West Kirby Victoria completed a magnificent 7th consecutive Division One Title triumph last night with their victory at Harrison Park. The Vics, in gaining 12½ points last night, did enough to open up a 15 point gap over their nearest rivals Queens Royal “A” who only have 1 home match left to complete and therefore can only win a maximum of 14 points. This is a tremendous achievement by West Kirby Victoria despite their Captain’s misgivings about the new points scoring system and they must be congratulated for their extraordinary consistency over the last 7 seasons. They have now equalled the previous record held by Marine Park between 1965 and 1971 and will no doubt have their sights set on creating a new record next year.
The Vics afternoon “B” team continued their late assault on promotion from Division 3 with an excellent double victory against Magazine Hotel over the last 7 days. In the home leg last Wednesday on an excellent Vics green, Ian Cameron 21-06, Ernie Peers 21-06 and Dave Leonard 21-09, all had excellent victories to set the team up for an important 55 shot victory. C.K.Pau 21-11 and Skipper Derek Thomas 21-12 also had comfortable wins and Bill Purcell continued his improved form with a good 21-14 winning display. Keith Etches 21-16 and Don Ibbotson 21-18 completed the Vics 8 winners on the day in more more difficult games but all in all a 55 shot lead was a good advantage to take to the away fixture against aside who have lost only 1 home match all season. In yesterday’s return at Magazine Hotel’s excellent but slowish green, another fine overall team performance saw the Vics have 6 winners and gain a 6 shot victory and claim a valuable 5 points against this opposition. Five of the Vics winners yesterday completed double victories and it is this improved form away from home from more and more players that has seen the Vics charge up the table recently. Bill Purcell was the star yesterday with a brilliant 21-04 win and after watching Bill play for Great Meols the previous evening, it is obvious to me that if he were to play all his matches on greens near a bar he would never lose, that one pint??? he manages before play seems to do the trick for him. Ian Cameron produced another excellent 21-05 win to go with last weeks 21-06 victory and Ian’s consistent form this season has helped to see the Vics through some difficult matches. Ernie Peers had a tough 21-17 victory to complete his double and Dave Leonard and Keith Etches completed the five Vics double winners with fighting 21-20 victories that were much needed for different reasons for both players. Dave is showing that he is an important member of this team and his confidence is improving as his results are becoming more consistent and I expect a big finish to the season in what is after all his debut season both in this competition and as a Vics player on a strange green to him at West Kirby. Keith Etches is keeping up his remarkable run of success this season and his 14th win in 16 league matches owed a lot to his will not to be beaten as much as to his undoubted bowling ability. It is this fighting type of performance that has earned him the knickname “The Enforcer” and although not quite topping the averages just yet I wouldn’t back against him being top come the season’s end. Peter Dodd was the other Vics winner on the day with a fine 21-15 victory and it is criminal that he has only played 5 league matches for the “B” team this season even though he is a starred player in this squad. Continuous call ups to the “A” team have disrupted his “B” team appearances and Skipper Derek Thomas has missed Peter’s help in vital matches, especially away from home. Next up for the Vics is a tough Centenary Cup semi final on Monday 20th August at RNA against Harrison Park “B”. Unfortunately Derek Thomas is unavailable for this fixture and the home league match against Port Sunlight next Wednesday.
The Vics Birkenhead League side completed another 5 point haul last Friday when, with all the first six blocks winning ones for the Vics, they completed a fine double victory over a strong Lever Club who are lying in third place in the table at the moment. Mally Johnson fresh from his moaning about Wallasey matters got down (well as far down as anyone with his shape can get) to actually playing bowls and came off an excellent 21-06 winner. Karl Sherbrooke was back to his “crushing” best in another 21-07 demolition job and both Robby Franklin and Neil Sherbrooke produced magnificent 21-09 winning cards. There were a couple of fine 21-13 victories for Colin Saville and Billy Atkinson and despite a slight blip by the Vics with four losing cards on the trot another excellent 21-08 winning card was posted by Craig Bourbonneux. Brian Leonard came through a tremendous match to eventually win 21-19 and complete an excellent 62 shot win for the Vics to complement last weeks away success at Port Sunlight. The Vics could finish third in the table this season if they can complete a double header against Albany and gain the extra point in the away tie at Oxton now to be played on August 31st.
