A few weeks after overcoming a serious illness Keith Carter produced an excellent performance to defeat his clubmate Dave Murray 21-20 in a pulsating final and claim his first Staffordshire Veterans’ title.
In the first round, he had a tremendous tussle with last year’s losing finalist Tom Jones, and although he seemed to always have the upper hand he had to produce the goods when it mattered and saw it through 21-20.
In the quarter-final, he beat Mick Brown of Dudley Dell 21-16 and in the semi-final saw off Les Vicaradge 21-8.
His opponent in the final, Dave Murray, was chasing his own slice of history as he had previously been victorious in the Junior Merit, Senior Merit, Collins Cup and Jessie Gough.
Murray had a few tough games himself before reaching the final. In the preliminary round he had to battle to see off friend and doubles partner Brian Preece 21-18.
His first round clash saw him defeat another Brewer, Terry Evans, 21-15. The quarter-final threw up another battle with Bill Bowater which he edged 21-15.
The Amery’s John Corbett, one of the most consistent performers in the game, stood between Murray and his first Veterans’ final appearance.
A cagey game saw no more than four shots between them, but Murray produced a run of four shots to claim the game 21-19.
In the final, Murray was fast out of the blocks and built up a 17-9 advantage which looked a trophy winning lead. Carter, however, dug deep and with Murray now struggling to reach he drew level at 17-17.
Murray then produced a superb bowl to halt the slide and with a further count of one made it to 19-17. An excellent double from Carter saw him again draw level and an excellent lead saw him go to 20-19 ahead.
Carter then produced a poor lead and Murray stepped in and with the possibility of a double left his second bowl short.
At 20 across it was Murray’s turn to produce a poor lead and Carter stepped in to take the game and the title. Both players will now represent Staffordshire in the finals of the Jack and Jean Isherwood Veterans Championship.
Results
Preliminary Round: K. Beaman 21 D. Wood 20, E. Daly 20 B. Bowater 21, B. Preece 18 D. Murray 21.
First Round: K. Beaman 19 B. Bowater 21, D. Murray 21 T. Evans 15, G. Charles 20 H. Teasdale 21, J. Corbett 21 P. Guest 20, T. Jones 20 K. Carter 21, A. Cowan 18 M. Brown 21, J. Collins 13 L. Vicaradge 21,V. Smith 21 R. Shackleton 20.
Quarter-Finals: B. Bowater 15 D. Murray 21, H. Teasdale 16 J. Corbett 21, K. Carter 21 M. Brown 16, L. Vicaradge 21 V. Smith 9.
Semi-Finals: D. Murray 21 J. Corbett 19, K. Carter 21 L. Vicaradge 8.
Final: D. Murray 20 K. Carter 21.
* A workmanlike performance saw Woodfield clinch another two valuable points in their assault on the Summit Garage Premier League title.
The Woodies are well placed to launch title bids on multiple fronts and following their victory over M&B Cheslyn Hay they will be confident of going close in this league.
Carl Fellows was his normal immaculate self on his home green and Gordon Hawkins was always struggling to keep in the game as he went down 21-9.
Ant Aldridge was another in top form and with his pin-point leading also saw off his opponent, Chris Marshman, 21-9.
The only Brewer who dropped straight on the weight in the first four was the ever dependable Steve Davis, who gave Nick Newey a torrid time.
Newey will be kicking himself for gifting Davis a crucial two early in the game and it was costly as he slipped to a 21-10 defeat.
Stuart Jones and Paul Evans had a real tussle and it was Jones who edged it 21-17.
After the first four there was 17 in it, but the Brewers were determined to make a game of it and Dave Murray fresh from his assault on the Staffs Veterans Merit built up an formidable 14-8 lead over Dave Semper.
But Semper has developed into a formidable bowler and showing increased confidence and form ran out 21-14.
The fight seemed to ebb from M&B at this point and with Chris Halford calmly defeating an out of sorts Chris Ward 21-10 the game was Woodfield’s.
Steve Dicken just defeated Craig Barker 21-19 in a closely contested game and Dave East edged out Dan Davies 21-19.
Although that barely told the story of a great comeback from Davies who at 15-5 down looked out of it. However, he stuck at it and gradually reduced the gap with some quality leading and striking to 19 across before Easty produced a couple of match winning bowls to sneek it 21-19.
Result
Woodfield 155 M&B Cheslyn Hay 120: C. Fellows 21 G. Hawkins 9, A. Aldridge 21 C. Marshman 9, S. Jones 21 P. Evans 17, N. Newey 10 S. Davis 21, C. Halford 21 C. Ward 10, S. Dicken 21 C. Barker 19, D. Semper 21 D. Murray 14, D. Davies 19 D. East 21.
Tanworth in Arden retained their slender lead at the top of the division thanks to a 43 shot victory over Langley.
Woodfield’s victory sees them retain second spot just ahead of King George V who managed a tight six shot victory over Chadsmoor.
The George move up one place following their defeat of Windmill. Nordley Liberals got off the mark with a morale boosting victory over defending champions the Greville Arms.
St Georges are coasting in division one as they maintained their 100 per cent record to thrash second placed Kings Norton by 72 shots.
Results
Premier Division: The George 154 Windmill 118, King George V 149 Chadsmoor 143, Woodfield A 155 M&B Cheslyn Hay 120, Tanworth in Arden 153 Langley 110, Nordley Liberals A 145 Greville Arms 107
Division One: Lea Hall 111 Moseley CC 149, Sutton Park 157 Woodfield B 116, Dudley Dell 164 Boldmere St Michaels 110, West Brom FSC 159 Nordley Liberals B 99, Drakes Drum 168 Heath Hayes 103, St Georges 167 Kings Norton 95, Great Barr 146 Baddesley Colliery 112.
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