Hutchinson saves the day for Lights in fightback win
IT WAS an exciting morning in Division One of the Wednesday Fours at Halifax Bowling Club.
Unbeaten Northern Lights (Les Holmes, Mick Walker, John Beverley, Michael Hutchinson) found themselves trailing Hard Liners (Keith Owens, Joe Phillips, Peter Owen, Tony James) 10-3 in a game they had dominated thanks to the superb play of Peter Owen.
However, when Northern Lights eventually won the jack, Holmes, one of the league’s top lead players took the mat up the rink and bowled a 24 metre mark. His team responded with a four to cut the lead back to 10-7.
Holmes continued with his short mark before Hard Liners skip James ran the jack to again take control of the game.
The scores were level at 12 shots each at the start of the last end before Lights skip Hutchinson saved the day with an excellent jack high bowl to score a single and take the game 13-12.
Vixens (David Wood, Geoff Normanton, Trevor Heley, Mick Carter) gained a coveted Hot Shots award in their game against Knockelly Stars (P Dunderdale, W Burnett, I Wade, Derek Squires) when they won 23-3.
The award goes to a team that scores the maximum number of shots at one end and Vixens scored an eight at the second end of their game.
Award winners receive a certificate signed by indoor bowling legend Tony Allcock, a Hot Shots badge and stickers.
Illingworth (Marian Quick, Ken Sharkey, Stuart Baker, David Laycock) and Endeavour (John Hamer, Pam Robinson, Jimmy Bainbridge, Barbara Gee) played out a close fought game with the jack getting moved at several ends and the spot coming into play on several ends.
The spot is brought into play when the jack is knocked off the edge of the rink.
Gee, the skip for Endeavour, twice did this but each time her team failed to score as Illingworth had bowls positioned near the spot.
Illingworth eventually ran out 12-5 winners, leaving Endeavour in a relegation spot along with Beta Blockers.
There was a surprise in the Wednesday Evening Fours when a superb team performance by Gapp (Danny Leather, Ann Robinson, Pat Grant, Peter Grant) saw them beat high flying Clayton (Tony Riley, Mel Fielding, Paul Kaye, Paul Gill) 14-10.
Gapp got off to a 4-3 lead before Clayton registered a five to take a 9-4 advantage. Gapp however were not fazed and excellent leads by Danny Leather, well supported by Ann Robinson saw them pull back to nine shots each.
Clayton then scored a single to take a 10-9 lead before a determined effort by Gapp saw them score a three with great bowling by both Pat and Peter Grant.
Gapp finished off the game with a two for Gapp to run out 14-10 winners. The star of the game was Ann Robinson who was congratulated on her play by the other bowlers.
Untouchables (Dave Brown, Alan Horbury, Mick Calvert) registered their first win in Division One of the Friday Triples and they were indebted to a superb performance by skip Calvert as they beat Rabbits (Derek Finch, Lorraine Boulton, Con McGinley) 16-12.
In Division Two, Sutty’s Heroes (John Sutcliffe, Peter Atherton, Douggie Gordon) increased their lead at the top of the table as they beat second placed Bob’s Kingdom (Carol Onions, David Onions, Bob Kingdom) 14-10.
There is a Monday morning taster session running from 11am to noon for anyone wishing to try their hand at indoor bowling.
Social bowling runs from 11.30am to 1pm on Thursdays, 9.30am to 10.30am on Fridays and 2.30pm to 4pm on Saturdays for anyone who would like a game.
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