The afternoon “A” team returned to winning ways yesterday with a close 21 shot home win against Capenhurst. On a slow running West Kirby green Peter Walker, suitably attired in his brand new Vics sweater, put up a tremendous performance with a crucial 21-07 win, closely followed by another fine display by Bob Jones, who won 21-10. Skipper Billy Atkinson weighed in with an important 21-11 victory and Bernie Owen came out on top 21-13. Robby Franklin, the”Office Junior” in this company, had a tough 21-17 win and Keith Etches did well to win a tight game 21-19. With four losers on the day the Vics were not firing on all cylinders and need to show a great deal more consistency throughout the team in the return, to secure the valuable extra point at least. With the title challenge back on course, Skipper Billy Atkinson will need to drive his team that little bit harder in the away fixtures, to maintain their lead at the top.
C.K.Pau and Eddie Dodd did themselves and the Vics Birkenhead League side proud, by producing brilliant victories last night to help the Vics to a 27 shot home win against Heswall RBL “A”. Both players were once again helping Skipper Ian Sherbrooke complete his team sheet, after illness and injury had robbed him of two key players. As a duo they both reached the high notes to set the Vics on the road to victory with C.K. finally finding a mark to his liking to come from behind to clinch a tremendous 21-18 win. Eddie Dodd had a remarkable 21-19 win over Alf McDermott ( a past winner of countless tournaments) with a brilliant display of bowling. These two players are a credit to the club and along with the likes of Bill Tottey and Dave Bosworth are prepared to help out whenever called on to play and last night they were both rewarded with tremendous and crucial wins. Bernie Owen had started the ball rolling for the Vics by “Bolting” to a 21-05 win followed by Trevor Rodgers coming from behind to win 21-17. Robby Franklin 21-14 and Peter Dodd 21-16 both had their problems before eventually winning their games. Dick Peake was also involved in a tremendous tussle before finally winning 21-19. Ian Sherbrooke and Billy Atkinson boosted the scoreline up to a 27 shot win for the Vics by winning their respective games 21-11 and 21-14. This was a good win for the Vics and a tough match is expected in the return in a fortnight’s time.
The Vics Wallasey League side continued their relentless pursuit of the title with a clean sweep tonight against Burton’s to record a 130 shot home win. Anthony Thompson, refusing to take the bait from Tuesday’s report, blitzed his way to another 21-02 win to go straight to the top of the averages. Bernie Owen, suffering badly from his loss for the afternoon “A” team yesterday, raced to a 21-04 win tonight. Peter Dodd and Ian Sherbrooke both completed 21-06 victories followed closely by Dave Gilmore winning 21-07. Neil Sherbrooke completed a sixth single figure win for the Vics when he won 21-08. Matty Gilmore and Robby Franklin both completed 21-13 wins and there were a couple of 21-14’s for Karl Sherbrooke and Mally Johnson. Billy Atkinson let a big early lead slip before eventually winning 21-16 and Eddie Clayburn completed the rout, by showing his fighting spirit and battling back from 14-19 down to win 21-19. Praise must go to Burton’s however as although going down by 130 shots the whole team were still supporting each other right to the end of the match. The Vics next match is on Tuesday when they have to try and pull back an 84 shot handicap against Liscard in the Presidents Cup.
Eric Neal did his best yesterday, by producing a vintage performance in winning 21-12 at Bromborough Pool “B” to collect the sweep but with only 3 more winners on the day, the Vics afternoon “C” team went down by 48 shots but still did enough to claim the aggregate point. Bill Powell continued to defy the ageing process by producing a 21-16 win and Alan Flaxen proved a more than useful late call up by winning 21-18. Chris Williams returned to the fold after really bad health problems and celebrated by coming out on top 21-19 in a close encounter. Arthur Fagan, making a rare appearance after a long holiday, managed to get to 14-21 and Bill Tottey performed well before losing out 18-21. These two however were the best of the rest for the Vics on a tricky and quick green at Bromborough but the aggregate point was a welcome addition to the Vics points tally in this higher division this season.
Don Ibbotson’s “B” team completed a record 111 shot home win yesterday against Harrison Park “C” to easily claim the aggregate point. With nine winners on the day Harry Preston proved to be the “sweeper up” with a great 21-03 win. Skipper Don Ibbotson and Paul Lomax were not far behind with sparkling 21-05 victories and there were a couple of easy 21-07 victories for Brian Ibbotson and Ernie Peers. Ian Cameron and C.K.Pau stormed to 21-10 wins and Derek Thomas must have been dragging his feet to only win 21-14. This was just the tonic the “B” team needed after a fairly sedate start to the season and hopefully confidence will now be high for the forthcoming challenges starting with an away fixture at Birkenhead Park next Wednesday.
