Winter League
Clayton West and Milnsbridge A provide the first two qualifiers in the 2025 Winter Cup as the Division 2 bowlers got down to business at Cowlcliffe on Wednesday. Although there were only 7 entries from the Division 2 teams the bar was set high in the three preliminary round matches. Jim Baxter won 8 of the first 10 ends in his encounter with Tim Poulter. That gave him a 10-4 lead that was gently pulled back to 18-across before Tim ran out the 21-18 winner.
Then Edwin Haigh looked set to join his Inter-District and Clayton West teammate Tim in the last round as he built a 13-4 lead over Dave Deighton. That advantage was gradually eroded as Dave found a mark he liked to win 8 ends on the bounce and push ahead into a 17-13 lead. Sharing the last 7 ends between them to see Dave Deighton run out a 21-19 victor.
That was only the starter for even more close affairs in the round that would see the two winners progressing through to the Round of the Last 16. The two matches mirrored each other for much of the time as they played on a green that the four contenders had called home all winter but now seemed anything but welcoming as it eeked out the weaknesses in all four at times to prove it held the upper hand over these mere mortals.
Shaun Irving raced into a 12-4 lead over David Witham after 14 ends whilst the other pairing of Tim Poulter and David Deighton were locked together 10-10 after the same 14 ends. The 20-ends milestone saw the Irving - Witham encounter level on 14-14 whilst the Poulter - Deighton pairing was 13-14 in favour of the Milnsbridge man. The balance was to shift in both ties before reaching the 25-ends marker milestone with Shaun establishing a 19-17 lead whilst David still had the edge at 17-16.
David Witham recovered to pull his game against Shaun Irving to All-But across but he couldn't find that extra point to go down magnanimously 20-21. Similar in the other game as the more experienced Tim Poulter edged his way back one point at a time from 18-20 to take the game 21-20 as both games finished after 30 ends to conclude an enthralling series of games.
So eventually we have the first two qualifiers through to the Round of the Last 16 as Tim Poulter (Clayton West) and Shaun Irving (Milnsbridge A) will be appearing at Netherton Con on Sunday 30 March and the final eight then go through to Finals Day at the same venue on Sunday 6 April.
Preliminary Round
Tim Poulter (Clayton West) 21-18 Jim Baxter (Milnsbridge A)
David Deighton (Milnsbridge A) 21-18 Edwin Haigh (Clayton West)
Shaun Irving (Milnsbridge A) 21-16 Malcolm Gilbert (Clayton West)
Round 1 Tim Poulter (Clayton West) 21-20 David Deighton (Milnsbridge A)
Shaun Irving (Milnsbridge A) 21-20 David Witham (Milnsbridge A)
Division 7 Qualifiers Tim Poulter (Clayton West) and Shaun Irving (Milnsbridge A)
Comentários