Hesketh Arms Bowling Club

On a fine Saturday afternoon, 28 members took part in the inaugural running of the Vice-Presidents Trophy, a pairs competition in which partners are drawn for randomly.

Some strong pairings were formed and in the top half the draw, Eagles and Kestrels player Dave Pennington was drawn to play with a new member for this season, Fred Mitchell. The pairing seemd to work well as Dave and Fred reached the semi-final with wins against Joe Parker and Dorothy Mitchell (21-10) and the strongly fancied pair of Mike Dunlop and Les Miller (21-16). In the semi-final, they faced a tough battle with Alan Bond and another new member, Colin MacKenzie, but eventually won 21-19 to reach the final.

In the bottom half of the draw, Brian Jones and Steve Mann had received a bye in the 1st Round, before reaching the semi-final by defeating John Stennett and Les Butterworth 21-13. In the semi-final they were up against the strong pairing of Bill Nowell and Pat Miller. This was another close encounter but in the end it was Brian and Steve who won through by a 21-18 margin.

In the final, Brian and Steve started strongly and appeared to be cruising to victory as they led 15-8 and 18-11. However, Dave Pennington’s experience came to the fore as he and Fred scored 8 chalks in 4 ends, including a 4 and a 3. At this stage, Dave and Fred must have fancied their chances of the clinching victory but Brian and Steve mangaged to find the 2 chalks needed to win an excellent final 21-19.

The Plate competition for 1st Round losers was won by Leo Tobin and Len Mann, who beat George Hitchmough and Don Parish 15-9 in the final.

16 members turned up in dreadful weather conditions last Sunday to compete for the Coronation Cup, the Club’s second singles handicap of the season.

In the top half of the draw, Sue Davies progressed to the semi-finals with good wins against Jason Chapman and John Stennett. Her opponent in the last four was Ospreys captain Kevin Leddy, who had to concede a handicap of 6. Kevin had reached this stage of the competition with victories against Jim Finnimore and Mark Eustace but found it difficult to claw back Sue’s six start advantage. Despite closing the gap to 9-10, Sue found her form and won 8 out of 10 ends to reach the final with a 21-12 success.

The bottom half of the draw saw Ted Moule reach the final with wins against Will Roddan, George Hitchmough and in the semi-final, Alex Rimmer. The first of these wins saw Ted stage a remarkable fightback from 20-13 down against Will to win  21-20. Ted’s semi-final against Alex was also a close affair, with Ted eventually going through 21-19.

Ted got off to the better start in the final, winning the first three ends and scoring four 2s in the first 7 ends to establish a 13-9 advantage. Sue was able to take the next two ends to close the gap to 12-13 but Ted won the next four ends to lead 18-12. Sue rallied with a couple of 2s to set up an exciting finish but Ted was able to score three chalks required to take the 2013 Coronation Cup, the final score being 21-16.

Many thanks to those members who supported this competition despite the poor weather. Hopefully, the weather will have improved in time for the Club’s next event on Bank Holiday Monday, 27th May, which will be a Round Robin starting at 2.00pm.

Members should note that the green will be unavailable for use this Sunday, 19th May from 10.30am as the Club is hosting the Churchtown Conservative Club’s Chairman’s Cup pairs competition. However, any spectators would be more than welcome to attend.

MAY ROUND ROBIN RESULTS

“The improved Bank Holiday weekend weather saw 24 members take part in the Club’s May Round Robin on Saturday. In 4th place, with a score of +13 was Ray Bladen. Mark Eustace was 3rd on +19, just behind George Morris on +21. The winner, however, was Eagles player John Unsworth, who won all three of his games to finish with an aggregate of +23.

MAY ROUND ROBIN

“Members are reminded that the Club will be holding a Round Robin tomorrow, Saturday 4th May, starting at 2.00pm.

This is the first time the Club has held a Round Robin on a Saturday and replaces the Bank Holiday event on this occasion.

The dates for future Round Robins are as follows :-

Spring Bank Holiday Monday, 27th May, 2.00pm

Saturday 15th June, 2.00pm

Saturday 13th July, 2.00pm

August Bank Holiday, Monday 26th August, 2.00pm

There is also a Social Round Robin every Tuesday, commencing at 10.00am. All members are welcome to attend these weekly events, which are hosted by Jim Finnimore.”

SPRING PAIRS 2013

“Despite the poor weather, the Club’s Spring Pairs competition went ahead as planned on Sunday 28th April. After some close games in the early rounds, the semi-final line-up was Mike Milne and Alex Rimmer versus Richard Rawcliffe and Anne Moule in the top half of the draw and in the bottom half, Brian Coleman and Joan Wellard were up against Brian Mycock and Tony Wellard.

Mike and Alex got off to a flying start against Richard and Anne, winning 4 of the first 5 ends to establish a 12-5 lead and despite Richard and Anne closing the gap to 9-12 with a three at the 7th end, it was Mike and Alex who progressed to the final with a 21-10 win.

The other semi-final was a much closer affair, with Brian and Tony looking favourites to go through as they led 17-12 and 20-14 but Brian and Joan finished strongly, scoring four at the 14th end to level the match at 20-20, before scoring the winning chalk to take the game 21-20. This was Brian and Joan’s second titanic struggle as they had had a tough battle in the previous round against Kevin Leddy and Eileen Rawcliffe, winning that game 21-19.

The final proved to be a one-sided affair. After the first 6 ends were shared, Brian and Joan won the next 9 ends, scoring 14 chalks to take them to the brink of victory with a commanding lead of 20-5. Despite Mike and Alex rallying, scoring 5 chalks in 3 ends, Brian came up with a superb bowl in the corners to secure a 21-10 win. Congratulations to Joan and Brian, who played very well all afternoon to deservedly take the Spring Pairs title.”

Despite the inclement weather, 20 members took part in the Club’s first singles handicap of the season on Sunday 14th April. It was particularly pleasing to see several new members competing for The Rose Bowl.

The early rounds provided some interesting games, one of which saw Barry Coates scrape home 21-20 against David Bedford, who was having to concede a handicap of 4. This must have inspired Barry, as he then produced some impressive form to defeat three previous handicap winners in Brian Jones (21-14), Kevin Leddy (21-11) and in the semi-final, last year’s Rose Bowl winner, Richard Rawcliffe (21-12).

The bottom half of the draw saw a notable performance by Ray Sutton, who comfortably overcame new member Brian Coleman with a 21-10 success. This win saw Ray progress to the semi-finals where he was up against Jim Halsall, who had reached this stage with wins against Dave White (21-11) and Pat Jones (21-12).

In the semi-final, Ray could not maintain his earlier form and it was Jim who won 21-15 to go through to the final to play his good friend Barry.

In the final, it was Barry who started off well, scoring a couple of 2s to establish an 11-7 lead. At this stage though, Jim found his form and won 7 out of the next 9 ends to build up a commanding lead of 19-13 and although Barry rallied to close the gap to 17-20, it was Jim who edged a close final 21-17.

Congratulations to Jim Halsall on winning his first Club competition, having only taken up league bowling last season and also to Barry on reaching the final with some excellent performances.”

Easter Monday saw the Club hold a Round Robin, the first event of the season. Despite the unseasonably cold weather, an excellent turnout of 28 members took part.

In fourth place was Brian Mycock, Captain of our newly formed Parks League team, with an aggregate of +14. There was a tie for second place between Brian Jones and George Morris with a score of +20 but the clear winner, with +28, was Mike Davidson.

Members are reminded that the next event is the Rose Bowl singles competition on Sunday 14th April, starting at 1.00pm.