West Kirby Victoria Bowling Club

The Average Prize Winners for each team in 2009 are: League Matches only count for Averages.

Birkenhead Evening League;  Mathew Gilmore  Played 17,  Won 15,  Lost 2,  For 346,  Against 206,  Plus 140,  Ave 1.68

Wallasey League;                      Mathew Gilmore  Played 16,  Won 16,  Lost 0,  For 336,  Against 157,   Plus 179,  Ave 2.14

Afternoon “A” Team;                Mally Andrews    Played  22,  Won 20, Lost 2,  For 452,  Against 285,   Plus 167,  Ave 1.59

Afternoon “B” Team;                Keith Stewart       Played  22,  Won 17,  Lost 5,  For 423,  Against 304,   Plus 119,  Ave 1.39

Afternoon “C” Team;                Ted Lawrence       Played  21,  Won 20, Lost  1,  For 432,  Against 243,   Plus 189,  Ave 1.78

Ted still has one game to go this coming Friday but he has also managed to play 10 League games for the “B” team and 1 League game for the “A” team winning 7 out of the extra 11 games. This is a magnificent effort by Ted and his immediate answer of “yes” when asked to double up etc. reflects great credit on his attitude to playing for the Vics.

In the Wallasey League both Robbie Fitzpatrick and Anthony Thompson each played 17 games and won 17 games.

2009 will go into the record books as the Vics most successful season ever with an impressive haul of Cups and League Titles coming our way. This afternoon the Afternoon “B” team completed a comfortable home victory over Albany to win the Birkenhead & Wirral Crown Green Bowling League, Afternoon Division Two Title. The Afternoon “C” team have already won the Division Four Title with still the last match (Poulton at home on Friday) to play. The Afternoon “A” team won the Centenary Cup a fortnight ago with a comprehensive 10 winners to nil defeat of Heswall RBL “B” in the final at Albany.

The Birkenhead Evening League team had an unforgettable season, winning the Division One Title, the Sansom Cup and the Cec Hannay Rose Bowl. They also retained their Merseyside Club Championship with another comprehensive clean sweep of winners in their Final against BRNESC at Liverpool Cricket Club. They will now go forward to the British Crown Green Club Championship in Todmorden on October 4th as the Merseyside representatives.

The Wallasey League side won the Division One Title for a remarkable ninth year on the trot and also added the Presidents Cup with a fine victory against Queens Royal in the Final at Manor Road.

All the Team Captains, John Lloyd, Malcolm Johnson, Billy Atkinson, Keith Etches and Ian Wilson deserve credit for their efforts in keeping their teams fully focused during the season and of course everyone who played for the club during the season have helped to make us the club that everyone will be wanting to beat next season.

The Vics are currently having their most successful season ever with every Team in the Club in with a great chance of winning a Trophy or two.

To date (Tuesday August 18th) our Birkenhead Evening League team have won the Sansom Cup and play in the Cec Hannay Rose Bowl Final this coming Saturday. They are also just one game away from winning the First Division Title, with the match away at Tixall next Monday (August 24th) looking to be the Title decider if the Vics win or, if they lose, then a play off will be needed to decide the Champions.

Our Wallasey League team completed an unprecedented 9th consecutive Division One Championship last Thursday and also won the Presidents Cup last Saturday. The Five A Side competition commences next week and the Vics will be fielding three teams this year.

The Afternoon “A” team have qualified for the Centenary Cup Semi Final and take on Pensby “B” at Royden Hall on Thursday August 27th having to concede 60 shots courtesy of the handicappers. We are currently in 5th place in Division One.

The Afternoon “B” team are currently 11 points clear at the top of Division Two with 6 games to play and look likely to be joining the “A” team in Division One next year as Champions of Division Two.

The Afternoon “C” team are currently 17 points clear at the top of Division Four with 6 games to play and barring a catastrophic collapse in form should be promoted to Division Three next year as Champions of Division Four.

We are also the current holders of the Merseyside Team Championship and will defend the Trophy on Saturday September 5th. We are joint holders of the British Parks Club Championship and will be hoping to win the Cup outright on Sunday September 13th in North Staffordshire.

