St George's County Cup victory over Ford

St Georges were today coming back down to earth - after clinching a nail-biting County Cup victory over defiant Ford.

The Dragons were three down after the middle four but came back to win by 21 in Saturday's big final at Bridgewater - and get their hands on the Glynn Hill Trophy for the first time since 2001.

And the party went on long into the night for the Telford club as they celebrated landing the biggest prize in county knockout bowls.

"We'd arranged something back at the club regardless of what happened," said Ian Gaut, who shares the captaincy duties with Tony Rhodes.

"We had a couple of hours there and a few of us went back to our senior player Keith Pessall's house and carried on the party - it was a good night!"

Colin Beaman had given St Georges a dream start, defeating Ford's captain Kevin 'Juggler' Jones 21-9.

But wins for Dave Ellis and Pete Griffiths kept the villagers in contention, and they really got going in the middle four.

Roared

Bill Tarrel set the standard as he ran out from 16-12 down against Andy Jones.

Ford's own Andy Jones then got Michael Wainwright in the corners to win to 17 and Andy Marshall beat Dave King 21-12 as the underdogs roared into an unlikely lead.

Gaut was up against John Coxill in the back four and, as he found himself 11-6 down, admits his mind was wandering to their shock defeat to Sir John Bayley in the 2006 final. "I had a quarter of an hour of shaking my head, I couldn't quite believe the situation we were in," he said.

"I remember when I came off the green against the Bayley in 2006 I couldn't believe what had happened, and I was definitely feeling deja vu.

"But I got it together to run out from 11-6 and it was good to see the back four show some form as it's the first time they've had to do that all season."

Alan Palin lost to 19 against Will Tarrel, but it was Keith Anderson's 21-6 victory over Chris Kelly that assured St Georges the cup —Pessall finishing with a 21-20 win over Ford reserve Phil Prince to end the night.

"Ford put their best players on to start with and all of them played well," added Gaut. "Some of their lesser lights did really well too, and it was a tough game.

"It was a great experience for some of our younger lads and it will stand them in good stead.

"It's been a great season for our club."

By CHRIS HUDSON