Welcome to the Hesketh Arms Bowling Club Season Review 2017. The Club has enjoyed another successful season with several of our league teams achieving honours in their respective divisions and cup competitions.
The Officers and Committee would like to thank all the members for their continued support.
LV LEAGUE
In the Premier Division of the Southport LV League, the Eagles had yet another excellent season, again finishing as runners-up, this year just three points behind the champions, Scarisbrick NSC ‘A’.
The team will now be looking to go one better in 2018.
Premier Division Pts
1. Scarisbrick NSC ‘A’ 242
2. HeskethEagles 239
3. Mere Brow 237
4. Fleetwood Hesk. ‘C’ 206
5. Scarisbrick B.C. ‘A’ 173
6. Ainsdale ‘A’ 166
7. London Tigers 156
8. Zetland ‘B’ 143
9. Victoria Park 137
10. Zetland ‘D’ 120
11. Sandbrook Park 84
Eagles Merit Winner :
Fergal Wright – 17 wins
Congratulations to the Falcons on winning the 1st Division title under new captain Jeff Brown. They will now be promoted to the Premier Division for the 2018 season.
The Harriers finished in 7th place, under the captaincy of Joe Parker.
1st Division Pts
1. Hesketh Falcons 193
2. Crowlands 183
3. London Lions 179
4. Zetland ‘A’ 168
5. Fleetwood Hesk.’B’ 167
6. Scarisbrick B.C. ‘C’ 159
7. Hesketh Harriers 155
8. Tarleton 137
9. Ainsdale ‘B’ 130
10 Scarisbrick NSC ‘B’ 95
Falcons Merit Winner :
Dave Bedford – 14wins
Harriers Merit Winner :
Peter Croston– 14wins
BURSCOUGH LEAGUE
The Club was pleased to enter a second team into the Burscough League for the 2017 season.
The Ospreys continued under new captain Mark Rowlinson, who once again took the team’s merit award with eight wins.
The new Vultures team, captained by Chris Harding, dominated the 3rd Division, winning all fourteen league games to claim the title and promotion to the 2nd Division.
3rd DIVISION Pts
1. Hesketh Vultures 123
2. Hoole Village Hall ‘B’ 88
3. Burscough RBL ‘B’ 79
4. Mere Brow 79
5. Mawdesley ‘B’ 75
6. Botanic Gardens ‘B’ 62
7. Hesketh Ospreys 52
8 Crossens ‘B’ 23
Vultures Merit Winner :
KezAdams : 11 wins
Ospreys Merit Winner :
Mark Rowlinson : 8 wins
AUGHTON LEAGUE
The Club continued to run two teams in this men’s Wednesday afternoon league and they were once again captained by Richard Rawcliffe and George Hitchmough.
Having achieved promotion from the 2nd Division as 2016 champions, the Kestrels were competing in the strong 1st Division for the 2017 season and wins proved hard to come by. Despite some good results towards the end of the campaign, the team finished in 8th position. Next season the team will be looking to bounce back to the top division at the first attempt.
After finishing in 3rd place in Division 3 last season, it was predicted that the Hawks would make a strong challenge for promotion and this proved to be the case as they won the division by a clear 14 points from neighbours Crossens in 2nd place. Well done to captain George Hitchmough and all his team.
Congratulations to the team merit winners for our Wednesday afternoon teams, Jim Halsall for the Kestrels and Bill Bloor for the Hawks.
FINAL TABLES
1st Division Pts
1. Zetland 116
2. Mere Brow ‘A’ 108
3. Hurlston Hall 94
4. Burscough CC 88
5. Aughton Town Green 71
6. Freshfield 70
7. Victoria Park ‘A’ 67
8. Hesketh Kestrels 59
Merit Winner : Jim Halsall , 7 wins
3rd Division
1. Hesketh Hawks 133
2. Crossens 119
3. Sandbrook Park 116
4. Kensington House 109
5. Ormskirk Park 93
6. Cockbeck Seniors 93
7. Victoria Park ‘B’ 83
8. Tin Tab Seniors 75
9. Lydiate Vets 61
Merit Winner : Bill Bloor , 13wins
SOUTHPORT PARKS LEAGUE
The Kites continued to compete in the 1st Division of the Southport Parks League in 2017. Under new captain, John Unsworth, the team was in contention for promotion until the last game season but in the end had to settle for 3rd place. Hopefully, the foundations have been laid for a serious promotion bid in 2018.
The battle for the team merit award also went down to the wire with both Wayne Graham and Jim Doherty winning an impressive fifteen games. However, Wayne’s slightly better aggregate of +109, compared to Jim’s +102 was enough to earn him the Kites’ Merit award for 2017.
1st Division Pts
1. Zetland‘A’ 178
2. Zetland ‘C’ 161
3. Hesketh Kites 147
4. Victoria Park ‘A’ 135
5. Tarleton 131
6. Crowlands 119
7. Holmeswood ‘B’ 109
8. Ainsdale ‘B’ 102
9 Scarisbrick B.C. ‘B’ 99
10. Sandbrook Park ‘A’ 87
11. Botanic ‘B’ 84
Kites Merit Winner :
Wayne Graham, 15 wins
SOUTHPORT AND DISTRICT MEN’S VETERANS LEAGUE
Following a successful 2016 season, which saw the Merlins gain promotion to the 2nd Division of the Southport Men’s Veterans’ League, the Club was pleased to enter a second team into this Monday afternoon league due to the number of members wishing to play.