Congratulations to all our Members and thanks to the Team Captains, John Lloyd, Malcolm Johnson, Billy Atkinson, Keith Etches and Ian Wilson for all the work they have put in to make 2009 our best ever season.

The Vics Wallasey League Team qualified for the Presidents Cup Final with a single shot victory over Sacred Heart last Tuesday. Having to concede a 66 shot start thanks to the Handicappers, the Vics had to pull out all the stops to secure victory and Robbie Fitzpatrick was the player who was on the green with the winning wood when he complated a 21-16 win. The Vics will now play “old foes “, Queens Royal, in the Final at Manor Road on Saturday August 15th with a 5-30pm start. I hope we can get the same support from Club Members that we had in the Sansom Cup Final to help the Vics win a Trophy they last won in 2004.

The Vics Birkenhead Evening League team lie joint 2nd in the Birkenhead & Wirral League Division One having won both their opening 2 matches. After having a blank fortnight with no fixtures the Vics are next in action at home to Oxton Conservative Club on Friday May 22nd.

The Wallasey League  team are 3rd in Division One having won all their 4 opening matches and play major rivals, Queens Royal at home this coming Tuesday May 19th.

The Afternoon “A” team have won just one of their four opening League matches but are 7th in Division One with 21 points. Their next fixture is away to Capenhurst this Wednesday, May 20th. The “B” team are top of Division Two with 3 victories from 4 matches and 33 points and play Capenhurst “B” at home on Wednesday. The “C” team are 11 points clear at the top of Division 4 with 4 victories from 4 matches and next play on Friday May 22nd at home to Pensby “B”.

There have been quite a few Cup Matches over the past few weeks, with mixed fortunes for the various Vics teams. The Birkenhead Evening team lost out to one of their main rivals, Tixall, in the Dr.Dawson Victory Cup 1st Round by 19 shots. They did however beat both Great Meols and Quarry Vikings in the early rounds of the Cec Hannay Rose Bowl to qualify for the last 16 on June 29th. The Vics will also play Heswall RBL in the Quarter Finals of the Sansom Cup on Wednesday 20th May at Upton Victory Hall.

The Wallasey League side play in the Preliminary Round of the Presidents Cup on Tuesday June 9th against Great Float at Royden Hall and after having beaten Sacred Heart in the Harold Jones Cup Quarter Finals, have quailified to play Sandridge at Marine Park in the Semi Final at Marine Park on Tuesday June 16th.

The Birkenhead Afternoon “A” team, having beaten Gladstone Tigers in the Afternoon Shield Preliminary Round were then defeated by Royden Hall in the First Round last Wednesday. The “B” team defeated Thingwall in their Preliminary Round match and after a close game at Lever Club last Wednesday, defeated Pensby to qualify for the last 16 on June 17th. Unfortunately the “C” team lost out to Lever Cl;ub in their Preliminary Round match.

The Vics crashed out in the First Round of the British Crown Green Team Bowling Championships at Irlam yesterday despite winning 5 of the 8 games on the day. The Vics went down 143-148 in the end against the possible favourites for this years title, the Tonge Bowling Club from Manchester. Robby Fitzpatrick 21-15, Jamie Fitzpatrick 21-18, Matt Gilmore 21-18, Dave Gilmore 21-14 and Billy Atkinson 21-20 were the Vics winners on an excellent green at Irlam and Tonge went on to qualify for next Sundays Finals day with an emphatic 40 shot victory against Middleport Park.

The Vics will be looking for revenge against Tonge on Sunday 26th April in the B.C.G.B.A. Club Championships at Severnside in Shrewsbury.

The Vics retained their Merseyside County C.G.B.A. Club Championship this afternoon with two convincing victories in the semi final and final at the excellent Liverpool Cricket Club green. In the semi final against a strong Brooke Hotel side, the Vics had 6 winners out of the 8 blocks, with Billy Atkinson 21-06 and Ian Sherbrooke 21-08 having the best cards. In the final against BRNESC, who had earlier beaten some pundits fancies Walton Park in their semi final, the Vics had 7 winners from the 8 blocks with Karl Sherbrooke 21-07 and Brian Leonard 21-08 having the best cards.

