By Stephen Helliwell
Tony Bannister collected his third trophy of the season at Hill Crest on Sunday. Already in possession of the Sowerby Bridge Association’s Percy Carter Merit and the Halifax Association’s Mixed Pairs with his wife Katrina, the Mytholmroyd bowler claimed the Halifax Association’s Merit title, sponsored by Grosvenors Butchers, with a 21-16 victory over Mark Regan, of Siddal.
Bannister began his bid for the title against Brendon Malone, also from Siddal. In a close contest, he was behind by 5-7 and 8-10, went ahead by 12-11, fell behind again by 12-14 before levelling the scores at 15. A break of five took him to all but and he went on to win by 21-17. In his semi-final, he faced his Mytholmroyd colleague, Richard Helliwell, a three-time winner of the event and after trailing by 2-5, surged ahead with a break of 9 to lead by 11-5, eventually winning by 21-9.
Mark Regan faced two West End bowlers on his way to the final. After a comfortable 21-8 victory over John Hamer, he raced to a 11-0 lead in the semi-final, against Martin Murphy. With Regan ahead by 15-2, Murphy’s prospects were boosted by a break of six but Regan regained the jack immediately and ran out to win by 21-8.
The two finalists combined to produce an excellent final, both leading well on their own jack. Regan was the first to make a move, scoring a break of seven to lead by 9-2 but Bannister fought back to level the scores at11. Regan pulled away again to lead by 15-12 but Bannister recovered once more, reaching 18 with a break of six. Regan’s only response was a single at the next end as Bannister went on to claim the title by 21-16.
Quarter-final scores: J. Hamer 8 M. Regan 21; Nick Oddy 5 M. Murphy 21; T. Bannister 21 B. Malone 17; S. Greaves 9 R. Helliwell 21.