Sir John Bayley retained the Harris Cup with a hard fought victory over Highley by 18 at Newport.
They started strong, Scott Harries going 17-2 up and winning 7 versus John Heath, and Chris Worthington from 12-10 up winning 11 against Bruno Heath. Stuart Rutter from 15-14 down ran out against Danny Statham to put them 23 up with the aggregate.
But Jacob Ash was 9-1 and 14-8 up on Ayden Smith and won 15. Then Dave East came off winning 8 against Pete Grimston from 10-6 up to reduce the defict to just 4. Reece Farr though was 12-1 ahead of Frank Leek and kept this advantage to win 13. Stuart Gittings responded for Highley though going 10-2 and 14-5 up on Jackie Rutter and winning 14 to put the gap at just 5.
Josh Bradburn though played well down the edge to beat Simon Rhodes 8, and this meant that the Bayley needed a couple of chalks to win and they did that, with Joe Dicken beating Jamie Taylor 16 from 14-13 down, but Sam Mantom impressed for Highley with a 16 win over Dan Taylor from 16-10 up.
The player of the match award went to Scott Harries for his excellent performance at number 1.
Well done to Sir John Bayley on retaining the trophy.
| Sir J Bayley(P) | Score | Score | Highley(P) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Harries | 21 | 7 | John Heath |
| Chris Worthington | 21 | 11 | Bruno Heath |
| Stuart Rutter | 21 | 15 | Danny Statham |
| Ayden Smith | 15 | 21 | Jacob Ash |
| Pete Grimston | 8 | 21 | David East |
| Reece Farr | 21 | 13 | Frank Leek |
| Jackie Rutter | 14 | 21 | Stuart Gittings |
| Joe Dicken | 21 | 16 | Jamie Taylor |
| Josh Bradburn | 21 | 8 | Simon Rhodes |
| Dan Taylor | 16 | 21 | Sam Mantom |
| Games | 6 | 4 | |
| Aggregate | 179 | 154 | |
| Handicap | -27 | -20 | |
| Aggregate | 152 | 134 |