West Kirby Victoria’s Billy Atkinson did the Wallasey Association proud last Sunday when he reached the semi finals of the British Parks National Veterans Merit competition. On a super fast green in Sheffield Billy defeated South Yorkshire’s Alan Horne 21-13 in his 1st round match and East Midlands player Terry Bosworth 21-14 to reach the last sixteen of this well attended competition. Billy was too good for another East Midlands player Graham Jackson in the 3rd round easily winning 21-10 to reach the quarter final stage. North Staffordshire’s Jack Dulson was put to the sword 21-09 in another impressive performance by Billy to see him through to the semi finals. After a long days bowling Billy eventually bowed out at the semi final stage 14-21 to the eventual competition winner, Brannie White from North Derbyshire. All in all this was an excellent performance by Billy and he is to be congratulated for representing Wallasey with such distinction in this prestigious competition.
The Vics afternoon “C” team continued their excellent run of form to claim the aggregate point against Poulton in their double header completed yesterday at West Kirby. In the away leg at Poulton last Tuesday the Vics lost out by 21 shots even though they had 6 excellent away winners on the day. On the tricky little Poulton green Bernie Davies proved to be the best Vics performer on the day with a fine 21-13 victory. John Brandon and Bill Tottey both came through tough encounters to post 21-18 winning scorecards and Arthur Fagan produced an excellent fighting 21-19 victory. Eric Neal and Bill Spraggett both came through marathon encounters to win their games 21-20 and a much improved performance from the remaining players saw the Vics only concede 21 shots at a difficult venue. In yesterday’s return match on a lovely afternoon at West Kirby the Vics had seven winners in a 41 shot victory which enabled them to take the aggregate point from their opponents. There were a hat trick of 21-06 victories for the Vics with two Evertonians leading the way in Skipper Brian Buck and Bill Tottey, they were joined by Peter Walker continuing his excellent Vics form at the moment. It is good to see Brian having a good run at the moment as, with his Chairman duties and also being Captain it is not always apparant to other people how much work he actually does behind the scenes. Reg Armitage is another enjoying a good run of form and he continued yesterday with a fine 21-12 victory. Stan Ridgway continues to defy the medical experts and provided a good 21-16 win that was followed by a couple of tough 21-18 victories for Eddie Dodd and Bernie Davies. With useful if losing contributions from John Brandon, Arthur Fagan and Harry Preston the Vics ran out comfortable 41 shot winners to claim their 8th point from the last four matches and give themselves a useful lift up the table.
The Vics afternoon “C” team completed their anticipated double win against Higher Tranmere “C” with an emphatic 112 shot home victory last Friday. With 7 single figure winners the Vics were far superior to a game but outclassed Tranmere side. Eddie Dodd bounced back to form with a very easy 21-04 win that was matched by averages leader Bill Tottey. Bill is certainly proving to be a much improved and consistent performer this season and deservedly leads the “C” team averages. There were thre 21-05 winners for the Vics and it was good to see that Stan Ridgway is back to good health as showed in his 21-05 win. The other two 21-05 winners were John Brandon and Skipper Brian Buck who both gave excellent displays. Bernie Davies and C.K.Pau both had comfortable 21-09 victories and Reg Armitage and Harry Preston both posted 21-16 winning cards. Poor old Arthur Fagan was the only Vics player to miss out but when that happens to me I say that I am too much of a gentleman to pile more suffering on our opponents, I am sure Arthur is also such a gentleman. Skipper Brian Buck was delighted with his teams performance over the two matches and is confident more winning displays will soon follow.
The Vics afternoon “B” team shot themselves in the foot again, when after crushing Bromborough Pool “B” by 84 shots at home last week they lost the return leg by 20 shots on Wenesday. This was a similar display to the one produced against Hoylake Marine when again an 84 shot home win could not be added to in the away fixture. This “B” team should be challenging at the top of the league but away failures are proving costly to them. Eight home winners last week included five single figure winners in excellent performances from Ernie Peers 21-04, Keith Etches 21-07, Don Ibbotson and Derek Thomas 21-08 and Peter Walker 21-09. Peter Dodd in only his 4th league appearance for the “B” team this year, because of non availability of “A” team players, won 21-11 and Ian Cameron had a fine 21-13 win. C.K.Pau had a tougher game than normal but still came through 21-18 at the end of the day. With an 84 shot lead to take to Bromborough on Wednesday, Skipper Derek Thomas must have been relishing only the 2nd away win of the season but this was not to be as yet again the Vics woes away from home returned. “A” team call ups meant Derek Thomas had to do without Peter Dodd again and the continual swapping and changing does not do the Vics cause any good but with only 3 away winners the Vics were always struggling and a 20 shot loss was never in doubt from early on. Derek Thomas tried his best to show how it should be done with a comfortable 21-10 win that was followed by Brian Ibbotson’s fine 21-15 victory. The only other Vics winner turned out to be Ian Cameron who posted a good 21-16 winning scorecard. I don’t know if it is lack of concentration or too much practice at West Kirby that makes the Vics players lose out away from home but until we can perform on away greens promotion is going to be a long time coming. The only silver lining was the aggregate point was easily obtained thanks to the home performance last week.
