Castleford’s Harrap beats Oldham in Borough Singles Merit final
The penultimate Singles Merit of this winter season was held on Sunday at Borough.
In the slightly truncated first round the first game saw Sue Emmerson (Whitby) win 21-10 against Pauline Allison (Borough). an unfortunate draw saw Amanda Hagen (Alverthorpe) go down to another visitor, Darryl Harrap (Castleford), 21-14 while another visitor, Stuart Thompson (Pontefract), won 21-15 against Phil Todd (Hunmanby).
Ed McCormack won an all North Cliff against Allison Roe 21-15 to face Kenny Wale who won an all-Whitby game against Emmo Emmersn 21-8.
Emmo’s son Josh fought out a 21-17 win against Ian Richardson (North Cliff) only to have to face the in-form Alan Landers (North Cliff) who cruised through 21-10 against home bowler Ronnie Noble.
Geoff Oldham (Hunmanby) fought out a nail-biter to go through 21-20 against Kevin Gates (Dukes Park) to face Andy Webb (Alverthorpe) who beat David Knights (Sheffield) 21-15. Joyce Ellis (North Cliff) won comfortably, 21-10, against Keith Davis (Westgate) while Liam Massey (Castleford went a bit better winning 21-8 against James Arnold (Robin Hoods Bay).
Josh Thomas (Castleford) won 21-10, after an even start, against Caroline Watson (Borough) and Jo Leeman (Whitby) eliminated David Hill (North Cliff) 21-9.
Joyce Harland (Whitby) was pushed a bit harder before winning 21-12 against Mally Kay (North Cliff) but Ashley Brunton-Douglas continued the trend with a 21-8 win over Steve Dover (Whitby). Gary Thornton (Borough) disposed of Peter Harland (Whitby) 21-11 to face clubmate Barrie Watson who brushed Judith Andrews (North Cliff) aside 21-8.
Alan Lee (North Cliff) had a far tougher time being held to a 21-17 win by Sue Purcell (Whitby) while one of two junior bowlers, Connor Chilvers (North Cliff), put up a creditable performance in losing 21-14 to Bernard Chalk (Brid Bay).
Connor’s sister Leela (North Cliff) fought well but lost 21-7 to Tom Muckley (Hunmanby) while Shaughan Temple (Borough) won 21-15 against Tony Allen (Hunmanby). Larry Dixon (Westgate) had a fine 21-16 win against Tim Purcell (Whitby) and Chris Dobson beating Mary Kenworthy (Brid Bay) by the same score.
The second round started with Geoff Watson going through 21-17 against Scott Wardman (North Cliff) and David Muir (Eastfield) beating Ian Harland (Whitby) 21-16.
Adam Chilvers (North Cliff) won 21-15 against Tommy Roberts (Whitby) to face home bowler Brian Dalby who beat Denise Dobson (Dukes Park) 21-14. Jennie Allen also won 21-14 against Sue Emmerson while Harrap and Thompson fought out a 21-19 game with Harrap prevailing. Wale was pushed by McCormack but went through 21-17 while Landers was not troubled by Josh Emmerson winning 21-6.
Oldham and Webb had a close game, the local going through 21-18 to face Massey who had a comfortable 21-10 win against Ellis. Thomas was pressed by Leeman but won 21-17 to meet Brunton-Douglas who beat Joyce Harland 21-11. Barrie Watson was barely troubled by Borough clubmate Thornton in a 21-9 win and Lee eliminated Chalk 21-16. Temple won 21-9 against Muckley and Dobson ended Dixon’s hopes with a 21-13 win.
The third round started with two close games, Geoff Watson just managed a 21-19 win against Muir while Adam Chilvers was slightly less troubled in a 21-16 win over Dalby. Harrap had an easy 21-6 victory against Jennie Allen while Wale also a comfortable, and perhaps surprisingly so, against the in-form Landers by 21-11. Oldham also won comfortably , 21-12, against Massey to face Thomas who crushed Brunton-Douglas 21-8. Lee staged a comeback to beat Barrie Watson 21-20 while Chris Dobson won 21-16 against Temple.
Chilvers had a comfortable 21-10 win against Geoff Watson to face Harrap who won 21-16 against Wale while Oldham beat another visitor, Thomas, 21-14, also the score when Dobson ended Lee’s run. Chilvers lost 21-9 to Harrap who would face Oldham in the final after Oldham edged a 21-20 win against Dobson.
The final was something of a seesaw game as Harrap initially raced into a 12-6 lead by winning the first 4 ends before Oldham pulled it back to 17-15 after 12 ends. Harrap took the next 3 ends to win 21-15. The prizes were presented by Borough President Shaughan Temple.