BARRY Athletic bowls club ended their 2014 season in impressive style with the first team securing instant promotion back to the top division of the PG1s and Barry’s second side securing their top division status in the PG2s with a last day victory at home to Whitchurch.

The first team, captained by the quiet, yet effective Kristian Harris, led their division for the majority of the season as they bounced back from an opening day defeat away to St Fagans before winning ten straight games to put them into the driving seat for promotion. The title was wrapped up with two games spare at Rhiwbina, despite a rare loss results elsewhere meant Athletic were mathematically promoted ahead of their rivals. The backbone of this promotion was Barry’s strong home form in which they picked up 90 points out of the 98 available. The Athletic will now look to test themselves with the big boys of Private Greens Division One in 2015 and will hope a few new arrivals and strong commitment will lead to another successful season.

Gary Jones and his troops in the second side had looked sure of survival a few weeks earlier but poor results for themselves and surprise results by other teams meant Barry were dragged back into the race to avoid the trap door. Whitchurch were the visitors on Sunday, September 14 in a must win game for the home team to avoid relegation and send local rivals Dinas Powis and Rhondda based Ystradfechan down.

Barry, needing 12 out of the 14 points available, come out the blocks in rapid style to lead by 18 shots overall at the half way mark with three rinks leading and one rink drawing. Gareth Humphreys rolled back the years to put in a superb performance at skip as he led his rink of Tony Bishop, Phil Killin and Geoff Whittaker to an emphatic 28-10 scoreline. They were ably backed up by the Barry foursomes skipped by Colin Spillane and Paul Webley who both won rather comfortably. The final rink skipped by Mike Vaughan picked up a two on the final end to secure a creditable draw and also secured the 13th point for Barry Athletic meaning mathematic safety was confirmed.

An incredible win for the Seasiders which was boosted further when Captain Gary Jones offered his players a free drink after the game as a way to say thank you for their fantastic efforts throughout the season.

Rink Scores:

Mike Jones, Dave Snelling, Gary Jones and Colin Spillane won 33-19 Gary Gane, Jim Davies, DK Williams and Paul Webley 22-15 Tony Bishop, Phil Killin, Geoff Whittaker and Gareth Humphreys won 28-10 Bill Summerell, Andrew Cooper, Albert Mintern and Mike Vaughan drew 23-23 The club finals were also played throughout September with Glyn Thomas being the big winner as he won ‘the treble’ by securing the Championship, Handicap and Club Pairs with his usual partner Rob Horgan.

Other winners were Bill Summerell and Colin Spillane who got their hands on the Novices and Over 60s singles, respectively. The Pidduck pairs were won by Chris Wright and Peter Rogers and the club triples went to Dai Lynn Jones, Jim Davies and Dave Snelling.

Club Final results:

Men’s Championship:

Glyn Thomas beat Dave Snelling

Men’s Handicap:

Glyn Thomas beat Ben Parrish

Men’s over 60’s singles:

Colin Spillane beat Phil Killin

Men’s Novices:

Bill Summerell beat Jack Killin

Club Pairs:

Glyn Thomas and Robert Horgan beat Paul Webley and Chris Wright Pidduck Pairs:

Chris Wright and Peter Rogers beat Dai Lynn Jones and Kristian Harris Club Triples:

Dai Lynn Jones, Jim Davies and Dave Snelling beat Eric Booker, Bill Summerell and Geoff Whittaker

All in all a very good season for Barry Athletic which has wiped away the doom and gloom of the previous few seasons and will hopefully be the boost needed to secure a successful future. The club is still on the lookout for new members and are currently offering a discount price of £50 for Male members in their first season and FREE membership for any new or experienced female bowlers for 2015. So if you fancy trying your hand at something new and playing in a vibrant, positive atmosphere then give us a call on 07794123897.

The Men’s Annual AGM will take place on Thursday, September 25 at 7pm in the main clubhouse. All male members welcome.