Paul Beer won the Over 60s Merit for the first time after he beat the previous winner Ian Gaut 20 in an epic final. He becomes the first player to win both the Senior and Over 60s Merit, and could be the first to win both in the same season after qualifying for the Senior Merit finals next month.
The final was nip and tuck until Paul led 7-4 and extended this lead to 13-7 and 15-9. Ian though fought back to 16 across and from 19-16 down went 20-19 up. Paul found a great last bowl to save game and then won with an 18 inch wood last end.
Both men were ruthless in their Semi Finals, both winning 6. Ian beat Steve Faulkner and Paul defeated Dave Price.
Thank you to Sir John Bayley who hosted, and to all 31 players who entered, a new record for the competition which only got 9 entries a few years ago. It will be back on the same weekend next year but this time played on two greens to speed up the day! Thank you to all those who measured and marked today, and for those who stayed on to watch the final.
Well done to Paul on his success and for Ian for being part of one of the best Mid Shropshire finals we’ve seen.
Competitions Secretary Rob Burroughs presents Paul Beer with the Jeff Hutchinson Trophy.The four Semi Finalists with Competitions Secretary Rob Burroughs sitting or standing behind Jeff Hutchinson’s bench. Back from left: Paul Beer & Steve Faulkner. Front from left: Dave Price & Ian Gaut.
Quarter Finals:
Ian Gaut from 3-2 up on Pete Spragg went 10-2 and 16-3 ahead and won 5.
Steve Faulkner was 6-1 up on Roy Bradburn and then 11-6 ahead. Roy kept winning two ends to Steve’s one and went ahead at 19-18 up. But Steve got the three he needed.
Dave Price went 8-0 ahead of Graham Turner and then 14-3. Graham got back to 14-7 down but Dave ran out.
Paul Beer raced 11-3 up on Pat Minton but Pat with three runs of three ends got back to 17-16 down. But Paul ran out.
2nd Round:
Pete Spragg raced 13-0 up on Les Pritchard and won 6.
Ian Gaut went 11-3 up on Des Connelly and won 9.
Steve Faulkner was 12-8 ahead of John Clarke but then went 18-13 down. He won the block back and then ran out.
Roy Bradburn went 6-0 up on Allan Gaut but Allan got back to trail 10-9. However Roy ran out.
Graham Turner from 6-1 down on Louise Cotton went 7-6 up and then 17-12 up from 12-11 down. Louise got back to 17-16 down but Graham ran out.
Dave Price went 16-9 up on Kevin Edwards but Kevin got back to 16-13 however Dave won 16.
Paul Beer from 4 across went 10-4 and then 19-8 up to win 10.
Pat Minton was 10-8 down on Keith Pessall but then went 18-11 up. Keith got back to 18-16 down but Pat ran out.
1st Round:
Pete Spragg raced 12-2 up on Dave James but Dave got back to 15-11, however Pete ran out.
Les Pritchard from 9-5 up on Bill Grainger ran out.
Ian Gaut went 7-2 up on Graham Bleakley and then extended this to 16-9. However Graham got back to be 19-18 down but Ian got the two he needed.
Des Connelly was 11-10 down on Sue Connelly but only conceded one more.
Allan Gaut was 12-8 down on Pauline Wilson but then ran out.
Roy Bradburn was 3-0 down on John Kenworthy but then 12-3 up and won 8.
John Clarke was 12-5 down on Helen Clee but got back to 15-13 down and then ran out.
Steve Faulkner was 6-1 down on Mick Fudge but then 8-6 up. From 15-13 up he ran out.
Louise Cotton went 8-1 up on Phil Atkins and won 6.
Dave Price went 18-0 up on Tony Roche and won 4.
Kevin Edwards was 15-2 up on Dave Wall and despite Dave getting back to 16-10 down he ran out.
Paul Beer raced 18-0 up on Dave Evans and won 1.
Steve Corbett was only 11-10 up on Ian Edwards but then won 13.
Keith Pessall was 9-0 down on Mirjana Gaut but then went 14-9 up. From 14-12 up he won 14.
Pat Minton from 6-5 down on Jan Minton went 14-6 up. Jan got back to be 16-13 down but Pat pushed on to win 15.
Two Madeley CC bowlers qualified including former winner Les Mumford, who beat Steve Bishton and Paul Reeves 12, and Chris Lodge who got past Rob Steventon and Akeel Duncan 8. Rob Clarke got through after getting past Nick Marshall, John Lawrence and Pete Millington 19. Carleen Doody-Millington was the other qualifier, beating John Clarke and Mark Doodson 1.
Former winners Stuart Church and Paul Beer qualified. Stuart beat Simon Hall 16 and Steve Downs 14, while Paul defeated Graham Bleakley 2 and Tony Roche 20. Stuart’s son Harry got through, the Division One Averages winner beating Dean Heighway 17 and Ian Sturdy 10. Paul’s team mate John Davies got through by beating Darren Lord 15 and David James 16.
