Crossens Bowling Club

Saturday 26th October 2024 was the Crossens Bowling Club Awards Night and we had a wonderful evening.
A hot buffet meal which was served at the table and a dessert. Followed by stand up bingo and our awards which were presented by our chairman Keith Sproston with the help of Janice Hobson and Noreen Lewis.
After the awards we had music from our DJ .
Thanks to all who attended and especially Janice Hobson, Anne Lowe Debbie Barnes and our photographer Ann Tweddell who helped make this a successful evening.

Crossens Away Day at Black Horse, Croston
On Saturday 7th September we had the Away Day which is the last club competition of 2024. This year we went to The Black Horse in Croston, what a fabulous day we had. 32 bowlers including Gladys. The draw was done on Thursday into eight groups of 4. Sue Davies decided on the format of a pairs round robin which worked really well, everybody played 3 games and nobody was hanging around waiting for a game.
The top 2 from each group went through to play as a pair in the quarter finals.
Group 1 John Townsend and Dave Rimmer
Group 2 Sue Davies and Ann Tweddell
Group 3 Tony Wakefield and Brian Jones
Group 4 Paula Milnes and Barry McArthur
Group 5 Nancy McDade and Colin Milnes
Group 6 Pauline Rimmer and Allen Mountford
Group 7 Noreen Lewis and Roy Cropper
Group 8 Ronnie Southern and Jim Abram

The semi finals were between John and Dave v Tony and Brian
And Jim and Ronnie v Nancy and Colin.
Tony and Brian and Nancy and Colin played really well to get through to the final.
Unfortunately due to lack of time the final was not played and the winnings were split.

We retired for our meal which was excellent.
So a day of bowling on a tricky green, lots of banter and an excellent meal made this a special day for Crossens Bowling Club.

On Thursday 5th September Crossens hosted the Ladies Autumn Pairs Competition. This competition was to acknowledge the end of the Southport and District Ladies Bowling League season.
20 pairs entered the competition from the following clubs Banks, Botanic, Crossens, Scarisbrick, Hesketh Arms, Mere Brow and Victoria Park. A full day of bowling was on the cards.
There was excellent bowling all day and some surprising results. The semi-finals were between Pam Allen and Lorna Simpson v Noreen Lewis and Irene Kermode - Pat Southworth and Hilary Baldwin v Blossom Kildare and Josephine Andrews. Noreen and Irene and Blossom and Josephine came through to play in a very closely contested final which ended 21-20 to Noreen and Irene. Congratulations to them on winning this competition. Many thanks to Crossens for their hospitality and all their members who helped make this a very enjoyable day. They are looking forward to hosting the same competition next year.

Message from our Chairman Keith Sproston

Saturday 31st August 2024 was the fifth year we’ve run the Club Championship Singles. Every year the competition has given so many great moments, and this year was no different. The weather was excellent, sun and a little breeze. The green was soaking wet at 8.45am with overnight dew from the clear night skies. After brushing it and clearing a few worm casts it was ready to give us a day to remember. It got quicker as the day went on and the lovely surface allowed us to play some really accurate bowling.
Each of the four categories had moments to be proud of. The level of bowling was excellent. Well done to Roger O’Neil who played Paula Milnes both of them never let up, but Paula came through to win. Derek Madden had a good day, he only started bowling around this time last year. My journey was the stuff of dreams, to make the final against a formidable opponent in John Ashcroft and winning it for the second time was so special I’m still very happy.
Joe’s BBQ was again a treat and thanks to our wonderful ladies preparing salad and cakes and everyone’s involvement in the day, made it another special Crossen’s competition. I want to thank everyone for supporting the event and making it so special.

Keith Sproston - Club Champion (lol)
P.S. A big Thank You to Pauline Rimmer for marking my card.

The singles Club Championship is played during the season with 32 competitors and after each player randomly plays 4 games they are put into four groups of 8 according to the number of games won and the aggregate. The four groups are Main, Consolation, Contenders and Better Luck Next Time. On finals day there are 4 trophies to be won and cash prizes for winners and runners up.
This year the semi-finals were between
Main - John Ashcroft v Dave Rimmer and Keith Sproston v Colin Milnes. Both Dave and Colin had 2 formidable opponents. John and Keith came through to play in a very close final which Keith eventually won 21-19 congratulations to our 2024 Singles Club Champion Keith Sproston..
Consolation - Paula Milnes v Dave Wilson and Ted Morrell v Martin Doran again 2 close semis but Paula and Martin came through to play in the final. This game was neck and neck until Paula went ahead to win 21-19. Congratulations to our 2024 Singles Consolation winner Paula Milnes.
Contenders - Jackie Jackson v Mo Ahmady and Sue Davies v John Townsend, once more close matches but the men won through and Mo played John in the final, once again a close match but John pipped Mo and won 21-19. Congratulations to our 2024 Singles Contender winner John Townsend.
Better Luck Next Time - Frank Melling v Tony Wakefield and Gary Hayes v Derek Madden some great bowling but Tony and Derek win through to play a close final which was won by Tony 21-11. Congratulations to our 2024 Better Luck Next Time winner Tony Wakefield.

