Borough Bowling Club teams earn East Coast of Yorkshire Crown Green Bowling Association League title victories​

​In the penultimate set of matches two of the top three teams, Hunmanby A and Whitby, had won comfortably (11-2 and 10-3 respectively) while Borough A lost 9-3 at North Cliff. This was Whitby’s final match and they were in first position with 120 points. Borough A were in second place on 112 and Hunmanby were third on 110, both teams having to finish with away games.

Borough A managed a 10-3 win against Westgate A to finish top with 122 points with Hunmanby A, with an 11-2 win over Bridlington Bay A, had an agonisingly close finish in second on 121.

Whitby just missed out on the honours finishing with their 120 points.

The second division was very different with Hunmanby B having secured the top spot with at least three games to play and finished on 103 points. Eastfield came second with 87 points.

Borough’s A team in the Evening Singles first division won comfortably scoring 3151 points (both evening leagues are decided on aggregate scores) ahead of North Cliff A on 3058 points.

The second division was won by Westgate A with 3027 points ahead of Dukes Park B on 2930.

Borough A also won the single division Evening Doubles League finishing with 1553 points ahead of Hunmanby on 1514 points and Whitby on 1512 points.

Hunmanby A continued their dominance of the Over-60s Doubles League first division with 153 points well ahead of Dukes Park A on 109. Hunmanby B, who were relegated last year, won the second division with 117 points, 10 ahead of Bridlington Bay B on 107.

Promotion and relegation will be confirmed at the January meeting of the Association.

On Sunday Hunmanby hosted a Drawn Pairs Merit with an entry of 52 players from both local clubs and the usual visitors. The cool and rather misty conditions were ess than ideal but there was no rain and the green, while not quick, was running true. All games were played with 3 on the card.

As is usual the Drawn Pairs format threw up some interesting pairings. The first out of the hat looked like a strong pairing with Stuart Thompson (Pontefract) partnering Gary Thornton (Borough) and they duly won their first game against Ed McCormack (North Cliff) & Harry Old (Hunmanby) 21-19.

Another strong looking pairing was home bowler Phil Todd alongside Kevin Gates (Dukes Park) and they looked to be in ominous form by beating Geoff Watson (Whitby) & Pam Moment (North Cliff) 21-4.

In the second round the North Cliff/Whitby pairing of Robert Child & Sue Emmerson beat Borough’s Ronnie Noble & North Cliff’s Allison Roe21-17 while another North Cliff/Whitby duo, Adam Chilvers & Jo Leeman beat the all-North Cliff pair of Alan Lee & Judith Andrews 21-12.

Jackie Turner (Bridlington Bay) & Geoff Coleman (Whitby) went through to the quarter-finals with a 21-15 success against Graham Knott (Bridlington Bay) & Linda Armstrong (Castleford) and Thompson & Thornton joined then with a 21-18 win against Steve Dover (Whitby) & Brian Whitehouse (Dukes Park).

In the bottom half of the draw Todd & Gates had another decisive win, 21-7 this time, against the Whitby pairing of Tim Purcell & Emmo Emmerson and Kenny Rodgers (Whitby) & Kevin Garside (North Cliff) went through 21-17 against David Muir (Eastfield) & Jennie Allen (Hunmanby).

Geoff Oldham (Hunmanby) & Les Boyles (Dukes Park) eliminated Tony Chambers (Castleford) & Josh Emmerson (Whitby) 21-12 and the home pairing of Billy Holdsworth & Alan Kynaston finished the hopes of Sue Wilkinson (Borough) & Alan Landers 21-16.

In the first quarter final the North Cliff/Whitby combination that prevailed was Chilvers & Leeman winning 21-16 while Thompsom & Thornton had a relatively comfortable 21-11 win against turner & Coleman.

In the other half of the draw Todd & Gates were extended a bit more by Rodgers & Garside but won 21-12 with Holdsworth & Kynaston joining them with a 21-14 win against Oldham & Boyles. Thompson & Thornton won the first semi against Leeman & Chilvers 21-15 to set up a final against Todd & Gates who won 21-12 against Holdsworth & Kynaston.

The final swung one way and the other. After 7 ends Todd & Gates had established a lead of 10-7 which Thompson & Thornton pulled back to 11-10 after 10 ends.

Todd & Gates then won the next 3 ends to lead 15-10 only for Thompson & Thornton to register a full house of 4 to trail by only 1 at 15-14. Todd & Gates then won the next 3 ends to stand “all but” on 20-14. A score of 3 on the 18th end pulled Thompson & Thornton back to 20-17 down but a single on the next end was enough to see Todd & Gates over the line. The trophy was presented by Hunmanby’s Harry Old.

Next weekend there is again only one competition, the last Open Singles merit of the summer at Robin Hoods Bay.

The start time is 9.30am and anyone wanting to play must register beforehand as the draw will be made in advance.

The following weekend is of interest as on Saturday Whitby will be hosting the Junior Gambart Baines, The Roger Crowther Cup, for bowlers under the age of 18. The start time is 10am and the competition has attracted sponsorship of over £500 meaning the prize money will be substantial.