The afternoon “A” team suffered their first league defeat of the season yesterday when going down by 31 shots at Harrison Park to also lose the vital aggregate point. On a blistering sunny afternoon and on a quick Harrison Park green the Vics could only manage two winners on the day. Skipper Billy Atkinson, again leading his team in style, won 21-09 and there was a welcome win for last year’s Skipper Brian Ibbotson, when he responded to a last minute call up by winning 21-12. Eddie Clayburn, Elwyn Williams and Mally Johnson all put up spirited performances before all losing out 17-21 in the end. Peter Walker played well before going down 18-21 and Keith Etches was unlucky to miss out on a win, finally losing 20-21 after a fine display. Unfortunately despite these close games, two early single figure losses left the Vics an uphill struggle in their attempt to secure the vital extra point. The Vics do however remain top of the table and can bounce back with a home win against Capenhurst next week to get their title challenge back on course.
The first average sheets of the season had Anthony Thompson down amongst the “also played” lads as he has yet to complete 50% of the league games played to qualify. Buzz made sure tonight that when he does eventually qualify with “the big boys”, he will be out to retain his title from last season, as leading player in the Vics Wallasey League side, by storming to a 21-02 win in a Vics 97 shot victory at Parkfield. Ian Sherbrooke 21-05 and Neil Sherbrooke 21-08 completed their normal dominating victories and Peter Dodd continued to show good form with a 21-11 win. Billy Atkinson 21-12 and Mally Johnson 21-13 both had reasonably comfortable wins. With Dave Gilmore 21-14 and Matty Gilmore 21-15 winners and Robby Fitzpatrick a 21-16 winner the Vics were powering their way to yet another impressive away victory. Eddie Clayburn had a really good 21-17 win over a difficult opponent and Bernie Owen pulled back a hefty deficit before eventually winning a tight match 21-18. The unfortunate Robby Franklin bore the brunt of the baying hordes tonight ( well the Captain and Secretary anyway) by missing out 18-21 to leave the Vics with 11 winners and a 100% league record still intact.
On a disappointing night in many ways, poor conditions and few spectators, Matty Gilmore and Anthony Thompson won the Wallasey Association “Tom Basnett” trophy, with a clinical display in the final, against Matty’s dad Dave and sister, Nicky. Dave and daughter Nicky had proved to be a good combination throughout the tournament and even beat our own Peter Dodd and Mally Johnson in an earlier round. In the quarter finals they came from 7-17 down with a tremendous display to win 21-18 and in the semi finals they saw a big lead evaporate before eventually winning 21-19. Matty and Anthony had strolled through their earlier rounds 21-02 and 21-04 and were expecting a tough match in the quarter finals against Queens Royal duo, Les Henderson and Dave Croston but they came through this tie 21-14. In the semi finals they exploded to an easy 21-03 win to set up the unique final with Father and Son and Daughter all appearing. Matty and Anthony proved too strong for Dave and Nicky however, running out 21-08 winners. Special mention must go to Nicky Gilmore as she was the first lady bowler to appear in a Wallasey Final and congratulations to Matty and Buzz on a night when the cold weather kept spectators down to a few hardy souls, indeed the Wallasey Association might have to have a rethink about their competitions and the lack of interest shown by Wallasey bowlers.
Eric Neal’s afternoon “C” team turned in their best performance of the season on Friday with a stunning 97 shot home win against Bromborough Pool “B”. Ernie Peers and C.K.Pau starred for the Vics with emphatic 21-02 wins closely followed by an equally impressive 21-06 victory for Paul Lomax. Paul has been a welcome returnee to the club this season and as well as appearing for various teams whenever asked he also helps out with opening up our facilities when we have to stage cup matches. Skipper Eric Neal turned in his best performance of the season to record a 21-07 win and Eddie Dodd powered his way to a 21-11 victory. Tony Ryding won again, this time 21-13 and Bill Tottey displayed improved form with a 21-14 win. Andy Fergus had another winning performance after a slow start to his season, this time winning 21-16 and Reg Armitage came out on top in a tough match 21-18. With a 97 shot advantage the aggregate point looks safe but the Vics must go to Bromborough next week expecting a tough encounter as away wins are hard to come by.
The Sherbrooke trio once again turned up trumps for the Vics on Friday night, in a Birkenhead League encounter at Harrison Park but unfortunately the Vics went down to a narrow 5 shot defeat. With a 76 shot advantage from the home leg last week, the extra point seemed safe but the Vics wanted a vital away win to give their points total a further boost. Ian Sherbrooke with a 21-10 win, Karl Sherbrooke, not quite in crushing mode but still winning 21-13 and Neil Sherbrooke with a tough 21-19 victory, showed just how important this family is to the Vics but with just 2 more Vics winners on the night we finally lost out by just 5 shots. Trevor Rodgers continues to show impressive form and celebrated his Wallasey County call-up with a 21-16 win. Billy Atkinson gained revenge for last week’s loss to Bill Jones by reversing the scoreline to this time run out a 21-18 winner. Mally Johnson 17-21 and Peter Dodd and Robby Franklin, both 20-21 losers, were the best of the rest for the Vics and with everyone in double figures this close encounter was in the balance right to the last game. Bill Tottey and Eddie Dodd, once again stepping in as late replacements, performed exceptionally well against good opponents to record good scores, without members like these the Vics would be struggling to compete at this level because of the small squad of players available for selection.