The weekend of 15th and 16th March played host to the final County Championships of the season with the County Triples and County Fours taking place at Ross Bowling Club. Over 70 bowlers took part across the two days with Ross and Woolhope once again asserting their dominance in those formats as teams lead by Ian Roe and Bryan Watkins fought it out in both finals.
Saturday 15th March saw thirteen teams battling it out for the County Triples Championship. The round robin stage saw a group of four and three groups of three drawn with the top two in each group progressing to the quarter final stage. As is becoming a regular occurrence, the group stages produced some incredibly close bowling with eight teams from five clubs making it through to the knockouts.
By the semi final stage two members of the defending champions, Woolhope’s Shirley Cox and John Mills- this year joined by Bryan Watkins- were looking to defend their crown as they took on one of two Ross teams remaining in the competition made up of Sue Dix, Linda Lewis and Les Williams. A blistering start for the Woolhope team saw them enter a 9-0 lead by the fourth end, taking firm control of the match. In spite of a 2 for their opponents on the fifth end, the Woolhope triple limited them to only one more shot as they ran out 14-3 winners and booked their place in the final. The second semi final saw last year’s losing finalist Ian Roe, this year joined by Dave Andrews and Dave Watkins, taking on the Gorsley Chapel trio of Liam Chester, Sophie Heather-Warner and Joe loveys. A nip and tuck start saw Gorsley hold a slender 3-2 lead by the halfway stage. However, three twos for Ross over the following four ends put them 8-4 in front, leaving Gorsley requiring a four to take the game to an extra end. In spite of Loveys killing the jack to restart the end, Gorsley could only secure a single with the game finishing 8-5 to make it a Woolhope vs Ross final for the second year running.
As history has shown a Ross vs Woolhope final rarely fails to live up to expectations and in this case it defied them as Ross overturned an early 2-0 deficit, with a combination of accurate drawing and firing seeing them into an 8-2 lead by the sixth end. In spite of a single for Woolhope on the seventh, Ross retained control to see out a 10-3 victory as Andrews, Watkins and Roe brought the Norman Davies Shield back to Ross BC for the first time since 2022.
Day Two of competition saw twelve teams taking part in the County Fours. Drawn into four groups of three, the top two teams once again progressed into the quarter finals. A competitive group stage once again unfolded and commiserations must go to Peter Lewis’ Fownhope team who lost out on a place in the quarter finals by one end, drawing level with Claire Herbert’s Ross rink on points and shots difference, with Claire progressing on 10 ends won as opposed to Peter’s 9.
A familiar story was emerging by the semi finals with two Ross teams skipped by Les Williams and Ian Roe facing off in semi final one. They were joined by Bryan Watkins’ Woolhope rink who took on Andy Biggs’ Llangarron team in semi final two. The battle of the Ross rinks saw three defending champions in Linda Lewis, Peter Wright & Ian Roe, this year joined by Dave Andrews at lead, race into an early 7-1 lead after four ends against Sue Dix, Gary Peachey, Dave Watkins & Les Williams. A two on the fifth end looked to breathe life back into the Williams foursome before Roe’s side hit back, reducing their opponents to two singles from the final two ends to take a 9-5 victory and make it two finals in two days for Roe & Andrews. The second semi final followed a similar story as three of the previous day’s runners up were joined by Dawn Cox as they looked to take revenge, themselves racing into an early lead against the Llangarron four of Glenys Biggs, Ruth Davis, Tudor Evans and Andy Biggs. In spite of being 6-0 down after two ends, a Llangarron comeback saw them reduce the deficit to 6-3. However, this was as good as it got for Biggs and Co as Woolhope stepped up a gear to take a two on each of the final three ends to setup a rematch with Roe with a 12-3 victory.
With the Woolhope team keen to take revenge on Ross for the previous day’s defeat, the narrative was always going to be the true winner regardless of whoever took victory in the match! Unlike the final of the triples just 24 hours before, neither side could quite take control of the match. Just as the Ross rink looked to have established some breathing space having held a 6-2 lead going into the sixth, a crucial three for Woolhope looked to shift the momentum, with a single on the seventh end putting the scores at 6-6 heading into the last. At this stage, the thought of trailing the jack into the ditch with your first wood to make it impossible for your opponent to beat has crossed many a bowlers mind. To actually attempt and succeed in doing so at such a crucial point of the game is something that only the best of the best could achieve and John Mills of Woolhope firmly placed himself in that category with an inch perfect shot trailing the jack into an unbeatable position, sealing victory and crowning Woolhope the 2025 County Fours Champions in dramatic fashion.
The HSMBA’s thanks goes to Becci Cox for organising and Joe Loveys for running the day as well as all those who helped out throughout. Thanks goes to everyone who entered and the association now looks forward to the final few events of the year with the Winter League reaching its closing stages, County Trials on 29th March and the LEH final on 2nd April.