Former winner Roy Bradburn got through by beating Ann Rawlins and Lisa Pessall 9. Hadley USC duo Nick Mullinder and Dave Price qualified after defeating Helen Clee 1 & Jordan Millman 15 and Pete Spragg 4 & Matt Rhodes 20 respectively. Simon Madeley was the other qualifier, the new Sinclair bowler beating Georgia Rawlins 6 and Al Jarvis 16.
Current champion John Breeze got through after beating Richard Scane 6 and Chris Gill 16. Darrell Handley qualified for the first time by beating Karen Smith 15 and Dave Wall 3. Former finalist Kate Wainwright got through by beating James O’Hara 7 and Shavourne Osbourne 10, with Sian Skelton the other qualifier after she beat Broseley pair Kevin Carter 11 and Matt Pritchard 20.
Well done to all 16 qualifiers. The finals day draw will be released tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. on here. A venue will be sorted by the end of the week all being well. It will most likely be on an one green venue with 5 blocks going on as there isn’t a suitable 2 green venue available.
77 players aim for the 16 qualifying spaces across four venues tonight starting at 6.30 p.m.
Last year’s winner John Breeze is in the field again as he looks to defend his title. Sinclair have the most entries in the competition with 16 which features previous Division One Averages winner Harry Church, former Merit winner Stuart Church, and Over 60s Merit Champion Pete Spragg, as well as recent Under 25 Merit winner Jordan Millman and Under 18 Merit Champion Dan Corbett. Former winners Paul Reeves, Les Mumford, Roy Bradburn and Paul Beer all take part as they aim to win it for a second time. Shfinal also have a large number entered as Staffordshire players Darrell Handley and Tim Benton enter for the first time, as well as the returning Rob Steventon. There are several women looking to become the first lady winner of this competition including Isle of Man winner Helen Clee and recent Bayley Mixed Double winner Lisa Pessall.
Scratch time is 6.30 p.m. and no dress code applies.
Thank you to all four people who are running tonight’s sessions, it is much appreciated!
The deadline for the entries to the Ashton Cup is end of this Friday.
The list of entries is below, we have 20 so far, the same as last season.
Entry costs £10.
Teams who lose their first match go into the Ashton Shield.
The dates for the competition are below.
Ashton Cup (Entries by 17th May)
Prelim 5th June
Last 16 26th June
Last 8 24th July
Last 4 21st August
Final 31st August
Ashton Shield
Prelim 10th July
Last 8 24th July
Last 4 21st August
Final 31st August
Allscott Heath C Allscott Heath E Bowring C Bylet B Donn Wood B Donn Wood C H U S C C Highley Horsehay B Madeley CC C Much Wenlock B Newport D Shifnal C Shifnal D Sinclair C St Georges C St Georges D SJ Bayley C SJ Bayley D Trench C
The deadline for the Harris Cup is in one week’s time on Friday 17th May.
Any team affiliated to the SCGBA can enter this competition.
It is a 5 home 5 away competition until the final, which is all played on a neutral green.
It is handicapped according to last season’s league postition, with Premier teams starting off at least -15 and then adding one point more to the handicap for each league position until a maximum -28 for the winners of the league.
The teams from the Mid Shropshire League start from scratch for the Division One Winners going up one point for each league placing.
Anyone entering outside of these two leagues will start off scratch if they are a division one side.
Any non Premier League team losing their first game can also enter into the Harris Shield competition.
It costs just £10 to enter each competition.
The round dates are as follows.
Harris Cup (Entries by 17th May)
Prelim 19th June (this can be moved if teams have players in the Isle of Man June Festival)
Last 16 10th July
Last 8 14th August
Last 4 28th August
Final 14th September
Harris Shield (Confirmation of Entries by 17th July)
Prelim 31st July
Last 8 14th August
Last 4 28th August
Final 14th September
Please let Rob Burroughs know on 07901 229623 or by email to [email protected] by end of Friday 17th May if you wish to enter your team.
The entries so far are below:
Adderley(P) Allscott Heath A Bowring A Bylet(P) Charlton A H U S C A Highley(P) Horsehay A Horsehay(P) Madeley C C A Newport A Shifnal A Shifnal B Sinclair A Sir J Bayley(P) SJ Bayley A Trench A Wem U S C(P) Worfield A Wrock Wood A Wrock Wood B Wrockwardine Wood(P)
The deadline for the 2024 Senior Merit is end of tomorrow.
So far I have 60 entries, which are listed below. Please let me know if I have missed you off as I may well have done so.
The qualifiers are on Friday 17th May with the final 16 on Friday 28th June at a two green venue, both starting at 6.30 p.m.
Entry costs £5 and will be invoiced at the end of the season.
Please let Rob Burroughs know on 07901 229623 if you would like to enter.
You must have played two games in the league this season or 6 games last season (in any division or night) to be eligible, and not in the registered 12 of your Premier League team (for Bylet, Highley, Horsehay, St Georges, Sir John Bayley and Wrockwardine Wood).
The fields and greens will be released by Sunday evening on here.
