Trophies handed out on a busy weekend at Lilleshall
Two new members had little time to relax over finals weekend of Shropshire’s leading flat green bowls club – and Chris Sherriff proved the star of the show.
Sherriff and Peter Hancock both featured in four finals as the Lilleshall Hall club enjoyed a fine two days at their home in the grounds of the National Sports Centre on a green that was a little heavy following rain on Friday.
Hancock played in the first match of the weekend for the QRS Cup against Rob Attwood – in his first final – and a good start and accurate drawing saw the newcomer record a 22-6 victory.
Sherriff’s first final was in the Mike Caird Cup against the club’s competition secretary and 2019 champion Quentin Smith – and there were three touchers on the first end.
Smith won the first of the nine end sets 11-5 but an umpire’s measure gave Sherriff the second 8-7, leading eventually to a tie-break and then a final end shoot-out which Sherriff won on another tight measure.
The Tarmac Cup final was the first of three meetings between Hancock and Sherriff and it was Sherriff who won 21-11 with 14 unanswered shots in just seven ends.
Rod Payne and Colin Meadows delivered the longest final for the Cyril Davies Cup at 26 ends, Meadows going 6-0 and 10-5 ahead before being pegged back at 12-12 and 19 all before Payne found two singles to win 21-19.
The second meeting of Sherriff and Hancock came in the Pairs Shield final with Chris partnered by wife Deb and Peter by Bill Greenway. From five shots up with just three ends remaining, Hancock & Greenway looked favourites – but the married couple levelled at 15-15 and were able to find the single shot needed to triumph on the extra end.
The Nuway Cup final also went to Sherriff with a 21-8 win over Hancock in their third meeting, organiser Smith declaring: “This completed a remarkable first season for Chris, who is a very experienced bowler who has moved into our area, playing a total of 19 singles and pairs games and only losing one.”
Two multiple previous champions in Ruth Lowe and Sheila Payne battled it out for the Frank Richards Cup and Payne eventually converted an early eight shot lead into a 22-13 success.
The Roy Warburton Cup final saw 2019 champion Bill Greenway taking on five time champion Quentin Smith and the consistent drawing game of Greenway eventually took him to the title 21-16.
