It has been another successful season of competitions in the Mid Shropshire League.
The Dixon & Driscoll Doubles were played at Allscott Heath with 24 entries taking part. It was won by Sally King & Nat Moseley who defeated Jamie & Phil King 13 in the Final.
The Under 25 Merit was played at Donnington Wood with 8 players taking part, the highest for a while. The final was won by last year’s Under 15 Merit winner Jordan Millman who beat Ed Proudlove in the final 16.
The Over 60s Merit was an unprecedented success with 31 entries overall at Sir John Bayley, the highest ever in this competition. It also potentially was the best final the competition has seen, with Paul Beer defeating Ian Gaut in an excellent final 21-20 to win the competition for the first time having turned 60 last year.
The Senior Merit had 81 entries at the closing date, with 75 taking part across the 4 qualifying venues at Edgmond, Shifnal, Sinclair and Trench. Thank you to Sarah Glenholmes, Helen Clee, John Clarke and Dave Evans for running the qualifiers, and to the four clubs for hosting.
The Junior Day was a huge success thanks to the efforts of Albrighton Bowling Club. Dan Corbett retained the Under 18 Merit after beating Jarratt Cotterill in the final, while Rowan Fuller went one better than last year after beating Jarratt in the final.
However Jarratt put that heartache behind him by teaming up with Ben Cutler and winning the Fletcher Junior Doubles at Wrockwardine Wood, defeating last year’s winners Dan Corbett and Luke Morris.
The Mixed Doubles took place at Bridgnorth with 10 entries, one up on last season, and was won by Cheryl Caswell and Rob Burroughs, who defeated Sian Skelton and Scott Harries in the final.
The Senior Merit was retained by John Breeze at Broseley after defeating Paul Beer in the final that finished after 11 p.m.
The Monday Merit the week after was won by former County President Mick Jones on another successful finals night. He beat Steve Watkins in the final.
The Thursday Merit was held at Donnington Wood with Josh Bradburn beating Harry Church in the final after 11 entered.
The Ashton Cup Final was again won by Newport who beat Allscott Heath in the final, while Highley beat Much Wenlock in the Ashton Shield Final.
The Harris Cup and Shield had a successful first finals night at the Bowring. Sir John Bayley beat St Georges in a final that was tied after 7 games, and Shifnal put in a dominant display in the Harris Shield to beat Newport. The Shield has definitely been a welcome addition to the competition scene!
Well done to all our winners this season, and thank you to everyone who has took part and made these competitions a great success!
Thank you to every club who has hosted a qualifier or finals day, and to those who have helped run a qualifier, or supported me to run a finals day or night and marked and measured. I couldn’t do it without the support of you as well as my fellow officers, especially Malcolm Fletcher who has been a big help at most of the competitions this season!
I am looking forward to 2025, with new competitions on the horizon! Provisional dates will be on here in the next couple of weeks!