Mid-Cheshire bowls news and results with trophies decided

WHARTON Cons came away with the Norman Cup on Saturday after beating Packhorse Bowling Club 196-170 at Grappenhall. Packhorse went into the game with a handicap of 20 whereas Wharton had zero.

On Saturday, Castle Sports A will travel to the Coronation Club to play Houldsworth WMC in the final of the Brunner Cup. It would be great to see Mid-Cheshire clubs win the two biggest county cups in 2024 and I’m sure they would love some support from the area.

In the Mid-Cheshire League, Castle Sports A stayed top of the Premier with an away win at Owley Wood. With only one loser, Castle won the match 201-139.

Wharton Cons in second slightly reduced the gap between them and Castle to 27 points with a 204-116 win at home to Rudheath A. With only four matches left in the season, this has every chance of going down to the last game.

Fourth-placed Crewe PO needed a good win against third-place Frodsham Red Lion A – Crewe did win the match 186-157 but with just four games left and a gap of 93 points, Crewe will need some good scores to go above Frodsham in their last four games.

In Section One, Shavington increased their lead at the top with a 210-86 win at home to Crosstown A.

Owley Wood B are still second despite a bad loss away at Comberbach. They only managed one winner in their 208-139.

Meadowbank, in third place, closed the gap on Owley Wood to just 26 points with a great 207-123 over Tarporley.

Section Two saw Barnton CC A regain top spot with a 188-158 win away at LK Graylams. Victoria are less than a hundred points behind with a game in hand.

Interestingly that game will be played on Thursday night against Barnton CC B – a chance for Barnton’s B team to do their club mates a favour.

Red Lion completed their unbeaten Division One season in the Mid-Cheshire Ladies League with a 116-154 victory away at Barnton A.

Castle lost away at Norley A 153-127 but took second spot while Winnington took third place with a 150-120 away win against Owley Wood.

In Division Two, Rudheath SSC won the division by one point over Barnton B while third-place Norley B managed to hold off the challenge of Bostock by two points.

The Team Knockout handicap was won by Winnington ladies 147-133 against Barnton A.

Winnington A won their semi-final game against Lady Owls 176-143. Barnton handed Red Lion their only defeat of the season in the quarter-finals and continued that on beating Norley A 148-140. Both semi-finals and the final were played at Castle Sports.

Winnington celebrate winning the Mid-Cheshire Ladies Team Knockout competition (Image: Contributed)

A little bit further from our normal Mid-Cheshire coverage but worthy of inclusion – Nicola Dolby Boulton won the Isle of Man September festival crown.

Nicola took the £1250 prize with an emphatic 21-8 win over Jessica Pickthall, who took home £625.

She had a much tougher semi-final against Sarah Weaver, winning 21-19 to book her final spot.

Nicola Dolby Boulton with her Isle of Man September Festival trophy (Image: Contributed)

It would be very fair to say that whoever booked us in for a sunny day for the Federation Team Knockout competition failed very badly.

With two greens becoming waterlogged, we were left trying to get it all completed.

To be sat at Owley Wood with the supplementary final started and just waiting on one team to arrive to start the main final was a great feeling.

And the team we were waiting for was Mid-Cheshire, who had just had an incredible 6-2 win against a very strong Wallasey side (the fed knockout is teams of eight with a point for a win).

They arrived and began their final against Barnsley, who won it last year and were putting up a great defence of the title by working their way through to this year’s final.

Barnsley had fought their way through a first-round game against East Lancs, who fielded a very good team, and came through their semi-final against Bury 6-2.

Mid-Cheshire started where they ended against Wallasey to complete the first four 3-1 in front.

The second four began and Barnsley really pumped up the support for their team and it was a pleasure – it was all done in a great spirit but at an amazing volume.

Mid-Cheshire took the final 6-2 in a match that felt much closer than that.

The Supplementary final was East Lancs v Frodsham and Runcorn, which by the end saw the highly-rated East Lancs come through as 6-2 winners on Owley Wood number two.

We are very lucky to have Owley in our area – when greens were flooded and unavailable, Owley with the same rain stayed more than playable.

In completion, I need to thank all the clubs who battled to keep their greens open as long as possible – I can’t thank you enough.