Ormskirk Bowling Club

End of season renovation work will be carried out on both greens and the surrounds on Saturday 25th or Sunday 26^th September, weather permitting.

Both greens will be closed on those days, this will allow Eric to spray the artificial on whichever is the best day. The artificial green will be open again on Monday 27^th, and the grass green will remain closed until next season.

Further details will be released next week, but it would be extremely helpful if as many members as possible come down to help. This could be with the main green renovation work, tidying up the surrounds with secateurs, or just helping to tidy up the clubhouse and getting drinks for the heavy labourers.

Ken Pike’s funeral is to be held tomorrow at 12 noon at West Lancashire Crematorium (Wednesday 8th September 2021). Details can be found at https://funeral-notices.co.uk/north%20west-lancashire-skelmersdale/death-notices/notice/pike/4972022?photo=start

The Club is sad to announce that it has just been informed of the death of Ken ‘Predator’ Pike, who played at the Windmill with several players from our Club. Ken was a very funny man who could both intentionally or unintentionally (no-one was ever quite sure) make you laugh out loud, and he always had a mischievous grin on his face. One such instance was asking Steve James, just after he joined the Windmill, “How old are your grandchildren Steve?”! The green often rang to the cries of Dads Army or fishing jokes (“Reel him in Pike”) when Ken was on the green.

Never the best on the green, but a steady bowler, Ken had to give up bowling after bad health just before Ormskirk BC was formed so never was able to play on our greens. The game has lost one of its characters, RIP Ken.

A fantastic Autumn Pairs competition today saw 15 pairs battling it out, with Ian Mayne and Pat Gaskin ultimately taking the title in a tight final against Peter Bailey & Paul Morley.

The sun shone on the righteous as a mix of experienced and learner bowlers took to the greens. The pairs were split into three groups of five, playing 6 ends against each other in a round robin. In Group A things were fairly tight. Steve James & John Gaskin ground out some close games, as did Mike Fagan & Steve Brookfield. However, it was Ian Mayne & Pat Gaskin (one of our new bowlers) who came through scoring 28 points, with Ted Baker & Barbara Davies (another newbie) close behind in second on 26 points. Dave Hulse & Richard Sutton finished with the wooden spoon on 15 points.

Group B was a little more straightforward, with Peter Bailey & Paul Morley streaking to the top of the table with an impressive 36 points, and Marg Copeland & Dave Allister coming second on 25. Wooden spoons went to Ian Gill & Anne Johnson and John Leadbetter & Dave Roper who could only get 13 points each.

Finally in Group C late arrivals Dave & Bev Sumner won the Group with 24 points, Chris Horsfall & Ian Prescott coming second with 20 points. Wooden spoons in this Group, with 11 points apiece, went to Aaron ‘Professional Yorkshireman’ Backhouse & Les Farrell, and Martin Roberts & Tim Walsh.

By the narrowest of margins Ted & Barbara went through on points scored to set up two intriguing semi finals, both of which were 6 ends each again. In the first on the artificial it was quite a close affair with Ian & Pat beating Dave & Bev 6-4. The other semi, played on the grass, was slightly more one sided with Peter & Paul overcoming Ted & Paul 11-2.

On to the final, and Peter & Paul chose the grass on winning the toss, and having played their semi on there were the bookies favourites. However, some resolute bowling from Ian & Pat saw them win a close tight final by 4-2, only singles being scored on each end. They were worthy champions of the Autumn Pairs with some great bowling. Some more pictures of the day will follow.

Just a reminder to club members that the Autumn Pairs competition will be held for all members this coming Sunday at 1pm. Please arrive by 12.45 so the draw can be done promptly. This competition is open to all members of whatever ability, with all new bowlers being paired with a more experienced bowler where possible. We look forward to seeing you there.

The above competition is open to all members and pairs will be drawn from a hat on the day. Please just turn up if you want to play.

Ormskirk Castle went out on a high on Wednesday night, beating one of our other teams, Ormskirk Phoenix, and becoming the Aughton League 2nd Division league champions for 2021.

