BEN CLAIMS A THRILLING WIN
LLANELLI and District Bowling League held the final rounds of their three Singles competitions at Old Road.
Spectators were treated to an excellent display of bowling by the six competitors.
In the Under-35 tournament, they witnessed a 27-end thriller between 2019 champion Ben Torlop of New Lodge and 34-year-old Ross Davies of Ammanford Park, who was playing in the competition for the first time.
Torlop took an early lead, but Davies fought back over the second half of the contest to level the scores at 15-15 after 22 ends.
However, Torlop regained the lead by taking shots on four of the last five ends to win.
Two former winners took each other on in the Over-50 competition. Rob Hughes of Havelock Park, the 2019 champion, was up against the competition’s biggest finalist in Phil Jones of Brynhyfryd, who was making his seventh appearance in the final. He had won it on three previous occasions and was seeking a fourth success to hold the league record outright.
It was, however, Hughes who took a big early lead and despite a spirited attempt by Jones to recover the situation, the Havelock player showed greater consistency to take the title.
The blue riband is the Champions All for the David Thomas Cup, played during the season by club champions and league qualifiers. Parc y Dre’s Dan Barnett was playing Mark Watkins of Graig Merthyr.
At the mid-point the scores were relatively close and were level after 12 ends of play.
With Watkins sneaking ahead on the 13th, Barnett pulled out four consecutive winning ends totalling nine shots and, needing just two for victory, he restricted Watkins to a few singles over the final five ends.
In league matters, Graig Merthyr temporarily reached the top of the Premier division on Monday with a home win against Loughor – only to see Loughor retake the position on Saturday as Graig had no game. Burry Port became the first side this season to suffer relegation, having failed to win any of their 13 matches to date.
They will return to division one next year and will be joined by any one of the six teams above them, who are separated by just six points.
At the top of division one, Dafen Welfare’s wins against Carmarthen and Parc William leaves them needing a final victory at Gorseinon on Saturday to be sure of promotion next year. Otherwise they will have to wait and see if Carmarthen and Tybie overtake them.
Cross Hands are already guaranteed promotion from division two and are likely to be joined by Cwmaman, who need just one of the 14 available points in their home match against Blue Anchor this weekend to take the remaining promotion place.
RESULTS LLANELLI & DISTRICT LEAGUE COMPETITION FINALS
Harold Williams Under-35 Singles: Ben Torlop (New Lodge) 21-16 Ross Davies (Ammanford Park).
David Richards Over-50 Singles: Rob Hughes (Havelock Park) 21-9 Phil Jones (Brynhyfryd).
Champions All (David Thomas Cup): Dan Barnett (Parc y Dre) 21-15 Mark Watkins (Graig Merthyr}.
Premier division: Graig Merthyr 74 (13)-(1) 58 Loughor; Brynhyfryd 78 (6)-(8) 84 Ammanford Park; Loughor 89 (12)-(2) 75 Havelock Park; Kidwelly Town 91 (12)-(2) 69 Burry Port.
Division one: Dafen Welfare 70 (12)-(2) 57 Carmarthen; Calsonic Wanderers 72 (10)-(4) 62 Gorseinon; Carmarthen 105 (14)-(0) 53 Crusaders; Gowerton 101 (14)-(0) 45 Ty’rfran; Dafen Welfare 86 (10)-(4) 65 Parc William.
Division two: Pontarddulais 62 (2)(12) 82 Cwmaman; Ammanford
Town 85 (12)-(2) 51 Llandeilo; Llangennech & Bryn 72 (2)-(12) 82 New Lodge; Cross Hands 106 (14)-(0) 62 Blue Anchor.
SATURDAY FIXTURES
Premier division: Brynhyfryd v Loughor; Graig Merthyr v Burry Port; Ammanford Park v Kidwelly Town; Havelock Park v Parc y Dre.
Division one: Gorseinon v Dafen
Welfare; Carmarthen v Parc William; Tybie v Ty’rfran; Crusaders v Gowerton.
Division two: Cwmaman v Blue Anchor; Llandeilo v Llangennech & Bryn.
SUNDAY FIXTURES
Premier division: Ammanford Park v Graig Merthyr; Brynhyfryd v Havelock Park (resumed).