I regret that I have to report the sad loss of Chris Williams, who passed away yesterday after a prolonged illness. All our sympathies go to Chris’s family and friends at this time and I will post funeral arrangements as soon as they become available.
The Vics Wallasey “A” side lost their hold on the Five A Side trophy last night when they were defeated by one shot by Quarry Vikings “B” at a very heavy Bronze green in Central Park. After storming through their semi final against Harrison Park “A” with all five winners and a 50 shot winning margin the Vics were overwhelming favourites to beat Quarry Vikings “C in the final. With Robby Hall coming off a quick 21-06 winner things looked rosy for the Vics but with all the other games very close the match went down to the last game on the green and with the scores level, including the 12 shot handicap the Vics had to give away, and the last game also level at 20-20 the whole match was decided when Quarry skipper Peter Birch took the final end off John Devlin to win the match for his side. Congratulations go to Quarry on their victory after a fine team performance.
The Vics Birkenhead League side came unstuck against Higher Tranmere again last night, when, with only 5 home winners, the Vics went down by 44 shots. All conquering Higher Tranmere continue to be the Vics bogy side in this League as yet again they stormed into the lead from the off, with Skipper Trevor Rodgers the only Vics winner in the first four with a very narrow 21-20 victory. The Vics fared slightly better in the middle four with Mally Johnson bowling superbly, to record yet another win for him against Higher Tranmere, this time 21-13. Craig Borbeneaux had another very hard fought 21-20 win to leave the Vics trailing by 24 after 8 blocks. The Vics final 2 winners of the night, Billy Atkinson 21-16 and Ian Sherbrooke 21-19 were fine performances but unfortunately too late to alter the course of the match as with 7 losers on the night the Vics finally went down by 44 shots. The fact that Higher Tranmere can include 5 Vics members in their team for these encounters does negate home advantage in this fixture but that is no excuse when we play Tranmere away or on neutral greens. A tough night will be in store next Friday in the return fixture at Birkenhead.
The Vics Wallasey League side completely overwhelmed Quarry Vikings at New Brighton last night to record a massive 106 shot away victory. Sending out a strong message to any would be challengers for the 1st Division Title, the Vics had 12 winners out of 12 to demonstrate their intent on winning a 6th consecutive Championship success. Skipper Mally Johnson, ruthless in his desire to win matches by as big a margin as possible, sent out his big guns from the off and after four blocks the Vics were 36 shots to the good. Matty Gilmore 21-11, Anthony Thompson and Robby Fitzpatrick, both 21-12 winners and Dave Gilmore in winning 21-13 had virtually sunk the Viking ship before it had set sail. Trevor Rodgers 21-09, Eddie Clayburn 21-12 , Karl Sherbrooke 21-15 and Robby Franklin 21-19 saw the Vics into a 66 shot lead after 8 blocks. Worse was to follow for the gallant Vikings though, with Neil Sherbrooke weighing in with a storming 21-05 victory followed by both Mally Johnson and Billy Atkinson winning 21-12. John Devlin marked his Wallasey debut for the Vics with a fine 21-14 victory to seal the Vikings fate and complete a 106 shot win for the Vics. Next up for the Vics is a Harold Jones Cup tie with Manor Road “A” on Tuesday night.
The Vics afternoon “C” team went down by 54 shots to Bromborough Pool “C” at Greasby on Wednesday to go out of the Centenary Shield at the first hurdle. With only 3 winners on the day the Vics found their opponents and the tricky Greasby green just too much on the day. Eric Neal had an excellent 21-05 victory and Lawrie Blackburn made it 3 wins out of 3 so far for him, with an equally excellent 21-09 win. Don Ibbotson in winning 21-19 was the only other Vics winner on the day and Skipper Brian Buck will be hoping for better form from his players when they return to league action on Tuesday.
