“Joe 90″ (Ian Sherbrooke) and “Rampant Robby” (Franklin) steered the Vics Birkenhead League side to a second Dr.Dawson Victory Cup triumph in the last 4 years. The Vics defeated Tixall by 16 shots in an excellent Final played in a good sporting spirit at Thingwall on Saturday. Having to give away 12 shots to the handicapper, the Vics needed a good start and Ian Sherbrooke provided this with a stunning 21-06 victory. Karl Sherbrooke produced a tremendous fight back to win 21-20 from 12-19 down to see the Vics trail by 13 shots after the first 4. With 3 winners in the middle 4, Craig Borbeneaux 21-17, Peter Walker 21-19 and Colin Saville 21-11, the Vics had pulled the deficit back to only one shot after 8 blocks. Robby Franklin lead the way in the back 4 with a superb 21-08 victory which was supplemented by John Lloyd’s 21-16 win and Mally Johnson’s 21-19 victory. Bernie Owen 16-21, Peter Dodd 17-21 (from 09-19 down) and Trevor Rodgers with an 18-21 card did enough to cover a rare off day for John Devlin, 09-21 and give the Vics an overall scoreline of 228-212 and victory over a gallant Tixall side. League President, John Griffiths praised both sides for a fine match played in an excellent sporting spirit before presenting the Cup to a beaming West Kirby Captain, Treveor Rodgers.
It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of George Morgan, who passed away in Hospital last week. George was a complete bowler through and through and was very adamant that he wanted to come to our Club Outing last month, despite it being obvious to all on the day that he was suffering great pain and distress. I had the feeling when dropping George off at his house that day that the end was near and his silence on the journey home was a sign to me that he had said his goodbyes to all the Club Members as he wanted to do ( at a bowling competition). George had no family members nearby and had lived on his own in Aigburth and obviously suffered on his own and even when we visited him in hospital he didn’t complain about how much pain he was suffering but wanted to talk about how the Club was doing and when he could be back bowling on the green. As I say, George will be sadly missed and his little quip to me every time I dropped him off (room for improvement Peter) will stick with me for ever.
Funeral arrangements will appear in Tuesday’s Echo and I will post them when known. No more heavy greens up there George, means you will be winning all your matches in future.
Unfortunately, due to certain personal problems and lack of available time the match reports for the next 2 weeks will be suspended. All the League Results will be posted as usual and all the averages are correct and up to date.
The Vics Birkenhead League side almost whitewashed Tixall on Friday in a superb 86 shot win on a super slick green at West Kirby. The Vics had 11 winners on the night with Billy Atkinson, in winning 21-06, despite an on green altercation with anyone unfortunate enough to be in his range at the time, friend or foe, being the star of the show. Neil Sherbrooke and John Devlin were not far behind with easy 21-09 wins. Trevor Rodgers won 21-10 and there was a winning 21-11 return to the team for Bernie Owen, dressed immaculately in Saville Row shorts and Italian slippers. Indeed the opposition were so impressed with Bernie’s attire that he was immediately nicknamed Lofty after the star of “It Aint Of Hot Mum”. Ian Sherbrooke 21-12, Mally Johnson 21-13, Craig Borbeneaux 21-14 and Peter Dodd 21-15 all had reasonably comfortable wins and it was left to Colin Saville 21-19 and John Lloyd 21-20 to provide some late entertainment in tough encounters before the Vics finally came away with an 86 shot win. Whatever happened to the “dinky round pegger” only time or Robby himself will reveal.
The Vics Wallasey League side regained the Harold Jones Cup on Saturday with a comfortable 82 shot victory over Harrison Park at a brilliantly sunny Manor Road. The Sherbrooke family spearheaded the Vics assault, with Neil 21-03, Karl 21-08 and Ian 21-09 all producing excellent winning displays to put Harrison Park well and truly out of the final virtually from the 1st wood bowled. On a quick but not too fast green at Manor Road, the Vics had ten winners on the night and were never in any danger of losing their grip on the Cup they last won in 2004. Matt Gilmore 21-11, John Devlin 21-12 and Anthony Thompson 21-13 all had reasonably trouble free wins and Billy Atkinson and Robby Franklin both won 21-16. Robby Franklin’s match with Bob Edwards probably produced some of the best ends of the night with both players adopting similar shortish marks. Trevor Rodgers came through a tough encounter to win 21-17 and Robby Fitzpatrick had to struggle to win his game 21-19. Maybe he would have been wiser to borrow the Skippers shirt after all, instead of the light blue creation he was wearing. Skipper Mally Johnson received the cup from the Wallasey Association President, Keith Etches and thanked all his squad for their efforts in regaining the cup for the Vics.