The new team, named the Hobbies, was ably captained by Roger Van Beever and it is pleasing note, included several players new to league bowling, along with one or two more experienced campaigners. The Hobbies enjoyed a fantastic season, winning sixteen out of their 22 league games to take the 2nd Division Championship by six points from 2nd placed Sandbrook Park. In addition, the team won the Joe Bond Trophy to achieve the league and cup double.
The Merlins, captained again by George Hitchmough, also performed well in the 2nd Division, winning 13 games to finish in 4th place. This is a great effort in their first season at a higher level.
Our two Vets teams can now look forward to their ‘derby’ games in 2018!
2nd Division Pts
1. Formby Park ‘A’ 180
2. Formby Holy Trinity ‘A’ 180
3. Botanic ‘A’ 165
4. Hesketh Merlins 155
5. London Sphynx 146
6. Hesketh Bank 142
7. Northern 140
8. Crossens 134
9.= Scarisbrick B.C. ‘A’ 116
9.= Fleetwood Hesketh ‘B’ 116
11. Our Lady’s ‘A’ 109
12. Victoria Park ‘B’ 48
Merlins Merit Winner:-Bill Bloor : 20 wins
3rd Division Pts
1. Hesketh Hobbies 170
2. Sandbrook Park 164
3. Hoole Village Hall ‘B’ 160
4. Ainsdale ‘B’ 149
5. Scarisbrick NSC ‘B’ 146
6. Botanic ‘B’ 146
7. Formby S & S 138
8. Formby Holy Trinity ‘B’ 132
9. Freshfield ‘B’ 118
10. Formby Park ‘B’ 103
11. Scarisbrick B.C. ‘B’ 103
12. Our Lady’s ‘B’ 95
Hobbies Merit Winner :Jeff Brown : 16 wins
MAGHULL BOWLING LEAGUE
In 2016 our team in the Maghull League finished 3rd, just six points short of a promotion place and enjoyed another good season in 2017.
Captained again by Sue Davies, the team finished just five points behind of 2nd placed Meadows 1, this time finishing 4th. It is surely only a matter of time before this team gains promotion to the 3rd Division.
The team merit was closely fought with Jeff Brown and Pat McArthur winning 11 games, but the winner, with 12 wins out of 14 played, was Jim Halsall.
4th DIVISION
1. Crossens 133
2. Meadows 1 126
3. Brooke Hotel 2 122
4. Hesketh Arms 121
5. Ormskirk BC 108
6. Legion Burscough 2 84
7. Formby Park 2 81
8. Northern 2 65
9. Our Lady’s 2 51
Merit Winner :- Jim Halsall, 12 wins
CLUB COMPETITIONS
The Committee has again organised a programme of club competitions during the 2017 season. These have been well-supported and proved to be very enjoyable afternoons.
The successful competitors were :-
Winner(s) Runner(s)-Up
Rose Bowl Fergal Wright Brian Sutton
Rose Bowl Plate Peter Smith Janice Hobson
Spring Pairs Alex Rimmer / Wayne Graham /
Fergal Wright Phil Richards
Spring Pairs Plate Jim Halsall / Chris Harding /
Pat Jones John McCabe
Coronation Cup Tony Wakefield John Unsworth
Diamond Jubilee Plate Richard Rawcliffe Derek Wignall
Vice-Presidents Trophy Margaret James / John Hughes /
Ray Sutton Pat McArthur
Vice-Presidents Plate Kez Adams / Bill Bloor /
Steve Lomas Alan Bond
President’s Cup Alex Rimmer Brian Jones
President’s Day Plate Bill Bloor Sue Davies
Chairman’s Shield Bill Bloor / Brian Jones /
Jason Chapman Pat McArthur
Chairman’s Plate Mike Dunlop / Brian Sutton /
John McCabe Laurie Townson
Championship Cup Ken Rimmer George Hitchmough
OTHER EVENTS
FRIENDLY V. EMMANUEL B.C.
In August, we welcomed a team from Emmanuel Bowling Club for the third annual friendly fixture. The Challenge Shield was retained by the Hesketh Arms team, the winning margin being 9-4.
BERNARD O’MALLEY
HONOUARY VICE-PRESIDENT’S TROPHY – JUNIOR OPEN SINGLES
This event was staged for the third time at the beginning of September and was won by Kyle Dawes, who defeated Matty Greenwood from Mere Brow 21-18 in a high quality final
MEMBERSHIP
It is pleasing to report that the Club continues to attract interest from new and experienced bowlers alike, with our membership currently standing at 149. This is made up of :-
Full Members – 80
Social Members – 67
Junior Members – 2
New members are still welcome to join for the 2018 season. Please refer anyone interested to an Officer of the Club.