At the start of the match Ormskirk Castle were on 83 point with the Phoenix on 77  needing at least 3 points so they couldn’t be beaten, slowly the first four who had all lost points at the start of their games started to catch up and eventually winning. The league was in the bag, but it didn’t stop there, Marylyn Lea played Karen Jones, who played out of her skin and was giving Marylyn a tough time, but again Marylyn came through. Dave Hulse and Stu Lewis turned in a good result, with Stu coming up against a very strong  player (Frank Dixon) for the Phoenix, but he plodded on and came with another good result. The last player for Ormskirk Castle, Dave Allister, was up against  Aaron Backhouse whose striking was superb, when Dave was nearest the block, not only taking out Dave’s lead but also taking the point and going on to win.

This result pushed the Phoenix down to third, despite being on equal points to Tute A they had a slightly worse points difference. The other Ormskirk Team finished a creditable fifth after beating Saracens 6-4 on the artificial on the same evening. The final league table is set out below.

In a nice gesture all three Captains provided food and drinks for everybody at the green as it was the final matches of the season, as a thank you to all the players for their support over the season, although unfortunately the weather turned bad with very fine rain which put a dampener on things.

In terms of the averages for the Division it was great to see three players from our club in the top 5, with ‘Magic’ Marg Copeland finishing top, Dave Hulse second and Steve Denning in fifth It was also notable that one of our youngest players, Andrew Arnold, finished in 11th place in the league averages after having a great season.

There was a superb turnout of 34 bowlers for this afternoon’s Roy Ashcroft Memorial Trophy competition. This included a good number of our newer bowlers. The bowlers were divided into pairs and then into three groups. Group A saw 6 pairs doing battle and there were some very tight games. Up to the last set of games Ian Gill & Peter Grimes had won all their games but young Aaron Backhouse & Dave Arnold had only lost one so if they could defeat them in the last game then it would go down to points difference, with Dave Hulse & Ian Prescott also just needing one more victory on their last game to stand a chance of getting through. In a very tight game it was 5-5 going into the last end but Aaron’s Yorkshire nerve just let him down and Peter & Ian took the last end by one point to win the match. Dave Hulse & Ian Prescott also lost their nerve in the last game and lost to Keith Knaggs & Mike Fagan Snr in a surprise upset.

Group B saw some further close games. Both Hannah & Ian Jones and Dave Roper & Ed Lyon had won all their games going into the final set of matches and in the ‘big showdown’ last match were playing each other. In the end Hannah & Ian made short work of it running out 12-0 to take the group. Earlier on they had been run close by Dave Leadbetter & Brian Johnstone who came close but narrowly lost 5-4.

Finally in Group C there were only 5 pairs, and the formidable pairings of Mike Fagan Jnr & Marg Copeland met Martin Roberts & Marilyn Lea in the first game, with Martin & Marilyn taking first blood, winning 11-2. Martin & Marilyn went on to win three games in total and drew one, which was just enough to pip Marg & Mike, who won three and lost one.

With the top pairings going through to the semi finals the best runners up from each group were put in a draw and it was Marg & Mike that were the fortunate pair to be drawn to take part in the semis.

The first semi was between Ian Gill & Peter Grimes against Hannah & Ian Jones on the grass green. A very close game went right down to the final end, with Ian & Peter just coming out on top 5-4. The second semi saw a rematch between Mike Fagan Jnr & Marg Copeland against Martin Roberts & Marilyn Lea on the artificial green. This was also a very close match with Mike & Marg getting their revenge and winning 7-6.

So, onto the final and in the end it was a bit of a one sided affair with Marg & Mike running out 8-2 winners with one end to spare, with both players playing superbly and not giving Ian & Peter an inch. So the winners of the 2021 Roy Ashcroft Memorial Trophy were Margaret Copeland & Mike Fagan, who not only scooped the trophy but £40 in prize money.

The main winner though was the bowling, with it being great to see both experienced players and beginners having such a great time. One of our newer players commented that it had been the best day she had had in 2 years, which was fantastic to hear.

Some pictures from the Roy Ashcroft Memorial Competition held today. A full report will follow.