The final short mat bowls competition of the season, the Bromyard Triples, was held on Sunday, March 24th, 2019 at the Larruperz Centre in Ross-on-Wye. The 16 teams, from 10 clubs, competed initially in four round robin groups of four teams before the group winners progressed to the knockout stage.

Four different clubs were represented in the semi-finals, three of whom had previously won the trophy although only two of the individual players left in had previous wins to their credit. Both semi-finals resulted in clear wins with the Ross team of Rob George, Ian Roe & Ian Park defeating the Fownhope triple of Carole Rowland, Derek Griffiths & Peter Clark whilst Linda Lewis, Luke Rawlings and Tony Vitale of Larruperz overcame Weston’s Doug Knowler, Gill & Tim Rigden.

The final was a much closer affair with the lead changing throughout the contest and the scores tied as the final end began.

Larruperz established a good early position in the end but Ian Park forced the jack to the corner of the mat with his final wood, leaving the Ross side holding a match winning position, and Tony Vitale couldn’t produce the extraordinary shot which would have been required to retrieve the situation.

The Ross team thus took the title for the third time in four years.See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.