LEIGH & DISTRICT

2013 With a field of 21 bowlers cut down to 17 due to other commitments there was just one preliminary round to be played. It was Pauline Ward who drew the short straw and landed on the in-form Ian Inman in the preliminary round. Ian dominated the game to run out an easy winner to 5. Round 1 saw some very one sided games with Stephen Orrell beating Margaret Broom to 5, Steve Hitchen beating Malcolm Edwardson to 7, John Hayes beating Paul Hindley to 5 and Phil Boydell beating Brian Anderson to 9. However, the remaining 1st round games saw some great tussles. John McCaul (qualifying for the 14th time in 16 years) was narrowly beaten (18) by fellow homester Roy Howarth. Keith Wright came back strong against Dennis Thorpe to win to 18. Competition debutant Ian Seddon was running away with his game at 17 - 10 against Norman Young before Norman kicked up a gear only to be nudged out 21-17 at the death. The game of the round was without doubt Ian Inman versus Maggie Jones. Maggie pulled away to 7-2 up after throwing 2 no bowls away at the first end. Maggie continued to hold this lead by matching Ian in the corners with some top quality bowling. Ian fought hard to get back in the game at 18 across and nosed his way to a win over the next 2 ends.

 

The quarter finals saw Steve Hitchen dispose of the reigning champion, John Hayes, 21-17 to set up a semi final match with Ian Inman who had seen off the last homester of the day Roy Howarth to 16. Phil Boydell played exceptional against Keith Wright. Keith did nothing wrong but was on the wrong side of a 21-10 defeat. Ian Seddon was hoping to see off the garrulous Steve Orrell but all was in vain as Steve matched his words with deeds and ran out an easy 21-9 winner to meet Phil Boydell in the Semi.

 

The competition this year would now have a new name on the trophy. Ian Inman found a tense Steve Hitchen a handful. Steve matched Ian bowl for bowl and the game was even all the way. The turning point was down to an Inman strike, that took out 2 great Hitchen bowls, with fortune favouring Ian counting 2, a swing of 4 chalks. Steve never recovered the lost ground and lost out to 15. The other semi final saw Phil Boydell dash Steve Orrell’s hopes becoming the champion as he dismantled Steve’s game end by end to win in style 21-11.

 

An all Gardeners “B” final was probably fitting after such a great season for them Gardeners. The final lived up to expectations with nothing asked and nothing given by either bowler. Ian quickly became the crowd’s favourite when he  opened up a 5 point lead and held on to it up to 15. Both bowlers bowled exceptionally well in the corners with many ends having 3 or 4 bowls you could throw a dustbin lid over and done over 60 plus yards. Phil was the first to break out of the corners and little by little nibbled away at Ian’s lead. At 15 he drew level and took hold of the game as he passed him to go 17-15 up. The buzz in the crowd was now favouring Boydell to keep his cool and win it with a sprint finish. However, Inman had other ideas. Capitalising on a poor lead by Phil, Ian picked up an easy 2 to put the game 17 across. With the block in his hand Ian was not going to let this go. Another superb lead, for 1, then a brace made him all but. Leading into his favourite corner Ian lay 2 great bowls both under a foot, leaving Phil no option but to strike. A valiant effort over 60 yards just missed the head and Ian became the 10th name on the trophy in its 16 year history, beating the infamous “prelim jinx”.