BARRY Athletic Bowls Club recorded its 20th national title in its distinguished history at the recent Welsh Bowling Association Championships in Llandrindod Wells when club chairman Richard Bowen lifted the Senior Singles Championship title.

In a marathon match against Peter Stahl from the Beaufort club, Richard prevailed 21-20 in a thirty end game that lasted well over two and a half hours, drawing a close shot after the Gwent man failed narrowly with his last bowl.

Earlier in the championships, Richard had accounted for Martin Cross from Llandysul 21-7 before another comfortable victory over local bowler Ken Price 21-11 who had lifted the title himself some years before.

The semi-final was a much closer affair with a tight battle against Bob Cummins from the Whitchurch club, with Richard recovering well from 18-13 down midway through the match to run out victorious 21-19.

The final was another tight affair with no more than one or two shots between the players as the game progressed.

Stahl from Beaufort then imposed his game and stretched out to lead 10-4 after a dozen ends only to be pulled back by the determined Barry man to edge in front and take a 12-10 lead.

From 16 all it was a case of which player would hold his nerve as the ends slipped away; from 18 all Richard secured a vital shot turning the jack with his last bowl to put him within two shots of the title.

However, back came the Beaufort man trailing the jack with his first bowl of the next end to within one foot of the ditch and setting up a match winning shot with his last bowl; however his last bowl just failed to turn the Barry bowl out of the head, but secured two shots to lead 20 -19 and put Stahl within one shot of victory.

The final end was a taut affair, with Richard drawing a close bowl early but failing to develop the position with his next two bowls.

Stahl drew with his last bowl to claim the one shot needed for victory but narrowly missed the jack and finished 18 inches behind the head, leaving Richard with anything but a straightforward draw to win the title, and the Barry man drew within a foot of the jack to secure the important two shots to claim victory and record the club’s 20th national title.

It was a poignant victory too coming 22 years after the passing of former club chairman David K Williams, who was laid to rest just one week before the finals. David had been successful in the same event in 1996 and after the event Richard dedicated the victory to David K Williams who had contributed so much to the Barry club over many years.

In the Private Greens League, Barry Athletic’s first team continued their winning run as they look to regain promotion to the top division.

This Saturday, the visitors were Guest Memorial and an impressive performance on the 4 Wood green saw the Barry club maintain momentum and winning by 55 shots (113-58) as they push for the promotion places.

There were good wins for the rinks skipped by David Wright 25-14, Robert Horgan 21-11 and Richard Bowen 26-9 which saw the team pick up a valuable 12 points.

A narrow defeat for the rink skipped by Martin Clarke-Squires by four shots (20-24) was the only blemish on the scorecards.

With a home fixture coming up against Pontyclun next Saturday, the club will be looking maintain the very good winning performances that have given them every chance to secure the valuable promotion that has been their prime objective this season.

Stalwart Geoff Whittaker maintained his top position in the first team win ratios, and has now won 11 of his 14 games this season.

The Athletic’s second team, having already secured their status in the top division for next season narrowly lost their away fixture in Aberdare but still managed to pick up 4 points to to ensure that they will retain their place next season.

Wins for Tim Morgan and the irrepressible Gwynfor Parr were not enough to cover the shot deficit on the rinks of Paul Webley and Andy Cooper although the latter almost managed to secure another two points narrowly losing on the final end.

This has been a very credible season by Johnnie Jones and his players, with many team changes from week to week and is a testament to strength in depth that is being developed at Barry Athletic and bodes well for the future.

The week finished well for the Athletic Bowlers as they progressed on Sunday to the quarter finals of the Barry bowl with a tough fought victory over a youthful Thomastown team on the 4Wood green at Barry.

It was the visitors that started brightly making light work of a damp surface and opened up a nine shot lead after four ends but the Barry engines gradually moved through the gears to compete more in the heads and after 10 ends they held a slender advantage.

With the momentum building, Richard Bowen’s rink put together eight winning ends out of nine to build a 21-9 advantage and with Glyn Thomas’s rink always in the ascendancy, it created a comfortable margin for the two Barry rinks as they entered the closing stages.

A final winning margin of 12 shots with Glyn Thomas’s rink winning 23-20 and Richard Bowen’s rink winning 24-15 ensured a smooth passage to the draw for quarter finals of the competition which will be played on neutral greens.

The club will have the opportunity for further honours on Friday when they will compete for the Private Greens Single Rink title at the Lanbradach Club against Penarth B.C. after overcoming a strong Penylan rink in the semi final in early August.

Kick off is 5.30pm and all supporters are welcome.