2006championship

WWW.Gourockpark.co.uk

Web-Master Gary Bradley

WWW.Gourockpark.co.uk

Web-Master Gary Bradley

© Gary Bradley 2006 - all rights reserved,

all trademarks hereby acknowledged

2005 Winner

John Kane.

Prelim Round

Prelim Round
Peter Hendry			Gary Bradley
Peter Jack			Russell Clark
K Wilson			Bertie Davidson
I O Neil			John Ellis
Joda Reid			Archie Forbes
Jimmy Bradley	21	5	Terry Duffy
Jim Cameron	21	17	Andy Kearns
Andy Mc Cabe			John Campbell
Robert Grant			A Ballentyne
John Kane	21	7	Ian Brown
Jim Mc Cready	21	7	John Gibson
J O Brian			Phil Owens
Ramsay Crawford			Hamish Ramsay
Micheal Stevenson			John Mc Fetrich
George Twaddle			Rodger Lynn
Alan Jack			Jim Crawford
Tommy Monkhouse	21	2	Jack Lang
1^st Round
Gary Bradley			Russell Clark
Bertie Davidson			John Ellis
Joda Reid			Jimmy Bradley
Jim Cameron			John Campbell
Robert Grant	21	20	John Kane
Jim Mc Cready			J O Brian
Ramsay Crawford			Michael Stevenson
Rodger Lynn	11	21	Jim Crawford
Tommy Monkhouse			John Hagen
A Cunningham			John McCready
John Lamb	17	21	Barry Mc Clafferty
Kenny Mc Kinlay	21	16	John Mc Monagle
G Hair			George Dyer
Jay Reid			Hugh Wilson
Tommy Docherty			William Thomson
Dan Kelly			Alex Mc Ilravey
2^nd Round
Gary Bradley	21	16	John Ellis
Joda Reid	21	9	Jim Cameron
Robert Grant			Jim McCready
Ramsay Crawford	18	21	Jim Crawford
John Hagen			John Mc Cready
Barry Mc Clafferty			Kenny Mc Kinlay
G Hair			Hugh Wilson
William Thomson			Alex Mc Ilravey
Quarter-Finals
Gary Bradley	21	18	Joda Reid
Jim Mc Cready	21	14	Jim Crawford
John Hagen			Barry Mc Clafferty
Graham Hair	16	21	Alex Mc Ilravey

Prelim Round

Semi-Finals
Jim Mc Cready	21	9	Gary Bradley
John Hagen	16	21	Alex Mc Ilravey
The Final
Jim Mc Cready			Alex Mc Ilravey

Jim Mc Cready is the Gourock Park Champion for 2006 after claiming the title against Alex Mc Ilravey by 21 shots to 16 in an excellent game of bowls.

Before I describe the action, I thought I would take a look at how each player reached the final.

This year's draw was rather unusual in that the top half of the draw and the preliminary round was loaded with many of the so called big names, people like John Kane, Robert Grant, Rodger Lynn, Ian Brown, Joda Reid, Jim Crawford as well as this year's winner, Jim Mc Cready.

Along the way many of these names dropped out as they came up against each other in the early rounds.

To reach the semi- finals Jim Cready had successfully disposed of John Gibson, J O'Brian and Robert Grant to set up a un-expected game against Gary Bradley, who had surprisingly knocked out the twice former champion, Joda Reid.

The other half of the first round draw was tame compared to the top but Alex Mc Ilravey still had a difficult route to the semi-final but came through beating Dan Kelly, William Thomson and Graham Hair to set up a semi-final with John Hagen.

Both Semi-finals were played on the same evening and Jim Mc Cready easily moved into the final over Gary Bradley with a devasting show of precision bowling. John Hagen proved a tough hurdle for Alex, but he too was pushed aside in a close game.

So onto the Final itself now.

When I first arrived the tie was all square at 7 shots all.

Jim then took the advantage over the next 3 ends to lead by 11 shots to 7 including an excellent display of controlled weight to push aside Alex's shot bowl to record a double, followed by two excellent singles.

Alex fought back at the next with a single but Jim increased the lead to 13 shots to 8 shots at the next.

With both players playing excellent bowls, Alex once again reduced the deficit at 13 v 10 down but could only look on in frustration as his opponent once again took the upper hand to take a 15 v 10 lead.

Jim Mc Cready then seemed to lose his grip on the game and Alex pounced to take full advantage of this to record an excellent treble followed by a double to make the tie all square at 15 shots all.

Jim Mc Cready quickly recoved from this slip up and regained the lead with a measured weighted bowl to knock Alex's shot bowl out of the frame and gained a double and he followed this up with a single at the next to edge closer to the 21 shot mark at 18 shots to 15.

Alex fought on and reduced the lead by one shot at the next, but was powerless to prevent Jim claiming the title as he gained two shots followed by a single to claim the elusive title of Gourock Park Champion for 2006.

Overall I think the most experienced player won on the night but Alex can be proud of the performance he gave and I am sure he will learn from this and be back challenging for the title in years to come.

Congratulations to both players on producing an excellent final

Jim Cready and Alex Mc Ilravey with Club President Michael Stevenson

Alex in action