The afternoon “C” team had a crushing 67 shot home win against league leaders Manor Road “C” last Friday to come away with the extra point after last weeks close defeat away from home. The Vics had nine winners from the ten cards with the “Old Stager” Stan Evans upstaging everyone again with a tremendous 21-05 victory. Even in his eighties Stan would be hard to beat by anyone on his little mark up and down the centre of the green. Reg Armitage showed he is finally coming to grips with the Vics green,with an identical 21-05 winning scorecard. Reg seemingly taking to the quick pace of the green on the day. A couple of 21-11 scorecards were posted by the two Bills, Powell and Tottey, with Bill Powell another to defy the ageing process in a fine display of round peg bowling. Bill Tottey produced arguably his best display this season and hopefully he can now continue with this new found confidence and bowl as we know he can for the rest of the season. Brian Buck, finally getting back into the habit of bowling well, after his spell in the outposts of York, had a comfortable 21-14 win. John Dodd, making a rare league appearance this season, had a satisfying 21-15 win, followed by C.K.Pau , struggling a little bit, winning 21-16. Chris Williams stays top of the averages after another win, this time 21-17. Eddie Dodd had a really tough game on the pacy green, before finally coming through 21-19. This was an excellent performance by Eric Neal’s side against the league leaders with the only disappointing aspect of the day being Eric’s insistence that he will not be Captain next season.
The afternoon “B” team went down to a 27 shot loss at Royden Hall last Friday, to lose the aggregate point despite a fair showing on the day. Lawrie Blackburn proved to be the star turn for the Vics with a tremendous 21-10 away win, showing good skills on the tricky Royden green. Skipper Don Ibbotson had another win, to continue his much improved form as the season nears the end, Don winning 21-15 this time. Mr.Reliability, Ernie Peers, continues to dominate the averages with a hard fought 21-17 victory and Derek Thomas came through a tremendous game to eventually win 21-20. Next best for the Vics on a disappointing day was Ian Cameron who managed a decent 16-21 performance. The aggregate point was really lost when the Vics could only manage such a narrow winning margin at home last week.
The Vics afternoon “A” team could only look back at last weeks performance against Manor Road away and wonder what might be “if only” they could have managed another 6 shots between them. In defeating the League leaders yesterday by 36 shots on a difficult West Kirby green, they were left understandably disappointed about the outcome last week when a fine performance saw the Vics lose by just 5 shots. “If only” the Vics had claimed victory last week the title would now be wide open after yesterday’s win. Peter Walker was the star of the show yesterday, rushing through his game to gain a tremendous 21-09 win and then rushing off the green to rescue his bag of treacle toffee from some ravenous team mates. Robby Franklin and Eddie Clayburn both warmed up for their Evening Wallasey League match with 21-11 victories. Eddie continues to produce good displays home and away in this Division and is still pushing Billy Atkinson at the top of the averages. Robby, on a green suited to his delicate touch and feel, ran out quite an easy winner at the end of the day. Skipper Billy Atkinson dropped 3 shots to Eddie today in winning 21-14 and there were a couple of good 21-15 wins for Andrew Stratton and Mally Johnson although Mally did throw away a 15-04 lead. Bob Jones had a slightly tougher match today before finally coming out on top 21-16. The feeling after the match was not one of delight at winning but one of regret for last weeks close result and what might have been. Still life is full of “if only’s”.
Skipper Mally Johnson led the Vics Wallasey League side nearer a 5th consecutive Division One Title last night, with a fantastic 21-08 mauling of his Queens Royal opponent on a slick Harrison Park green. Mally under pressure to preserve a 62 shot lead without the help of the unavailable Matty Gilmore and Anthony Thompson and then the non appearance “again” of Robby Hall, led his team in style, with a return to the form he used to produce on a regular basis in his younger days. Two of the so called “lesser lights” of the squad also produced wonderful performances on the night, with Eddie Clayburn and Trevor Rodgers both winning 21-12 against supposedly higher ranked opponents. Eddie responded to his critics after last weeks cup game with a clinical display and Trevor bowled his heart out to demand inclusion in this team ahead of others not prepared to put the Vics first on their agenda. Karl Sherbrooke and Robby Fitzpatrick both had crucial 21-16 victories to keep Queens Royal behind in their attempts to build any kind of momentum to challenge the Vics on the night. Neil Sherbrooke(again) produced a winning 21-18 performance to give the Vics their sixth winner of the night and with Dave Gilmore and Robby Franklin doing enough in their games to only go down 18-21 and 19-21 respectively, the Vics had not only repelled any chance of losing the aggregate point but had indeed proved their superiority over Queens Royal in the league by running out winners by 5 shots on the night. Mally Johnson, delighted at the performance of his team, says there will “no easing up” in the final games and wants to see his team go undefeated throughout the league season.
The Vics Birkenhead League side slaughtered Albany tonight with a crushing 91 shot victory to gain the aggregate point and wonder how, for the 2nd season in succession, they managed to lose the away fixture against these opponents. There were 6 “Crushers” on display with Ian Sherbrooke and Robby Franklin leading the way with emphatic 21-03 wins. Peter Dodd showed glimpses of the form he can produce at times, with an equally impressive 21-05 win. The original “Crusher” himself, Karl Sherbrooke, had an easy 21-07 win as did Dick Peake in another fine performance. Growler Saville didn’t have to utter much of his unique vocabulary in a quick fire 21-09 win to complete six single figure winners for the Vics on the night. Neil Sherbrooke was made to look ordinary tonight, this time only winning 21-10 and Bernie Owen gained revenge for his humiliation on Monday, with an aggressive 21-11 winning card. Albany produced a revival towards the end when they had 4 winners out of the last 5 cards, to keep the final tally down to 91 shots.