Semi Final:  West Kirby Victoria 154 Brooke Hotel 113      Final West Kirby Victoria 161 BRNESC 115

A delighted West Kirby Captain received the trophy from the B.C.G.B.A. Chief Executive, John Crowther.

The 2009 Season gets under way on Wednesday April 8th with the Afternoon “A” and “B” teams in action against Harrison Park “A” and “B” teams respectively. We have 3 new Team Captains at the Vics this year, with John Lloyd taking the over reigns of the Birkenhead Evening League team from Ian Sherbrooke and Keith Etches stepping in for Derek Thomas with the Afternoon “B” Team and Ian Wilson running the Afternoon “C” Team instead of Brian Buck. We thank Ian, Derek and Brian for all their hard work during the last few seasons and wish John, Keith and Ian all the best in their new posts. Bill Atkinson and Malcolm Johnson remian in charge of the Afternoon “A” and Wallasey League teams respectively. The two required Starred player lists for the Afternoon “A” and “B” teams produced a few surprises and can be seen below.

“A” Team: Mally Andrews, Bill Atkinson, Eddie Clayburn, Peter Dodd, Robby Franklin, Dick Peake, Tony Ryding, Andrew Stratton   + ( Bernie Owen & Elwyn Williams starred for Cup Matches)

“B” Team: John Brandon, Ian Cameron, Keith Etches, Ian Hamilton, Malcolm Johnson, Ernie Peers, Keith Stewart, Derek Thomas  + ( Bill Purcell & Peter Walker starred for Cup Matches)

With over 50 players registered in the Afternoon League for the Vics, “C” Team Skipper, Ian Wilson, will have a tough job picking his starting line up !!! 

After an excellent days bowling on seven superbly prepared greens on Sunday , the British Parks Club Team Knockout Competition ended in farce with West Kirby Victoria and Meersbrook agreeing to share the Trophy after the scores on one card could not be agreed. West Kirby Victoria thought they had just done enough to force a 178 -177 victory in an excellent final, played throughout with great sporting spirit by both sides, only to be robbed of victory when an error was found on one of the scorecards. Karl Sherbrooke having come off a 21-16 loser on the West Kirby card was marked as a 21-15 loser on the Meersbrook card. Remarkably, both scorers in this match had decided not to check card scores on the required ends and therefore there could be no going back to the previous checked end, as required when scorers cannot agree. Matt Gilmore 21-07, Dave Gilmore 21-13, Ian Sherbrooke 21-14 and Bill Atkinson 21-17 were all winners for West Kirby Victoria and along with the close losing cards of Jamie Fitzpatrick 20-21 and Steve Nugent 18-21, West Kirby thought that the Cup was theirs. The sting in the tale was to hit hard however with the rogue scorecard being scrutinised at the end of the match. With neither side prepared to firstly agree on the correct score, or indeed agree that it was in fact the scorers and not the Officials who were to blame, a decision had to be made by the British Parks President, Bill Maybry on how to solve the dispute. Despite unwanted representations by all and sundry around Match Officials, Bill’s first idea of a 3 end play off and then secondly an 11 end play  off were not acceptable to both Captains. With the light fading fast on any possible playing option to decide the match, the two Captains then got together and decided between themselves that the best course of action was to share the trophy for 6 months each. Bill Maybry agreed that although not an ideal solution it was possibly best all round to accept this decision. There were a few unwanted spectators dancing on the green celebrating this decision from last years winners which did seem strange as they had been knocked out earlier in the day but never mind, if they were happy good luck to them. Finally Wallasey C.G.B.A. Chairman Mike Costall invited Bill Maybry to present the Cup to the two Captains. Mike thanked all the Clubs, Referees, Measurers and Officials who had helped to make this an excellent day and eventually all retired to the club house for a well earned drink and excellent buffet prepared by Sylvia Costall. Just one footnote to the days happening, B.C.G.B.A. Laws of the game 3: Scoring, section 3.4 The result of the end shall be clearly indicated, by the winner, to the markers who must sit together and agree each other’s score cards every third end and at the end of the game. Obviously in the case of the Andy Whittaker- Karl Sherbrooke match, this was not the case and I fail to see how the match organiser can be to blame.