Ross Bowling Club Short Mat Bowling 2018-19
The short mat season began exceptionally well for Ross as the club secured the County
Summer League title. Ross Rockers were drawn in the same group as Woolhope 2, the
defending champions, but despite suffering a narrow home defeat to Woolhope, a satisfying
away victory, combined with convincing wins in their other group matches, saw Ross
win the group by 10 points. They faced Llangarron in the final where Ross dominated
the match and won all 4 disciplines to take the title for the second time.
A full programme of club competitions across the winter season culminated in the
finals of the handicapped Singles competition and an awards presentation and buffet
supper. By the semi-final stage of the singles the field had been reduced to four
players on the minimum handicap. Ian Roe, the defending champion, met multiple winner
Tony Vitale and established an early lead which his opponent was never able to claw
back, resulting in the match being won with an end to spare. The second semi-final
also ended within the regulation 15 ends with last year’s runner-up Ian Park dominating
against Les Williams and setting up a repeat of the previous year’s final. Despite
falling behind early on, a strong run of ends saw Ian Roe establish a 9 shot lead
by the half-way point of the match and, although Ian Park rallied to close the gap
to 5, a couple of shots on the 14th end took Ian Roe over the line to secure his
second consecutive title.
Club president John Perks presented the awards for all of the club competitions which
had run over the winter season. The competition winners were:
Singles Ian Roe
Evening Triples Alan Stevens, Malcolm Ives, Ian Roe
Afternoon Pairs Hilary Churchill, Les Williams
Afternoon Australian Pairs Liz Nicholson, Les Williams
Afternoon Triples (1) Chris Edwards, David R Watkins, George Marshall
Afternoon Triples (2) Liz Nicholson, Betty Aubrey, Ian Park
The Summer League success could not be replicated in the Winter League and Ross had
to settle in the end for another runners-up spot behind Woolhope although the title
race came down to the final match and was only lost by 4 points, the closest Ross
had come to their rivals for many years. The Ross B side also narrowly missed out
on a promotion slot from Division 2, eventually finishing in 3rd place after another
close finish.
Club players saw success in a number of county tournaments, including the Mixed Fours
which saw two Ross teams reach the final – the rink of Sue Dix, Kate Williams, Dave
Watkins and Les Williams won that against Elaine & Rob George and Ian & Pam Park.
Ian Park won his fourth County Singles title; Rob George, Ian Roe and Ian Park won
the Bromyard Triples tournament and Bernard Glover, Elaine & Rob George and Ian Park
won the Macmillan Cancer Support Trophy. Ian Park combined with Nic Lloyd (Fownhope)
and Dominic Rogers (Woolhope) to win the Kingsway Triples charity tournament.
Five Ross players represented Herefordshire in the National Finals with the standout
performance coming from Dave Watkins, Ian Roe and Shaun Jones who reached the quarter
finals of the National Triples competition. Those three were joined by Kate Williams
in the National Fours and reached the last 16, another strong performance, whilst
Shaun Jones also reached the last 16 of the National Pairs, playing with John Mills
of Woolhope. Ian Park found himself in a National Singles first round group with
three England players and could not qualify from the group despite some close matches.
The Winter League ‘A’ squad :
Dave Watkins, Les Williams, Pam Park, Rob & Elaine George, Ian Roe, Kate Williams,
George Marshall & Ian Park with County Vice Chairman Fran Jones
