MOWERS have become the first two-time Ken Bright Cup skittles champions, after seeing off the challenge of Bell Green in an entertaining final at Nynehead Club.

Bell Green captain Paul Rowlandson won the toss and elected to ask Mowers to skittle first. Mowers took a couple of hands to warm up with scores of 62 and 60 to start with, but a strong third hand of 70 showed their prowess to put the pressure on Bell Green. Spares in the opening half from Nigel Dobson (12) and John Dodden (12) proved vital, and they were unlucky to not get a third spare as Martin McGrath’s spare ball sailed through the pack. The Bee-Gees missed the opportunity to take the first two hands with a 60 to start with and 57 to follow. Chasing the 70-hand looked imposing and was made all the harder with some terrible luck off the front pin, with balls taking out the middle of the pack and then chopping out in the second with the following balls.

A 52 was all the Friday leaders had to show for a hard-working effort in hand three, with the Mowers three hands up with a 23-pin buffer.

Mowers really got into their stride in the second half of the match, and it was a stark contrast to Bell Green’s bad luck off the front as Mowers found spare chances and floppers, none more so than Nigel Dobson with floppers of 17 and 18 in hands four and five. There were three other spares for Mowers in the second half - Vince Milton with 17, Martin Studley hitting 14, and Geoff Milton getting a 15. Mowers hit imposing scores of 78, 71 and 63 for an incredible total of 404.

Bell Green knew they would have to pull off a big turnaround to claim the trophy, and they started brightly with a great 70 hand with Simon Rudd’s 14 the highlight in a hand of tidy skittling. Alas it was not enough to challenge the Mowers’ 78, and another hand went to the Thursday night side. Jason Powell finally got his reward for hitting the front pin consistently with a 16 spare in hand 5, but that bad luck and the odd bad ball crept in for the Bee-Gees again to see a score of 60 in hand five.

Julian Jones was the pick of the players in hand six with a great 17, and the Bee-Gees won the final hand with a solid 64 to avoid the whitewash, but were left wondering ‘How can you mend a broken heart’. The final scores were Mowers with five hands won (10 points) with the higher overall score of 404 (2 points), Bell Green with one hand won (2 points) with a total score of 363. Scores: Mowers 12 (404), Bell Green 2 (363)

The Wellington Ex-Services Skittles League’s Ken Bright Cup was then presented to Mowers’ skipper Mike Jarman by the great grandson of the trophy’s namesake, Harrison Bright – who also stuck up in the match.

A big thank-you goes to both sides for putting on an entertaining game. Thanks also to Harrison Bright for a great job sticking up, and finally, a big thanks to Nynehead Club for being great hosts.