07 Sep Bistro Final – Results and photo gallery.

The final of the long running Bistro competition culminated in two Division 1 teams slugging it out at Brockholes, Kirkheaton Con A had a 3 handicap whilst Longwood had a slight advantage with a 6 handicap.

We returned to Brockholes, the traditional home of the Bistro final, after skipping a year in 2023 when Brockholes themselves were in the final. It was a gloriously sunny day and the green was immaculately prepared by our hosts.

Kirkheaton had four of their inter-district players in the final, Garry Senior, Crafty Cooper and Tony Butterfield were available as Huddersfield had a bye on this date and Gary Foulkes excused himself from Wakefield’s final match. Longwood made a last-minute change to their line-up with Ian Briggs, who had earlier played for West Riding in their final match, replacing Graham Woodruff with the gracious permission of the Kirkheaton team.

Longwood captain Alan Crowther won the toss and gave his team the advantage of having the jack on cards 1, 3 and 5.

The first three games on the card were all tight matches but Longwood shaded two of the three only losing to ‘all but’ in the other to increase their lead at the half-way stage. However, there was a dramatic change of fortunes with the last two games on the green as the Kirkheaton pairing of Cooper/Faulkes came off the green with a convincing win that pulled back 13 points, making the overall score at that point 76-75 to Longwood.  The final and deciding game became a must win for both teams, and scraping home 21-20 would do it for either team (Kirkheaton Con would be able to claim the match if scores were tied due to a greater number of wins). With the score-line at 17 across by the nineteenth end it certainly proved to be a nail-biting finish for all. But in the end the Kirkheaton pair of Senior/Butterfield just did enough to get across the line first and seal the final.

The Kirkheaton Con team dedicated their victory to Roland Swallow who accepted the trophy from our president Richard Armitage.

Many thanks to our hosts and sponsor, Brockholes Bowling Club, for their superb hospitality, support and beautifully prepared green. Thanks also goes to Ray Tunnacliffe for refereeing impeccably and to our photographer on the day Geoff France.

The raffle prize of a Bolster Moor Farm Shop breakfast was not claimed so auctioned off with Keith Manning of Kirkheaton Con paying £20 which will be donated to Kirkwood Hospice.

We finish on a conundrum – is this the first or second time Kirkheaton Con have won the Bistro? We have previous winners in 1989 when the trophy was won by ‘Kirkheaton’, but was it the Con or C&BC? Hopefully someone with a long (and accurate) memory will let us know.