Ormskirk Bowling Club

A big thanks to all who have been able to help over the last week or so.  the artificial green has now had the gutters cleared and it has been completely sprayed.  It will be ready for use again on Sunday.  If anyone is knocking around over the weekend feel free to start putting back the rubber pads in the gutter.

The grass green has been completely scarified and seeded and we are just awaiting some top dressing to put a light cover on the green. This work should make a big difference to the quality of the green next season if the seed takes successfully.

Special thanks to Eric Barklem who has gone above and beyond in arranging and doing the work, with several full days spent in back breaking work.

The Club held its first singles competition yesterday and there was a good turnout of 22 bowlers taking part , including some of our beginners and juniors.  Everyone was split into 5 groups with the winners and 3 best runners-up progressing to quarter finals.

Group A saw Ian Gill triumph in first place, with Brian Elliott, who also qualified, a close second.  Group B was a bit closer with Eric Barklem taking top spot and Jacky Denning second, with Chris Butler just missing out.  Group C saw Jack Denning, who had come out of retirement, drawing for top spot with Joey Copeland – Jack winning a sudden death 3 end play off to top the group, but Joey also qualified as a best runner up.

Group D was the ‘Group of Death’ with Dave Hulse, Steve Denning, Ted Baker and Dave Ball battling it out with newcomer Pauline Snelson.  It was tight to the end and with Dave only mustering a 11-10 win over Pauline this handed the aggregate to Steve Denning to win the Group and qualify.  Finally Group E saw ‘Marvelous Marg’ Copeland topping the Group ahead of Angie Barklem.

After what seemed an eternity we reached the quarter finals and due to the time these had to be shortened. Ian beat Margaret 7-4,  Joey beat Eric 7-5, Brian beat Jack 7-4 and finally, in the battle of the Dennings, Steve beat Jacky 7-2.

This set up some great Semis and Joey kept his nerve to edge past Ian 7-5, and Brian Elliott took out Steve Denning 7-4.

The final was played in the deepening gloom and it was Joey Copeland that took the first every Ormskirk BC Co-op Funeralcare Singles title by 9-3 against Brian to take the trophy and £30 in prize money, which was presented by Jan from the local Ormskirk Branch.  Their support has been much appreciated by the Club.

Some photos from the day are set out below – thanks to everyone that attended.  e should be able to get the timings a bit better for next year!!

Congratulations to Joey Copeland who won the Club’s first Co-op Funeralcare Singles, beating Brian Elliott in the final. A fuller report on the comp will appear soon.

Our Ormskirk Millers team won its final match 10-3 on Friday to finish (we think) 4th in the Premier League, which is quite an achievement in our first season in that league. Well done to all the players.

Check out this link to see a short slideshow about the development of our Club to date.  This might be improved in time as there were some issues with the resolution of the pictures.

http://www.kizoa.com/Movie-Video-Slideshow-Maker/d133977043k6674055o1l1/development-of-ormskirk-bowling-club

We saw some great weather and bowling for the Roy Ashcroft Memorial that was held today.  Following the round robin group stages the semi final were fairly one sided affairs.  Hot favorites, Mike Fagan & Chris Horsfall slumped to a 9-3 defeat against Margaret Copeland & Ian Gill, and Joey Copeland & Steve Denning overcame Dave Hulse & Chris Butler 9-2.

The final was an altogether more tense match, and was nip and tuck throughout until Margaret and Ian pulled away on the last end to take the match and the trophy by 11-8.  The trophy was presented by the Club’s Chairman, Steve James.

You may already be aware, but the Club’s new sign was put up earlier this week. Looks good.

There have been some alterations to Club Competition dates as set out below.  These will be updated on the calendar on this website.  Please note that the singles comp will now be held a week on Sunday (20th August).

A big thanks to all those that were able to help with the rolling, scarifying and mowing at the weekend. Special thanks to Eric for all the work he put into this day and the work he has already put in to getting our grass green in better shape.

Working hard on the grass green

Happiness is……….