By Peter Iles
Gloucester Bowls Association have been staging their annual County
Finals (men’s division) at Cotswold Bowls Club in Stroud.
This event is the culmination of competitions across the county that began in early May and continued throughout the summer season.
It brought together some of the best lawn bowlers in Gloucestershire and presented a very entertaining spectacle for the large number of keen bowls enthusiasts who turned out to support them.
Twenty-three players competed in six disciplines over two floodlit evenings.
One of the most notable successes was that of Lee Williamson from Cheltenham BC who won the Champion of Champion Singles trophy, by beating Gareth Hall from GB Britton BC by 21 points to 14.
Lee then went on to win the Benevolent Triples final, playing with his two sons, Dylan and Finlay, by narrowly beating Paul Nicholls, Bill Alner and Bernie Trott (Victory Park) by one point.
The Junior Singles was won by Nathan Charnock (Winget) who beat Ben Coldrick (Cheltenham) by four points in his final.
The quality of the bowling and the close results of most of the matches is a testimony to the strength of lawn bowls in our County. It also served to disprove the myth that rink bowls is a sport only played by the older generation.
The Williamson family and the Junior Singles finalist disproved that.
Other results included: Championship Pairs, won by Chris Blake and Ian Gauld (Olveston) who beat Andy Gadd and Jim Russell (Redland Green) 21-16
Championship Singles won by Pete Stinchcombe (Fairford) who beat Gareth Howells (Pineholt) 21-13. Championship Fours won by Ben Sheldon, Mark Cox, Alex Smith and Nick Charlwood (Cheltenham) who beat Lawrence Oliver, Alan Tregoning, Paul Bryant and Ian Gouls (Olviston) 16-15 after an extra end.
