THE 2023 Greenock & District Championship Finals were this year held at Kilmacolm Bowling Club and despite it raining almost non-stop during the semi-finals in the morning, the sun came out to ensure play took place in almost perfect conditions.

Kilmacolm did a great job in hosting the event and well done to them for all their hard work.

The singles final was a highly anticipated watch, as Skelmorlie's George Wilson was up against Port Glasgow's Craig Bence.

Greenock Telegraph:

This had the making of a great game, however, the Skelmorlie player managed to find his length and weight early in the game and made things difficult for the Port Glasgow man and Wilson went on to win his first G&D title with a score of 21-7.

Greenock Telegraph:

In the junior singles, it was the battle of two best friends and high school mates - Brandon Miller of Wellington Park and Astyn McKechnie of Victoria BC.

Brandon ran into a 9-4 lead which was then shortly tailed back to 9-9 by Astyn, who was beginning to find a better length and line to the jack.

Astyn kept this momentum up and got himself in to a commanding lead which was just too much for Brandon to get himself back in to the game.

The final score was 21-12 for Astyn of Victoria BC. There has got to be a winner but these two promising young boys should be very proud of their bowling displays and their attitude towards the game.

The pairs final was won by Lady Alice’s Jim Anderson and Mark Boyle. This was a game between the experienced and the not so experienced.

Greenock Telegraph:

Fort Matilda had a relatively new member, Tommy Donald, playing under the guidance of the ever reliable Nicol House.

Lady Alice had Mark Boyle skipping alongside Jim Anderson, who was having a good championship run by playing a lot of consistent bowling throughout the earlier games.

Mark was also playing to the top of his game, especially in the morning game against Wellington Park when he played some fantastic bowls. The Lady Alice pair were just too strong on the day for their opponents and they ran out 19-8 winners.

It took an extra end to decide the winners of the Wellington Park versus Port Glasgow in triples championship final. Port Glasgow were one-up going in to the last end but with the game against their skip, Dougie Twaddle played a fantastic weighted bowl to move the jack to one of his own bowls and lie the game.

Greenock Telegraph:

However, Wellington Parks skip Brian McAlees played a fabulous last bowl to claim the shot and take the game to an extra end, which was close, but a fantastic 'skip shot' again by McAlees sealed it for Wellington Park.

The last few ends caught the eyes of a lot of spectators around the green, who witnessed some great bowling.

The winning Wellington Park trio were JP O’Connor, Peter Johnstone and Brian McAlees.  Runners-up Port Glasgow consisted of Andy Campbell, John Fleming Jnr and Dougie Twaddle. Final score: 14-13.

Greenock Telegraph:

Wellington Park took the fours title with a resounding victory against Grosvenor Bowling Club. The team from Drumfrocher Road ran into a 10-1 lead early in the game and never looked back.

Although the team from Bank Street put up a fight in the middle part of the game it just wasn’t to be as the experience showed and saw Wellington's Tony MacDonald, Martin Lynch, Stephen Gurney and Stephen McLellan claim the title for a third year in a row, with a 23-7 scoreline.

The game was played in the proper manner with great sportsmanship throughout. Commiserations to Grosvenor’s Callum Morrison, Stephen Beaven, Jim Pollock and Chris Banks.

It was a hat-trick for Wellington Park as their seniors team of Thomas McCluskey, Eddie Mills, Ian Broadfoot and John McGilvray defeated the home-side, Kilmacolm BC consisting of Davy McCabe, John Lavelle, Billy Brown and Sandy Crawford.

This game could have gone either way at the halfway stage until the Wellington team picked up a crucial four shots which they managed to maintain and keep ahead of their opponents until the end, eventually winning 12-7.

From other cup competitions throughout the season the winners were presented with their trophies:

Inverclyde Cup - Grosvenor BC
Fletcher Cup - Gourock Park BC
Top 5 Singles and Top 10 - Port Glasgow BC
Ardgowan Hospice Cup - Rankin Park BC
Reid Cup - Wellington Park BC

Over 50s League - Wellington Park BC
Triples League - Gourock BC
George Melvin Shield (Fours League R/Up) - Gourock Park
Fours League Championship Flag & Shield - Wellington Park

The Greenock & District Bowling Association  committee would like to thank all the clubs who hosted games throughout the season and all the volunteers from umpires, caterers, bar staff, greens convenors, match secretary’s, board markers and so on for all their hard work over the last five months.

Thanks also to sponsors who again continue to support the association and its competitions - it’s very much appreciated.

Lastly, a massive thanks to President Grant Craig, Kilmacolm Bowling Club and its members for providing excellent facilities and green for the finals.