Congratulations to Mark "Giggsy" Street who beat Allan Hemming 21-5 in the final, in the first of our county Merit competitions, the W&W Veterans Merit which was held at the Deers Leap on Thursday 19 May.

After a full day of very competitive bowling, Mark came out on top with a convincing win over Allan in a great final that isn't reflected in the final score.

Allan made his way to the final with an opening round victory against last years champion Tony Freeth (Brookhill), winning 21-12. In the second round he beat Dave Kemp of Boldmere Sports 21-14. He then went on to play Tony Williams (Maggies) in the quarter finals, where he arguably played one of the shots of the tournament to squeeze tony out 21-19. In the semi-final Allan faced Paddy McGuinness (George) and took quite a firm lead, but paddy rallied and fought back to 16, seeing Allan through to the final and a step further than he achieved last year.

Marks route to the final, started with an opening round victory against Peter Dunbavin (Triplex) 21-8. His second round tie was against one of two ladies in the competition, Karen Kinchin (Moseley) who played tremendously, but just missed out 21-16. In the quarters Mark faced John Welham (Hamstead) who he defeated 21-14. In the Semi-final, Mark was drawn against veteran stalwart Ronnie Regan. This game swung in each players favour throughout, but with Ronnie lying 1 on for game, Mark pulled out a wonder shot to win the end and the match 21-20.

So to the final, and Mark took control from the beginning, playing long corner marks with incredible precision, and he was just too strong in the end for Allan who played well but couldn't quite match the accuracy of Mark.

Both players should go forward to the finals at Prees in Shropshire on Wednesday 20th July, but we are just waiting confirmation from BCGBA at this time.

For the full W&W competition draw and results click Here.