If ever a bowls match with eleven players across five teams can be said to have a pivotal moment, Tuesday’s Grenville Taylor win over Bodmin provided one.
In the 2-wood singles, Peter Morrish established an early lead, 9-2 after nine ends, then got stuck on 10 while his opponent caught up. After 20 ends it was 13-12 to Peter. The Bodmin man (D Rowe) put his two woods close to the jack while Peter’s first was short, thus lying game. Peter bowled his last wood. It picked up the jack and took it a couple of yards back for shot, and the game. A brilliant wood under pressure, and the difference between one up and one down.
Meanwhile, the fours team was struggling, failing to score for seven ends and, despite a five on the ninth end, going 29-11 down by the 17th, at which point the match was lost (though they played the 18th end anyway).
Match score: 1-1
In the pairs, John Pearce and John Gibbs scored a 7 on the second end and never looked back, winning 22-12. The triple of Dave Shaw, Graham Browning and David Atfield started more slowly, losing the first three ends but conceding only three shots. They drew level after seven ends and dropped only two more shots for a 22-8 win.
Match score 3-1 to Wadebridge, and the trophy.
The 4-wood singles had reached 17 ends at this point, in an attritional game with Kevin Smith 10-11 down to Malcolm Roberts, neither player scoring (or to put it another way, conceding) more than two shots in an end. With the overall match decided, Kevin conceded the game.
The trophy was originally given to Group 2 by Wadebridge member Grenville Taylor, as a knockout cup for C teams, alongside the Croydon Marks and Jimmy Hopper for A and B teams. With the demise of C teams, the Grenville Taylor had no real place; effectively, it duplicated the Jimmy Hopper. Group 2 changed the format this year to bring a new distinction. It became a ‘Top Team’ contest, and in keeping with its origin, only players who had not played in any A Team match in the season were eligible to play (with two exemptions who were not allowed to skip).
Brian Wonnacott, Group 2 President, presented the trophy with Esme Stokes, a long-time Wadebridge stalwart representing Grenville Taylor’s family, to team captain Graham Browning.