The Vics afternoon “A” team lost by 27 shots at Harrison Park this afternoon when the super slick green proved too much for some of the Vics squad. Needless to say, Rampant Robby ( Franklin) was at home on this green with his dinky little round peggers and he came off best for the Vics with an excellent 21-11 win. Mally Johnson showed his liking for fast greens, with his ancient woods pegging yards at times and he came off a 21-16 winner as did Skipper Billy Atkinson, whose penchant for straight marks was just too accurate at times for his opponent. Elwyn Williams came through a tough encounter to register a valuable 21-18 that kept the losing margin down to a level that the Vics might be able to overcome next week. Unfortunately that was that as regards winners for the Vics but Keith Etches 16-21, Eddie Clayburn 18-21 and Bernie Owen 20-21 all put up decent displays if just not quite good enough on the day.
The Vics Wallasey League side had to overcome a shock on Thursday before storming to a 78 shot away win at Sacred Heart. The shock came early, in the 1st defeat of the season for Dave Gilmore but Sacred Heart could not capitilise and in fact lost all the remaining blocks. With two easy cup wins over these opponents in the last week the Vics completed a comfortable treble with Billy Atkinson 21-06, Robby Hall 21-08 and Anthony Thompson 21-08 coming off emphatic winners. John Devlin 21-10 and Neil Sherbrooke 21-11 were not far behind with comfortable victories. There were tougher games for Ian Sherbrooke and Craig Borbeneaux who both won 21-16 and Robby Franklin and Karl Sherbrooke didn’t have things all their own way in 21-17 wins. The two closest games of the night came last with Robby Fitzpatrick and Matt Gilmore struggling to 21-19 victories to complete another big away win for the Vics and keep them clear at the top of the table.
The Vics afternoon “C” team suffered against Upton Victory Hall “B” yesterday, when Upton’s sting in the tail, (2 single figure wins), saw them recover from 51 shots down to only lose by 19 shots and rest the aggregate point from the Vics. Things had looked rosy in the Vics garden when Skipper Brian Buck, full of confidence from his showing for the “B” team on Wednesday, produced a good 21-10 win. Lawrie Blackburn, at home on the quick Vics green had an excellent 21-08 victory and Bill Tottey produced a fine 21-12 win to recover some of his best form for some time. Bill Powell continues to amaze the younger members of the side and came off with a competent 21-13 win. Ken Bidwell and Bill Spraggett both had hard fought 21-16 victories and together with John Brandons tough 21-20 win and Eddie Dodd’s narrow 20-21 defeat, things were looking good for a rare aggregate win for the Vics. The sting in the tail however put and end to all that!!
The Vics Birkenhead League side pulled off a fine victory at Oxton Conservative Club tonight, to complete a quick double after last weeks 19 shot home win. Another close match resulted in the Vics finally running out winners by 13 shots after having 7 winning cards. Colin Saville with a fine 21-13 win and Karl Sherbrooke, who won 21-17, had kept the Vics close on the heels of Oxton after the 1st four blocks saw 2 winners to each side. The Vics nosed in front with 3 winners in the middle four, with Neil Sherbrooke leading the way with a brilliant 21-06 win. Peter Dodd, showing signs of more consistant form, won 21-16 and Billy Atkinson, unusually for him in the middle four, won a close game 21-19. The plus of the night was Brian Buck, giving a good account of himself as a late stand in, scoring a vital 12 points in his match. John Devlin, who won 21-18 and John Lloyd with a 21-19 winning card sealed Oxton’s fate after skipper Trevor Rodgers 19-21 and Craig Borbeneaux 18-21 had kept the Vics well in touch with the home team. The Vics duly ran out winners by 13 shots to claim the full 5 points against their opponents and give the team confidence for the 2 cup matches to come on Tuesday and Wednesday next week against Harrison Park and Kings 2000. The League matches resume next Friday with a home fixture against Tixall.
Derek Thomas’s afternoon “B” team, heavily depleted by “A” team calls and unavailable players, went down to a heavy 64 shot loss at Oxton yesterday to lose the aggregate point as well. The Vics could only produce 2 winning cards on the day, with “C” team Skipper Brian Buck showing his more illustrious mates how it should be done with an excellent sweep winning 21-15 victory. Paul Lomax produced the Vics only other winning card with a hard fought 21-19 win. Derek Thomas and Dave Bosworth both performed wekll before losing 16-21. All in all a bad day for the “B” team who face a double header against Port Sunlight Village in their next two matches.