The Vics afternoon “A” team produced their first away win of the season in their double header against Gladstone Tigers and went on to complete the tie with a home victory and maximium points on Wednesday. In the away leg last week at the superb Gladstone green, the Vics shared the winners 5 each but commanding displays from Robby Franklin 21-06 (rampant on this green lately), Kenny Palin 21-08 in possibly his best display so far for the Vics and Skipper Billy Atkinson 21-09 in another fine away performance, saw the Vics gain much needed breathing space between the teams that was added to by Dick Peake’s fine 21-13 win and Eddie Clayburn’s good 21-15 winning scorecard. With Andrew Stratton 18-21 and Alan Hughes 19-21 having close games the Vics eventually came away delighted with a 24 shot lead to take to West Kirby. In the return on Wednesday the Vics triumphed by 42 shots to complete a rare 5 point haul for them. Skipper Billy Atkinson was much to good for his opponent and not really challenged in a 21-02 winning performance that was surprisingly the only Vics single figure win of the day. Alan Hughes and Bernie Owen (not in the Secretary’s good books at the moment) were next best for the Vics with good 21-12 winning displays and Dick Peake completed a 21-13 double against Gladstone with a fine victory. Robby Franklin was not so rampant on his own green in a tough encounter that saw him a 21-18 winner and Eddie Clayburn was involved in a minor marathon when winning 21-19. Kenny Palin and Elwyn Williams both limped over the line with 21-20 victories but Peter Dodd conceded a 20-10 lead to lose 20-21 after plenty of intervention from supposed team mate Bernie Owen. Surprisingly, Mally Johnson was the only other Vics loser of the day but victory was sweet for the Vics after their season long quest for 5 points from a double header was completed.
The Vics Birkenhead League side produced their best away performance for some time with a superb 5 shot victory at Lever Club last night. The star of the show was undoubtably Bernie Owen, who surprised everyone present with a “roll back the years performance” in what has been a dismal season for him in this league so far this year, with a stunning 21-09 victory. I am sure Billy Atkinson would not mind Bernie hogging (no pun intended) the headlines even though Billy produced an excellent 21-08 win himself. Frank O’Neill had his second 21-14 win in succession with a good performance that was followed by Robby Franklin winning 21-15. Craig Bourbonneux continued his good run with a hard fought 21-19 victory and John Lloyd survived a titanic tussle to win 21-20. There were good cards from Karl Sherbrooke and Colin Saville who both only lost out 20-21 in the end. With John Devlin 16-21 and Neil Sherbrooke 17-21 also producing close games and Brian Leonard coming from 06-18 down to post a 14-21 card, the Vics collectively did enough to record a rare away win and hopefully take all 5 points from Lever Club when the match is completed next week at West Kirby.
The Vics Birkenhead League side’s double header against Gladstone “B” over the last fortnight saw them do enough in the home 42 shot win to take the valuable aggregate point against the side that won the 2nd Division title last season. With the away leg being played first because of another waterlogged green at West Kirby, the Vics struggled with only 3 winners on the board. The winners however were by big enough totals to give the Vics hope for the home match. Craig Bourbonneux, celebrating his recent Hurrell Cup success, provided a superb 21-06 victory that was nearly matched by Robby Franklin’s emphatic 21-08 win. Neil Sherbrooke once again came up with a magnificent away performance and posted a 21-11 winning card and Bernie Owen showed glimpses of past form with a determined display before going down 20-21 in the end. With a 28 shot deficit to pull back on Wednesday night at a much drier Vics green, 9 Vics winners proved too strong for the Gladstone team and the extra point was easily garnered for the Vics. Colin Saville, in excellent form at the moment, starred for the Vics with an easy 21-09 win that was followed by a couple of 21-13 victories for Brian Leonard and Neil Sherbrooke. Frank O’Neiil 21-14 and Mally Johnson 21-15 pushed the Vics further ahead with vital wins and Karl Sherbrooke came off a reasonably happy “Crusher” with a more difficult 21-16 victory. The two “John’s” Devlin and Lloyd both had pretty tough games that they won 21-17 and Craig Bourbonneux came out on top 21-18 after his tight game. With Billy Atkinson and Robby Franklin doing enough in close 18-21 and 19-21 losses, the Vics had done more than enough to claim a 42 shot win and claim the extra point.