A hotly contested Summer League final ended in heartbreak for The Lea who finished with the runners up trophy for the third consecutive year as the joint “Woolmartins”(Woolhope/St Martin’s) team clinched a 6-4 (41-36) victory in a match that could have gone either way.
A well-attended Upton Bishop Village Hall played host to what promised to be an intriguing matchup between a Lea side whose strong consistency in recent Summer League seasons led them to their fourth consecutive final as they looked to put consecutive losses to Gorsley Chapel Oaks behind them to reclaim the trophy they last won in 2022. Meanwhile, the combined Woolmartins team hoped to become the first joint team to win the competition, with the Woolhope half of the team holding some pedigree having won the league in 2014, 2015 & 2017.
The first half saw a blockbuster singles contest between two of the County’s top players as John Mills took on Merion Attwood whilst Steve Crisp, Pete Goulding, Bryan Watkins & Phil Ladd took on Adrian James, John Lane, Terry Griffiths & Steve Kite in the fours. In the singles, Attwood took advantage of a slow start from Mills to race into an 8-1 lead by the sixth end. A momentum shift in favour of Mills saw him win four out of the following five ends to take a 10-9 lead two thirds of the way through the contest. As both players continued to spar, it was Attwood who took his chance, securing a maximum 4 on the thirteenth end to go 14-11 up and ultimately do enough to secure victory with both players trading singles in the final two ends to finish 15-12 to The Lea. By contrast, the fours saw Woolmartins race into an early lead that ultimately proved to be too much for the Lea to overturn. Holding a 6-2 lead at the halfway stage, the Woolmartins rink limited their opponents to singles without landing a killer blow as they ran out with an 8-4 win, putting the scores at 2-2 with Woolmartins holding a 1 shot lead at the halfway stage.
With the first half having lived up to expectations, both sides knew a balance of risk and reward would be needed to clinch the title. In the pairs, Carole Crisp & John Mills of Woolmartins took on Adrian James & Steve Kite whilst Keith Jones, Kim Wooden & Phil Ladd faced John and Sheila Clapson & Merion Attwood. A strong start for James & Kite saw them hold a 9-4 lead at the halfway stage whilst a cagey opening half in the triples saw Lea take a three on the fifth end to hold a 5-2 lead, theoretically putting them 7 shots up overall and on course for an 8-2 win. However, all was not lost for Woolmartins and as both teams battled hard in the triples, it was the pairs that ultimately turned the tide with Crisp & Mills picking up 11 shots to The Lea’s 1 over the second half of the game to win 15-10, putting Woolhope 4-2 up with a 6 shot lead. Whilst unable to repeat the heroics of their teammates, the Woolmartins triple knew that damage limitation would see them take the title with only 6 shots scored overall in the second half of the game to see Lea take a 7-6 victory, ultimately falling short of the 7 shots required to overturn the overall result as Woolmartins took the title with a 6-4 (41-36) win.
Congratulations go to Woolmartins on their victory with commiserations to The Lea who once again fought incredibly hard to make it a fantastic final. Many thanks to Ian Roe for running the competition and the final as well as all those who took part throughout the Summer and those who attended the final.
With the 2024-25 season now finished, the HSMBA looks forward to Presentation Evening on Saturday 27th September before the 2025-26 commences in October.