IT was back in 2001 when Jason Cornes collected his second Roberts Bakery Cup title and few in Mid Cheshire would have predicted that the Castle Sports player would have a 21-year wait to add to his title tally, writes David O'Brien.

But at Crosstown BC Cornes finally got his hands back on the trophy with a 21-18 victory over Danny Moores of Comberbach, and with it collected the Keith Birkett Memorial Trophy and the winner’s cheque for £400.

Cornes started his bid for his third title with a 21-12 win over his Castle teammate Steven Morrey in the quarter finals.

In the semi-finals Cornes came up against Danny Nixon, another former winner, and won a close encounter 21-18.

In the opposite side of the draw Danny Moores started his quest for the title with a 21-10 defeat of John Gurney.

Moores then came up against his fellow Comberbach player James Eaton. A 21-17 victory against Eaton saw Moores progress to the final but he was unable to stop Cornes' march to the title but had the consolation of receiving the runners-up prize of £250.

The 2022 competition marked a 44-year association between Roberts Bakery and the Mid Cheshire Bowls League.

Castle Sports hosts their final day of the Castle Classic competition on Saturday when a top-class field will be competing to take home the winner’s cheque of £1000. Play gets underway at 4pm and there will be a barbecue and bookmaker in attendance.

Local interest in the competition starts from the very first game in which former winner Glynn Cookson takes on Ben Harris from Birmingham.

Cookson’s teammates from Winsford Cons Danny Nixon and Tom Vickers face Anthony Walker and Chris Ashton, respectively.

The full draw for the finals day is Glynn Cookson v Ben Harris, Matty Gilmore v Marc Daugherty, Dan Nixon v Anthony Walker, Kris Fearnley v Damian Morrison, Dan Sillitoe v Gareth Coates, Greg Smith v Rich Goddard, Tom Vickers v Chris Ashton, Wayne Ditchfield v Simon Hargreaves.

In the Brunner Cup on Saturday the current holders Castle Sports eased into the semi-finals recording 12 winners against Heswall RBL.

They progress to face Houldsworth WMC who they defeated in last year's final.

Wharton Cons also progressed to the semi-finals stage with a comfortable 229-191 defeat of Manor Road. They will face Lloyds Hotel in the semi-finals, with games due to take place on Saturday, August 13.

The Mid Cheshire Federation team take on South Lancs on Sunday in what will be their last and defining game of the 2022 campaign, whilst they currently sit at the top of the Division 3 table they have played one more game than South Lancs and only have an 8-point lead over the team from Wigan. With two teams being promoted from the division Mid Cheshire will be looking for a positive result on Sunday. They will then have to wait on the results from the final round games played on August 21st when East Lancs, the other team bidding for promotion, face Ormskirk in their final game. Mid Cheshire have chosen Meadowbank BC for this vital fixture and the home team selected is Lester Bebbington, Kevin Duncalf, Nick Hamman, Steve Baskerville, Phil Scott, Paul Henin (all Castle Sports), Andy Gregory, Jon Gurney (Comberbach) Glyn Walton (Rudheath) Joe Tomkinson (Owley Wood) & Paul Drinkwater & James Gurney selected from Meadowbank. Play gets underway at 2pm.