The Vics afternoon “A” team had 8 winners on Wednesday to progress to the next round of the Centenary Shield. On a sunny, warm afternoon at Thingwall and on an excellently prepared green, the Vics pulled back 14 shots of the 20 they had to give to opponents, Birkenhead Park, after the first four blocks. Both Andrew Stratton, 21-10 and Dick Peake, 21-18 carried their league form into this competition with good wins and Malcolm Johnson got off the mark for the season with a steady 21-16 victory. The Vics had forged well ahead after the middle four, with Elwyn Williams, in unstoppable form at the moment winning, 21-05 and Keith Etches, also unbeaten for the Vics so far, winning 21-10. Eddie Clayburn won again, this time 21-15 and when Skipper, Billy Atkinson completely overpowered his opponent 21-02, the match was over and done with apart from a titanic struggle between Robby Franklin and Stan Kelly which went all the way before Robby finally ended up winning 21-20. The final winning margin after the handicapping came into effect was a 37 shot victory for the Vics.
The Vics Wallasey “A” team easily defeated Burton’s “A” last night to qualify for Saturday’s semi finals of the competition. The Vics had a clean sweep of winners and now play Harrison Park “A” on Saturday night at Central Park, Wallasey with a 6-00pm start. The winners will play either Quarry Vikings “C” or Sandridge “B” in the Final also on Saturday night, spectators would be most welcome.
The Vics Birkenhead League side completed an early season double over Manor Road last night with a close fought 12 shot win at a slow Manor Road green. This result follows on from the Afternoon “A” teams double success against Manor Road last Wednesday. With seven winners on the night the Vics just did enough to clinch victory and start the season with a maximum 5 points. The first four blocks where shared with the Vics coming out 1 shot ahead thanks to two 21-11 wins for present Skipper Trevor Rodgers and last seasons Captain, Ian Sherbrooke. The match turned in the Vics favour however with three winners in the middle four. Karl Sherbrooke, quickly into “crushing ” mould at the start of the season had a tremendous 21-10 win and Peter Dodd, continuing his good early season form, won 21-15 from 01-08 down. There was also a first win for newcomer Craig Borbeneaux, who had a tough 21-19 victory. The back four saw two winners per side but with both Robby Franklin and Neil Sherbrooke coming out 21-14 winners, the Vics had done enough to prove West Kirby Victoria as “Lords of the Manor ”, for 2006 at least. Next up will be a tough encounter with multiple Champions, Higher Tranmere, at West Kirby on Friday night.
Brian Buck’s afternoon “C” team suffered a disastrous home defeat to Heswall RBL “B” on Friday to start the season off with no wins from two matches. After last weeks away loss Brian was confident of at least getting off the mark with a home victory even if the aggregate point might have been difficult to secure. Unfortunately with 5 winners and 5 losers on the day, the Vics eventually went down to a narrow 5 shot defeat to remain pointless after the first two matches of the season. Ken Bidwell made a welcome return to League bowls, after missing out last season and had a best of the day 21-10 victory to confirm what the team missed last year. Eric Neal had an excellent 21-11 win, with Skipper Brian Buck returning an encouraging 21-13 winning scorecard. Bill Spraggett got off the mark for the season with a good 21-14 win and Lawrie Blackburn was the only Vics player to win both his opening matches, when he came in with a fine 21-15 victory. Bernard Davies just missed out for the second week running, this time going down 19-21 but at the end of the day the Vics were found wanting by just 5 shots, 163-168. Brian Buck will be hoping for better news next week in the Centenary Shield against Bromborough Pool “C” at Greasby.
The Vics Birkenhead League side, under new Skipper Trevor Rodgers, opened the season in fine style tonight with a 66 shot win over Manor Road at West Kirby. With 3 new faces in the team, as well as a new Captain, the Vics stormed ahead with a clean sweep of the 1st four blocks. “Crusher” Karl Sherbrooke and “Growler” Colin Saville both had convincing 21-09 wins followed by 2 hard fought victories for “Shergar” Neil Sherbrooke and “Webmaster” Peter Dodd, 21-20 and 21-17 respectively. 29 up after 4 blocks the Vics shared the spoils in the middle four, with “Rampant” Robby Franklin recording a best of the night 21-07 win and “Skipper” Trevor Rodgers winning 21-17. The Vics had 3 winners in the back four with “Joe 90″ Ian Sherbrooke making it a hat trick of Sherbrooke wins with an easy 21-09 victory. “Nutty Professor” Billy Atkinson just missed out on the sweep with another devasting display, winning 21-08. Debutant John Devlin had a fine start to his Vics career with an excellent 21-12 win. With 9 winners and a 66 shot victory, Trevor Rodgers was understandably delighted with the outcome of his first match in charge.
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