Another short mat bowls season at Ross Bowling Club came to an end with the final stages of the club handicapped singles competition.

By the semi-final stage 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 Roe establish a nine shot lead by the half-way point of the match and, although Park rallied to close the gap to 5, a couple of shots on the 14th end took 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 as follows:

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 short mat season had begun exceptionally well for Ross as the club produced its best ever performance in the National Club Championships with a run to the final of the Plate competition, where they lost by the narrowest of margins to a Somerset club, followed by the club’s second title in the County Summer League.

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 third place after another close finish.

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.

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 club is holding Open Days on May 5th and 6th, when members will be on hand to welcome visitors and give them a chance to see the club’s facilities and sample the activities available which include Lawn Bowls, Short Mat Bowls, Petanque and Skittles so why not head along and have a go.See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here