Our Memorial Trophy Pairs Competition was held on Saturday 10th August 2024.
At this competition we remember those members who have passed recently and this year we wore pink in honour of the three young girls whose life’s were tragically taken recently in Southport.
The sun was shining and 34 bowlers took part in a busy day of bowling. There were some really strong pairings which led to a lot of close games.
The main competition semi-finals were
Brenda Gillings and John Townsend v Joan Sanderson and Colin Milnes - it was a close game but Brenda and John came through to win 21-15
Sue Davies and John Ashcroft v Roy Cropper and Frank Melling another close game but Sue and John won to 14.
The final saw some excellent bowling and most of the game it was neck and neck until Sue and John came through to take the win 21-17. Congratulations to our Memorial Trophy winners Sue Davies and John Ashcroft.
We also ran a consolation round which also saw some excellent bowling.
It was a long day and it was decided that the 2 finalists would share the winnings.
Congratulations to Pat Cropper and Dave Rimmer and Noreen Lewis and Tony Wakefield for reaching the consolation final.

It was a lovely day of bowling and I would like to thank everyone who helped to make it a successful day.

Report from our Chairman Keith Sproston

Last Sunday saw the Men’s President’s Day Club Competition.
Sixteen handsome brutes turned up to a beautiful day. Good humour and great bowling.
Once again the results were not what you would expect, but the round robin format proved to be excellent for everyone to have a chance to go through to the semi-finals and final. Thank you to everyone who attended.
Thank you to the ladies who always make the day complete, and to Joe for making hot food on the BBQ.
Thank you to Karen for her role as president presenting the awards.
It seems strange to report on such an enjoyable day after what has gone on in the town this week. I wish to send our clubs love to those affected by it and hope the future is peaceful.

Keith

The sixteen handsome brutes were split into 4 groups to play a round robin format.
After some very close games we had 4 winners who went onto play the semi-finals
Tony Wakefield v John Townsend and BBQ King Joe Kelly v Jim Abram
Both games were very close but John went ahead and beat Tony to 15 and Jim dashed Joe hopes by beating him to 18.
The final between John and Jim saw some excellent bowling but John who had been playing well all day took the lead and beat Jim to 12. Congratulations to John Townsend our Men's President's Day Champion.

Last Saturday saw the final of the best pairs competition. I want to congratulate everyone who took part in the event and those who came to watch or help out. The weather was kind and the bowling exceptional. I want to thank Joe Kelly for his BBQ and the girls making up the food. A personal donation towards the day was warmly accepted by the club. We saw some fabulous bowling all day especially from the winners of both the main and the consolation finals. I'm proud of the club for once again producing such an event. The friendships made as ladies and gentlemen paired together are brilliant. No one should be put off joining this and the singles comp . The club is so good right now and that's down to yourselves. Thank you again for making my job so easy.
Keith Sproston.

This competition had 16 mixed pairs and after 4 qualifying rounds during the season was divided into two groups - the top 8 competing in the main competition and the next 8 in the consolation.
On Saturday 20th July 2024 we had the finals, each group played a quarter final round.
The qualifiers for the semi-finals were in the main competition
Janice Hobson and Keith Sproston v Pauline and Dave Rimmer
Noreen Lewis and John Townsend v Sue and Allen Mountford
The games were close but Pauline and Dave and Sue and Allen came through to play in the final
Once again some fabulous bowling but Pauline and Dave excelled and won the final 21-12 becoming
this year’s champions.
The semi-finals for the consolation were between
Karen Holding and Martin Doran v Janice Lloyd and Derek Madden
Pat and Brian Jones v Paula and Colin Milnes
Both games were excellent but Karen and Martin and Paula and Colin came through to play the final.
This was a very close game however Karen and Martin won the game 21-17.

All day we had some very competitive games and it was great to see some of our new members winning these competitions. Well done everyone.

Noreen

What more could we ask for a beautiful sunny afternoon, tea and cakes and of course some wonderful bowling. We had 15 ladies who competed in a round robin format. This narrowed down to 8 ladies in the quarter finals Sue Davies, Sue Andersen, Debbie Barnes, Pat McArthur, Paula Milnes, Karen Holding, Rita Wrigley and Janice Lloyd and after some very close games we had 2 semi finals Debbie v Karen and Paula v Sue Andersen. Debbie and Sue Andersen who both had been playing very strong games all day came through to play the final. Debbie got off to a good start but Sue came back but not enough to stop Debbie who is this year’s Ladies Champion. Well done Debbie and all the ladies who played it was a very enjoyable afternoon.
Thank you to the supporters and of course our President Karen Holding.

Well what a fabulous day we had the sun was shining and that bought out 38 bowlers for our May Random Pairs Competition. There were some very strong pairings drawn, so it was very open to who would win.
Anyone losing in the first round could go onto play in the Consolation Competition.
The main competition was won by Paula Milnes and Mike McCormick who beat off the strong challenge of Nancy McDade and Stan Davies 15-13, Mike snuck in two fabulous bowls to get the final win. Both couples played extremely well all day beating off some very strong opponents.
The consolation competition was won by Janice Hobson and Allen Mountford who managed to get a 15-12 win over the husband and wife team of Ted and Doreen Morrell, once again a tough final.
Thank you to all who attended and made this a very enjoyable day, special thanks to Sue Davies who helped with running the competition.

We are pleased to announce the Wednesday evening Round Robins will commence this Wednesday 8th May 2024 @ 6pm. All bowlers welcome.

Sadly today we said goodbye to our bowling friend Bryan Wilson. There was a lovely tribute of his life at the service at Burscough Crematorium. He will be sadly missed by all his friends.

We held our first Club Competition “Chairman's Pairs” on Saturday 13th April 2024.
32 players which made a great day of bowling. Competition was won by Noreen Lewis and Gary Hayes who beat off the strong pairing of Pat McArthur and Frank Melling. The consolation competition was won by new member to Crossens Debbie Barnes and our Chairman Keith Sproston who beat Sue Davies and Janice Hobson. Thanks to all our members who helped make this a very enjoyable day.