League Cup Final

1st April 2008- Belplaya BC

A “Real Thriller”

Report by Murray Johns & photos by John Carr.

As with the “Presidents 4’s” Competition there was some doubt as to whether the League Cup, which has been competed for since 1991, would retain its place in the annual Bowls Calendar. Thankfully the Federacion Andaluza De Bolos ( F.A.B.) agreed to co-ordinate the Competition on behalf of the Costa Del Sol Owner’s Committee and their decision was once again fully justified as there was excellent Bowling throughout.

Trevor Burgin ( Club Captain : Belplaya ) welcomed everyone to the Club. He extended his congratulations to Superbowl on winning both the Lions and Tigers Winter Leagues and to Tony Frowd on his excellent performance in winning the Gents Champion of Champions Tournament.

The Competition was, once again, generously sponsored by Philip Parnell and “THE SPORTS SHOP” of Fuengirola. Murray Johns welcomed him to the Final and thanked him for his ongoing commitment to the League Cup which, on this occasion, pitched together the two dominant forces in Club Bowling from the 2007/2008 Season.

Superbowl was possibly the slight favourite following their success in the Leagues but, in Benavista, they took on last year’s League Cup Winners who are always difficult to beat in Team Matches of this nature.

Each Team comprised of 6 Triples and neither was at full strength due to a combination of illness, injury and UK absence. However those present were treated to a “classic” Team Match where fortunes changed with alarming regularity. Benavista gained the early initiative and, after 5 ends, they held an 11 shots advantage which was extended to 24 after 10.

Many thought it was “Game over” but Superbowl had other ideas! The next 4 ends saw a dramatic transformation as they took a 7 shot lead after 14 ends and they held, what was seemingly, an unassailable 9 shots lead with only 2 ends to play.

However, Benavista controlled the last 2 ends which saw them score 21 with only 4 against. As a consequence they retained their title by 100 shots to 92 and they can thank many of their “unsung heroes” on this occasion for superb displays against more experienced opponents.

The individual Rink scores are detailed below :-

BENAVISTA                                               SUPERBOWL

Marshall, Guthrie & King        17    Frowd, J & D Howlett                      15

Greenwood, Coates & Pemberton  7       P & S Griffith & Smith                     20

Bowden, J.McManus & Fry    12    Goodwin, Glitheroe & Salmon   18

McBride, Farmer & Wright     19    Barrett, Tolfree & Fisher                  8

S.McManus, Hughes & Adams         17    Gunn, Lewis & Gunn                        16

B.Pemberton, Wilkins & Ogden   28         Townsend, Cornwell & Roberts 15                                   

The Benavista Triples of Ken McBride, Tony Farmer & Tony Wright and Barry Pemberton, Roy Wilkins & Bill Ogden were always in control of their Rinks and Neil Marshall, Sandy Guthrie & Dennis King held off a strong fight back from “in form” Tony Frowd, John & Denise Howlett.

Spare a thought for Superbowl’s winning Rinks. Paul & Sally Griffith, in partnership with Tommy Smith, totally dominated their game against Malcolm Greenwood’s strong Triple. Mike Goodwin, Mike Glitheroe & Andy Salmon did likewise for 14 ends before dropping a crucial 7 shots on the last 4 ends to Doug Bowden’s Team who were always “hanging in there” and always posed a threat! 

The game between Steve McManus, Sam Hughes & Gordon Adams and Bruce Gunn, Craig Lewis & Brigitte Gunn was always “one to savour”. The outcome was in doubt throughout the contest even though both sides held the advantage at different stages. The “heads” were tight and keenly contested and Steve’s Team kept Bruce’s to a single shot on the 18^th end.

Prior to the Presentation, Murray Johns extended his sincere thanks to Trevor Burgin and Members of the Belplaya Club for their excellent hospitality. The Club had officially approached the Federation to stage the event and, as they seldom have the opportunity to showcase their facility, Tony Farmer ( Costa Del Sol Chairman ) and the Competition Secretary had no hesitation in awarding them the fixture.

Photo L to R: Phil Parnell & Murray Johns.

Why not email your Spanish regional championships report and items of special interest to www.bowlinginspain.com?  Where appropriate, please accompany the report with photos. All items included on www.bowlinginspain.com will be submitted to BOWLS INTERNATIONAL magazine.

Events News