent day’s bowling.

Many thanks to all those who supported this event, which is held to acknowledge the contribution to the Club of our Honorary Vice-President, Mr. Bernard O’Malley. The help of members with marking, measuring, making teas and coffees all helped to make the day run smoothly and this is greatly appreciated.

The final event of the season will be on Sunday, 23rd September when a new random doubles, The Last Chance Cup, will take place, starting at 12 noon. Please report by 11.45 am to allow a prompt start. 

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CHAMPIONSHIP CUP AND LADIES’ CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

Despite poor weather conditions, the Club’s latest competitions went ahead on Saturday when members competed for the Championship Cup and, for the first time, the Ladies’ Championship.
The Ladies Championship final was between our Club President, Sue Davies and Janice Hobson, both successful players in our Maghull League team on a Monday night. Sue started very strongly in this final and at 16-9 up looked to be heading for a comfortable victory. Janice had other ideas, however, and helped by 4 twos in five ends took the lead at 18-17 before Sue was able to score the chalks needed to win an excellent final 21-19.

 

 

 

 

 

The Championship Cup final was between Chris Harding and Dave Bedford, both previously runners-up in Hesketh Arms Club singles competitions. It was Chris who started strongly in the final, winning nine out of the first eleven ends to establish a 13-7 lead. Despite counting four 2s in the game, Dave was never able to close the gap and Chris eventually won the final 21-16 to claim his first club competition win at the Hesketh Arms.

 

 

 

 

 


Next Sunday, 16th September, the Club is hosting it’s first Open Doubles. Play starts at 10.00am and spectators will be very welcome.