Mally Johnson’s Wallasey league team returned to winning ways, after their Cup disappointment on Tuesday, with an easy 83 shot home win against Manor Road “B” last night. On a wet night at West Kirby, Neil Sherbrooke continued his unbelievable run this season with an extraordinary 21-01 win against the only player he has lost to this season. Matty Gilmore, displaying his hunger to win every game as quickly as possible, had an equally emphatic 21-03 win. Anthony Thompson, having to forget about any possible sweep after just one end, had a reasonably easy 21-07 victory and Robby Franklin, in winning 21-09, was back to his best at last after a few rocky performances. Billy Atkinson, having been up and down to the top park on errands for the skipper, showed no ill effects from all his running about, to post a fine 21-10 win. Trevor Rodgers, pushing for selection for the big Queens Royal fixture next Thursday, had a comfortable 21-11 win and Bernie Owen won his first game of the week in a good 21-14 display. Eddie Clayburn, punished by the skipper for turning up late, and thrown on at number 12 in the rain, still managed to overcome a difficult opponent in a 21-16 winning performance. It was a good job Eddie won because he had so many excuses for only winning 21-16, if he had lost, I would have had to write a book about his game. Ian Sherbrooke had to come through a tough match before winning 21-17 and Dave Gilmore came from 14-17 down to eventually win 21-19 in the closest game of the night. Dave Bosworth, turning out at the last minute because of a lack of players, performed creditably to only go down 16-21 in the end. Next up for the Vics is the title deciding showdown with Queens Royal on Thursday at Harrison Park. There will be no hiding place on the green and Mally will be expecting big performances from his top players to avoid any chance of losing a 62 shot lead.
The afternoon “C” team put up a decent performance away to Manor Road “C” this afternoon before eventually losing by 19 shots. Chris Williams gave a superb display on the two paced Wallasey green to record a fine 21-07 victory. Reg Armitage, unders orders not to lose from his wife watching on the sidelines, duly obliged with a good 21-14 win. BerNARD Davies, as he now likes to be addressed, struggled to find a consistant pace but still came out on top with a hard earned 21-17 triumph. “Come along” Bill Powell was the constant shout from the secretary and Bill didn’t let me down by producing another “roll back the years performance” in a great 21-18 win. Bill Tottey and Tony Ryding put in decent away green performances in a pair of 16-21 defeats and Stan Evans once again defied the years with a spirited 17-21 showing after being 0-09 down. This was not a bad display from a much changed side yet again and a good home win next week should see the Vics take the extra point.
The afternoon “A” team moved smoothly into the Centenary Cup semi finals this afternoon, with a comprehensive victory against the Woodland Hotel. Eddie Clayburn showed his liking for the neutral Tixall green, with a commanding 21-09 victory. Robby Franklin and Bob Jones were not far behind with equally impressive 21-10 winning scorecards. It was good to see Keith Etches producing a fine 21-11 winning performance, after some really tough close encounters recently. Skipper Billy Atkinson continued the onslaught with a good 21-12 win and Mally Johnson got back to winning ways with a 21-15 victory. Dick Peake came through a tough match to eventually win 21-20 and with an 18-21 card and a 19-21 card as well, the Vics had easily reversed the 20 shot handicap they had to concede, to finally win by 23 shots overall. This was a good performance on the tricky Tixall green and Billy Atkinson will be hoping to take his team all the way in this competition to compensate for their recent fall from the title race.
The afternoon “B” team lightened the gloom a bit for the club yesterday, with a narrow 14 shot home victory against Royden Hall. Skipper Don Ibbotson returned to top form with a fine display in a 21-12 victory that was matched by Ernie Peers, showing why he is top of the averages at the moment. Eddie Dodd celebrated promotion to the “B” team, with a great display and a good 21-14 victory. Brian Ibbotson completed a good day for the family when he posted a fine 21-14 winning card and Harry Preston slowed glimpses of his known form in a tight 21-18 win. With only 5 winning cards the rest of the team needed tight games to keep the overall score in the Vics favour and with C.K.Pau and Ian Cameron managing 17-21 cards and both Dave Bosworth and Lawrie Blackburn only losing 18-21 the Vics had done enough on the patchy West Kirby green to take a narrow lead of 14 shots to Royden Hall next week. A tough encounter will need the Vics to be at their best to have a chance of at least the extra point.
A bad week for the Vics various sides, got worse yesterday with the Afternoon “A” team losing by 5 shots at league leaders Manor Road “A”. With nothing less than victory required to have any chance in the title race, the Vics only had 4 winners on the day and although there were plenty of close games, these needed to be winning ones for the Vics and not losing cards. Skipper Billy Atkinson could only think what might have been at the end of a match that saw the touch of Robby Franklin return in a fine 21-12 victory. Eddie Clayburn, still hot in pursuit of Billy Atkinson at the top of the averages, again gave a confident performance in a good 21-14 win. Peter Walker, proving to be a more than useful addition to the Vics this season, also bowled well in a 21-16 triumph and Skipper Billy Atkinson produced a 21-17 winning performance to keep clear of Eddie at the top. With only 4 winners the Vics were unlikely to win the match but spirited performances from Dick Peake, Elwyn Williams and Mally Johnson, who all lost 16-21, Bernie Owen losing 19-21 and Keith Etches only going down 20-21 meant that there were only 5 shots between the sides when the totals were added up at the end. One extra point each from the losing cards and the scores would have gone the Vics way. The phrase “every point counts” was made for yesterday’s showing by the Vics.