A Look Back In Time - 1st August 2007
Congratulations to the White Hart, Swindon who have won not only the men’s but also the ladies prestigious Bedworth Gateway Open competitions. In the men’s event the ‘A’ side won the final against the Volunteer from Peterborough 4-2, while the ladies lifted the crown with a close 4-3 verdict over the Air Balloon Tavern from Bristol. This is the first time in the long and illustrious history of the competition that the same pub or club have provided the men’s and women’s champions.
In the semi finals of the men’s event the champions beat Coventry Housing 5-2, while the Volunteer took out the Three Tuns from Banbury with a 4-3 result. Losing out in the last four of the ladies competition were the Rock Fountian (Shrewsbury) and the Plough Inn (Staffordshire) who lost in turn to White Hart and Air Balloon Tavern, both by 5-2 margins.
Entries for this years competitions are now being accepted and should be sent to Mr D.Wells, 6 Marshall Road, Exhall, Coventry, CV7 9BX together with the entry fee of £15.00. For any further information Mr Wells can be contacted on 02476-317040.
With a total of 157 points Trevor Frost has won the Brook Meadow Individual League title. Frost rounded off his campaign with a straight 3-0 win over Scott Austin, after conceding a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Robbie Earl. Runner up to Frost is last seasons champion Ian McFarlane who finished five points adrift of Frost after losing the last three fixtures to Colin Farrington, John Burdett and Dave Elliott all by 2-1, results in those games would have seen him retain his title.
With the main issue of the league title all done and dusted the singles and doubles competitions were next on the agenda. First the singles in which Ross Macken lifted the title with a final 7-5 victory over a former champion Robbie Earl. Macken was in tremendous form throughout, that no more evident than in the semi finals where he squared up to league champion Trevor Frost and beat him convincingly with a 6-1 verdict. There were no easy games for Macken as he began his route to the final with a 3-2 win over another previous league champion Mark Birch, then won 4-1 against Carl Winters and earned his last four spot with a 5-2 win against Jason Evans.
Frost made it a tremendous double when he added the doubles title to his league championship. Teaming up with Gordon Clinton the duo won the final against Dave Elliott and Jon Miley 6-3. The winners beat Ian McFarlane and Mark Elkin 5-4 in the semi’s, while the other losers in the last four were Colin Farrington and Jay Murray.
The new campaign has already got underway playing this season with a new format, no longer the best of three legs but now the best of four, giving player the opportunity to earn a draw should they fail to win. Reigning champion Trevor Frost got off to a good start by recording two 3-1 wins over Jason Evans and Jake Smith to put him in pole position with ten points. Frost’s nearest rival after the first round of matches is league newcomer Tony Cooke. Cooke, with 7x100, 140 and a 100finish earned a 2-2 draw with Gordon Clinton and then went on to beat fellow newcomer Clive Sadler 4-0.
In his 3-1 win over Matthew Gallett, Adam Gallett hit no fewer than three maximums. Other players to notch a 180 in the first week’s games were Jason Evans, Robbie Earl and Trevor Frost.
Still on the theme of champions Smethwick Labour Club are the next contenders as a 7-2 home win over the Raven assured them of the division one title in the Harborne and District League. Their nearest rivals, Midland Red also completed their fixture card with a 7-2 victory, in their away game against Bartley Green F.C. The win gave the Reds a slightly better average than the champions, but they had two points fewer. Another 7-2 result went in favour of third in the table George, their opponents Harborne Stores.
On the agenda for the Sheldon and District Winter League were the finals of their Denis Houlders Trophy. In the first semi final Brook Meadow ’A’ showed little mercy for their opponents Sheldon Heath Villans as they romped to a 5-0 victory. Surprisingly the second semi finished with the same scoreline as Mackadown Social, who ended the season in division one in fourth place accounted for the division’s runners up Small Heath Amateur Gardeners ’A’.
After one sided semi finals the result of the final was closer, but only just as Brook Meadow ’A’ with wins from Mark Birch, Robbie Earl, Dave Elliott and Carl Betteridge beat Mackadown Social 4-1, Mackadow winning the four a side part of the final.
The player of the final award was presented to Brook Meadow’s Dave Elliott.
The Small Heath League have been engaged in the semi finals of their League Cup and Upside Down Cup. First the League Cup in which Custard House beat Potcheen Still and the Mitre took out the Victoria 301 Club.
The final of the Upside Down Cup will be contested between Victoria Flights and the Emerald Club after Victoria Flights beat their local rivals The Victoria and Emerald Club accounted for Wagon and Horses.
The Emerald Club was the setting for a charity knockout organised by the Small Heath Dart League Charity Squad. Winning the inaugural event was Neil Parsonage , with Ian McLean taking the runners up spot. Losing semi finalists were Dennis Honey and John Young.
The Divisional Singles were on the fixture card for the Pip Club League. Taking the division one title with a final success over the Queens P.Sweet was Globe representative I.Turne. The Dolphin provided both losing semi finalists T.Wilkinson and B.Bird.
The division two contest appeared to be something of a family affair as S.Williams (Glascote Club) won the championship when he beat A.Williams in the final. Losing out in the last four were M.Williams, all from the Glascote Club and B.Hawksworth (Boot Inn).
The G.U.L.P. Charity League have been playing off their singles competition. The event was staged at four venues with the last two players going through to the grand finals later in the year. Winning through from the Bromford were R.McConnell and D.Jones while C.Stokes and J.Norris were the successful pair from the Victoria. C.Walsh and M.O’Sullivan went through from the Clock and to complete the last eight J.McCaffrey and J.Miley were the winners at Potcheen Still.
Finally Friday 22nd June was a very special day for my wife Sheila and myself as we became grandparents for the first time. We, together with our daughter Claire, would like to offer our congratulations to our son Clive and daughter in law Joanne on the birth of their gorgeous daughter Olivia Grace, who weighed in at 6lbs 14ozs. We wish her a very happy and healthy future.
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