On an overcast Friday evening in front of Northern legends past and present Andy Reid held firm to join an elite group of players who’ve claimed a hat trick of the famous trophy
Played on rink 4, a good-spirited Championship Final between friends saw Roy Campbell ascend to an early lead, winning 2 shots in the first end after Andy knocked the jack away from his own bowls. In the second end, Roy knocked the white back about 5 feet or so with his first shot before a proper chap and lie battle took place as each player repeatedly knocked the others out to keep a head of 1. Eventually, the jack ended up in the ditch after one of Andy’s bowls and he held firm to claim a 1 with his ditched toucher.
Ends 3, 4, and 5 were a little bit scrappy but very tight as the players traded shots back and forth to leave the score at 3-3 heading into the 6th; And what a 6th it was as Andy started to catch the green and was lying 3 heading into Roys final bowl only for “The ROC” to produce the perfect shot and rest gently on the jack to claim a 1. It was a real showing of determination and shows just how ends can change in the blink of an eye.
End 7 produced the tightest and most impressive head of the game so far as all first 7 bowls stopped just a few inches from the white and Roy prevailed to win a 1 after a narrow drive from Andy missed. But just as how a single end can change with a solitary bowl, an entire match can change in just a few ends and Andy went on to win five of them in a row with a three, a two and three ones to make the score 11-5 in his favour
Roy did win the jack back at the end of the 13th after scoring a 1 which had marker Grant Young called into measuring action for the first time but despite Roy taking that control back Andy won a 4 in the 14th end to take the white away again and to pile the pressure on. The 15th end also required a measure to decide whether Andy had 1 or 2 and the observation showed that it was indeed a 2. With a scoreline of 17-6 it was starting to look like the writing might be on the wall but you just never know with bowls and the crowd all knew Roy isn’t one to give up.
He did indeed stick in to win a 1 in the 16th but then Andy got a 3 before Roy got a 2 to make the score 20-9 and when a player only needs one shot to win a match and you need 12 then it’s always going to be difficult and Andy won his required 1 in the 19th to seal the game
When asked for comment on the evenings match marker Grant Young said “A decent game, Andy was a worthy winner though, he played a bit better than Roy tonight and there has to be a winner and a loser”
Northern President Jim Bathgate said “It was an interesting match, there were a lot of good bowls played. It’s a shame to not see a new name on the board but that’s a difficult thing to do nowadays, especially with the quality of singles players we have at the club”
In his victory speech Andy said “First and foremost, I’m absolutely delighted to win this prestigious trophy for a third time and to join an elite group of members within the club. Condolences to Roy, it was a good game to play in and he’s a great friend. We’ve played each other a lot through the years and actually he’s probably beaten me more than I’ve beaten him so it’s not necessarily a tie I was looking forward to but he’s a great friend and I thoroughly enjoyed the game. And thanks to everyone for the large crowd here tonight. I first won the championship in 2013, so 10 years ago, and then in 2015, so 8 years ago. But you have to remember that one of those years was a Covid year and then for three years I laid over to Jamie who knocked me out three times. But it’s not just about winning the Championship, this clubs given me lots of great memories through the years, some of the highlights for me personally, Jamie winning the Fleming Trophy is one of the greatest memories I’ve ever had and qualifying for Ayr with a great team of fours from here was amazing and, finally, winning the Top Ten last year was probably the best day. This means hell of a lot and I’ll treasure it forever”
The only other players to have also won 3 Championships are John Urquhart, Kevin Rice, Gordon Wilson Jr, J.Black, Willie Libberton and Stan Christie while Jackie Christie holds the record with 9
Will we have a new name on the board next year? Stick around and find out! And as always do what you can to spread the word and to get more people involved. Fresh talent’s never a bad thing!
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