This year’s Village Hall Cup marked the last club competition of the summer season. With the Classic Car Show going on at the Village Hall on the same day, it promised to be a lively and interesting day.
The weather kept itself together and gave a pleasant 20 degrees all day long, with only the tiniest shower during the final 2 rounds.
It was nice to see some new social bowlers entering the competition, and with a round robin format, we created 5 groups of 4 players that would each play each other once. Each bowler drew a number as they arrived, to decide the content of each group, giving the following:
With a traction engine passing by the green and music from the 60’s to the 90’s blaring out, the competition got underway.
As the games progressed, lots of people sat and watched from the Village Hall balcony area after looking around the classic cars, which was nice to see.
A lovely food spread, made up of contributions brought by players, provided a welcome lunch, with lots left over to munch on throughout the afternoon – thanks to everyone who made and bought food for this!
Here are some photos from the round robin stage.
After all round robin games were complete, the raffle was drawn – thanks to all who brought generous prizes and helped raise extra money for the club.
Once all scores had been entered into the AI-powered spreadsheet, Janice checked which players were through to the next round.
Those winning all of their 3 round robin games were automatically through. These were: Andrew Hill, Dave Thompson and Anne Brogden.
The remainder of the quarter-final places went to those with the best aggregate on the day. These were: Gill Johnston, David Bamber, Curtis Wicks, Dave Williams and Brian Moorcroft. This was Curtis’ first club competition so this was a great achievement!
Quarter-finalists each drew a number to determine the make-up of the next set of games, and these turned out as follows:
Curtis Wicks vs Dave Thompson
Dave Williams vs Andrew Hill
David Bamber vs Anne Brogden
Brian Moorcroft vs Gill Johnston
Curtis got off to a flyer, leading by 9 points to 1 initially, But Dave fought back and managed to overcome the huge deficit, taking the last 5 ends in a row to win the game 15-13.
Dave Williams and Andrew Hill had a close-fought battle, with the score fairly level all the way. But Andrew finalised things by taking the last 2 ends to beat Dave 15-11.
The game between David Bamber and Anne Brogden was a game of spurts and starts – David took the lead 6-0 initially, before Anne came back to lead 8-6. Again David had a good run to bring things to 11-8, and although Anne snatched a few more ends, David scored a 2 to finish up the 15-12 victor.
Brian Moorcroft gave Gill Johnston a real run for her money in the last game. It was fairly back and forth all the way through, and all credit goes to Brian, who had Gill stuck and unable to get her last point for 4 ends before she was able to finally claim the win 15-13.
Some photos of the quarter-finals are below.
Winners of the last games went straight into the semi-finals, which brought the following two games onto the green:
David Bamber vs Gill Johnston
Dave Thompson vs Andrew Hill
Both games were more one-sided than any of the quarter-finals had been. In the first game, David Bamber struggled to get the jack off Gill, and she had a run of 5 ends straight to claim the game 15-5.
In the other game, Dave Thompson was faced with a seemingly unbeatable Andrew Hill, who took end after end on his new favourite mark across the edge of the crown and back, winning to an amazing score of 15-2.
Pictures from the semis are below.
And so to the final. After a brief refreshment break, Gill Johnston and Andrew Hill took to the green, deciding to play the final game to 21 rather than 15.
Both bowlers were playing well, but it was Andrew that stretched his lead over Gill, again using the same mark he’d demolished Dave Thompson with whenever possible, and becoming the victor with a score of 21-10.
This was Andrew’s first club competition trophy win, and it was truly well-deserved.
Gill Johnston presented the prizes and trophy, as her final official duty as club president this year.
Gill thanked Janice and Dave for running the competition, and everyone for bring food, raffle prizes and making the day really enjoyable. She also gave Brian Moorcroft a special mention for his efforts on the day, given he struggled with the heat and amount of games he’d played, yet still giving Gill a real challenge in their game!
And that was that! Another season of club competitions done and dusted. It’s been a really enjoyable season, and I hope even more of you will join in the club competitions next year.
However, there are a few weeks of the bowling season left, and there was mention of a bowling and chippy night by Gill, so keep an eye out for a date for that final hurrah!
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