Rainhill A Bowling Club met Moorfield in a replay of the Walwyn White Plate final, held over from last season. The contest was again almost too close to call with a repeat of the tie even looking possible in a tense finale.
It was certainly an epic contest - the first four games were all closely fought affairs with the pick being the game between Ray Dutton and Len Percy. Percy led 19-10 before ex-Widnes RL legend Dutton managed to pull it back to 20 across. He was in pole position with two great woods before Percy with his last bowl produced the bowl of the tie to take it 21-20.
Joe Argent had a run of eight chalks against Peter Jaundrell to win 21-10.
Fellow Moorfielder Ron Heyes had a ding-dong struggle with Cliff Gaffney and led by 20-16 before Gaffney pulled out a blistering finish to win 21-20.
Despite Rainhill's Robbie Marshall proving too strong for Colin Friar, Moorfield led by six after these opening blocks.
The middle four games were all close - Rainhill A just having an edge with wins for Gordon Welsh, Brian Hudson and Eric Goodman, while Dave Smetham replied with a 21 –17 win against the injured Gordon Lowe. As a result Rainhill A had turned things around to lead by five.
With the last two blacks on the green, it seemed as if Moorfield had finally taken a grip. Brian Winstanley opened a 20-4 lead over Eric Davies, while Barry Palin was holding his own against Eric Horan - just the one chalk adrift at 7-8. However, this is when the game took a dramatic turn, to set up a thrilling climax with the prospect of another draw.
Davies started to fight back and with a run of eight chalks on a short mark he pulled his team back into contention. With eventually losing 21-12, he had given his team a glimmer of hope.
Horan had, meanwhile, increased his lead to 14-11 and Palin knew he needed to get to 17 to win the match for Moorfield. The next end saw him gain two to pull back to 13-14, but then Horan, with some excellent bowling, piled on the pressure for an 18-13 advantage.
The next end proved crucial as Horan led a wide bowl, which left a chance for Palin who played to within nine inches of the jack. But Horan was up to the task and played the perfect bowl, which his opponent could not match.
Two more of the same on the last end put the issue beyond Moorfield with Rainhill wining the final by just three chalks.
The team celebrating their win
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