25 Sep WHAT A SHOUT

The shout from the players and supporters of Marsh United, the victors in the Bistro Trophy, could have been heard back in Marsh.

The Final of the Bistro Trophy held at Brockholes Bowling Club on Thursday 23 September was one of the most exciting matches seen in years. The finalists were Marsh United and Cowcliffe Libs, two very evenly matched teams placed in 7th and 8th places in the current Section 1 table.

Although evenly matched it seemed that Marsh United were imperious as they won the first three pairs before the break with an aggregate advantage of 12. Was it a forgone conclusion? Certainly not for Alan Brown and Derrick Hewitt who opened the second half with a victory for Cowcliffe of 21-10 reducing Marsh’s advantage to just 1. The final pair on the green were David Pollard and John Graley for Cowcliffe playing Dave Worral and Brian Hamilton.

The Marsh pair were coasting at 14-9 up before a break of 10 from the Cowliffe pair put them just two chalks off winning the game and the trophy. The tension was mounting and Marsh rallied with 2 twos bringing the score to 18-19 off the mat. Cowcliffe needed to win by two to lift the trophy whilst Marsh just needed to get to 20 to win it. Would it be decided at the next end? It would indeed with Dave Worrall producing a wonder wood to give Marsh 3 at that end and leaving David Pollard the only option of playing through which he duly did but the  only impact he received were the Marsh team jumping for joy with another victory and an overall aggregate of 3.

We said it would be a cracker, and it surely was. A large crowd of neutrals thought so too.

Our thanks to Brockholes Bowling Club their excellent hosting and to referee Ray Tunnacliffe.

The scorecard was (Cowcliffe first):

Stephen Cameron & Malcolm Stead 15, Andy Carter & David Simmonds 21

Graham Sigsworth and Stuart Stanley 19, Brian Swift and Douglas Hamilton 21

Harry Redman and Patrick Conneely 17, Ken Roys and Chris North 21

Alan Brown and Derrick Hewitt 21, Trevor Sykes and Denis Taylor 10

David Pollard & John Graley 19, Dave Worrall and Brian Hamilton 21

Total for Cowcliffe 91 winning 1 game, Total for Marsh 94 winning 4 games

Photos courtesy of Jeff Jacklin, www.huddweb.co.uk.