25 Jul Clayton West Handle The Heat To Lift Julie Fuller Trophy
Finals have a habit of ignoring the form book. League positions, winning runs and reputations can all count for very little once the first bowls are sent out. The current Division One leaders arrived in outstanding form, while Lindley Lib came into the final having already eliminated two top Division 1 teams in previous rounds. With a seven point handicap advantage the question was could they do it again? On a scorching afternoon at Waterloo, Clayton West had other ideas.
Played under a blazing summer sun, the conditions added another layer of difficulty to an already demanding occasion. Waterloo’s renowned fast green offered little margin for error, rewarding positive, accurate bowling while punishing anything fractionally short or overweight. The team that adapted quickest to the conditions would almost certainly have one hand on the trophy.
Clayton West did exactly that.
In the opening stages Clayton pair Greaves and Wallace raced into an early lead against Ward and Moorhouse, the other two games remained much more evenly balanced. England and Simmons for Clayton were locked in a fascinating contest with Lindley’s Sykes and Kaye, while the 3rd Clayton pair Haigh and Poulter found themselves in an equally competitive battle with Lindley’s Booth and Wright.
Greaves and Wallace, however, were setting the tone.
They quickly established an 8-0 lead. The Clayton pair’s control of the line and length was exemplary, allowing them to keep a firm hold on the jack and dictate the game. Ward and Moorhouse battled hard but were simply unable to get back into the game. Greaves and Wallace were to eventual complete a commanding 21-4 victory over fourteen ends.
That seventeen-shot margin immediately wiped out Lindley Lib’s handicap advantage and handed the initiative firmly to Clayton West.
While that first game was drawing to a close, the picture elsewhere was also beginning to shift in favour of the Division One leaders.
England and Simmons had found themselves 7-5 behind after an evenly contested opening, but they responded with the sort of composed, methodical spell that has characterised Clayton West’s season. A succession of well-constructed ends turned the deficit into a healthy lead, stretching the score to 15-7 before Sykes and Kaye mounted a determined response and reduced the gap to 16-13. Despite the pressure threatened to build, England and Simmons found the quality they needed to regain control and seal a deserved 21-13 victory.
The third game followed a similar pattern.
Haigh and Poulter made the slower start as Booth and Wright took the opening two ends, but the Clayton West pair gradually imposed themselves on proceedings. They slowly inched ahead at 7-6, but then moved smoothly through the gears to 16-8 and on to 20-10. Booth and Write refused to let the game slip away, making the Clayton West pair wait five more ends to close out the game and complete the clean sweep with a 21-14 finish.
It was an impressive performance from a very ‘in form’ team. With the Julie Fuller Trophy now safely in the cabinet and their Division One title challenge continuing to gather momentum, Clayton West’s excellent season shows no sign of slowing down. On a scorching afternoon at Waterloo, they demonstrated once again why they remain the standard by which every other team in the 6-man league is currently measured.
Our thanks go to Frank Greenwood for his generous sponsorship of the Julie Fuller Competition. Thanks are also due to match referee Ray Tunnacliffe, Waterloo Bowling Club for providing their green and facilities, and Competition Secretary Paul English for overseeing another successful final.
