Gladstone are winners (From Wirral Globe)

Gladstone are winners

2:37pm Tuesday 12th June 2012 in Sport By Bill Atkinson

IN a week when the heavy rain on Thursday and Friday disrupted the normal League programe there have been several individual competitions that managed to escape the rain.

The first of these, the McParland Williams Tixall Classic, took place on the Bank Holiday Monday, June 4.

The final stages of this event were dominated by players from the Gladstone team; the final being between Liam Ryan and Anthony O'Neill both of Gladstone.

O'Neill had a reasonably comfortable quarter final win over Callam Wraight from Shrewsbury and he then then just got the better of West Kirby Victoria's Matthew Gilmore.

Ryan beat the Chester player Rob O'Shea in the quarters before going on to beat his Gladstone team mate John Finch.

He then continued with the same high level of play in the final and he won an excellent game 21-16.

It was good to see local Wirral players dominating in this event.

Results:

Quarter Finals: A. O'Neill 21, C. Wraight 12; M. Gilmore 21, C. Massey 10; J. Finch 21, P. Winrow 19; L. Ryan 21, R. O'Shea 17. Semi Finals: O'Neill 21, Gilmore 18; Ryan 21, Finch 19. Final: Ryan 21, O'Neill 16.

On Wednesday The Wallasey Association's British Parks Merit Tournament was played on the greens in Harrison Park.

The four semi finalists in this event win the right to represent Wallasey in the British Parks Senior Championship later this year.

In one of the semi finals Craig Saville of Queens Royal beat West Kirby Victoria's Dave Gilmore; the other semi final was an all Queens Royal affair and Geoff Lynch beat Frank O'Neill.

The final, played in the gathering gloom, was a superb match and it was just edged by Saville who beat his team mate 21-20.

Results: Quarter Finals: D. Gilmore 21, J. Beecham 13; C. Saville 21, S. Wharton Jnr 06; G. Lynch 21, J. Fitzpatrick 07; F. O'Neill 21, J. Box 19. Semi Finals: Saville 21, Gilmore 14; Lynch 21, O'Neill 14. Final: Saville 21, Lynch 20.

This means Craig Saville, Geoff Lynch, Dave Gilmore and Frank O'Neill will represent Wallasey.

On Saturday, 9th June, the Wirral and District held their Veterans Handicap Tournament at Royden Hall and the event was dominated by Upton Victory Hall's Tony Cavanagh.

Cavanagh was obviously inspired by the exploits of his 5 year old grandson Mike, the winner of the recent under 14 Junior Tournament, as he won all his five games in fine style.

In the semi final and final he beat two West Kirby Victoria players, Ernie Peers and John Brandon to take his second title in three years.

Results:

Quarter Finals: T. Cavanagh 21, P. Webster 11; E. Peers 21, A. Popham 11; E. Sullivan 21, G. Jones 18; J. Brandon 21, G. Faulkner 12. Semi Finals: Cavanagh 21, Peers 05; Brandon 21, Sullivan 18. Final: Cavanagh 21, Brandon 10.

Also taking place on Saturday was the popular Magazine Charity Pairs Tournament.

Though the cold and windy conditions were not ideal it was again a good day at the Magazine Club green.

The event was won by two 'homesters', Mike McLaughlon and Andy Buchanan.

Results:

Semi Finals: M. McLaughlon and A. Buchanan 21, S. Wharton Jnr and B. Smith 16; I. Brett and J. Brett 21, R. Clare and H. Stone 19. Final: McLaughlon and Buchanan 21, Brett and Brett 18.

Over £400 was raised for the chosen charity, Elleray Park School.

On Sunday the Wallasey Association Annual Charity Match, a mixed pair challenge match for the George Gilmore Memorial Trophy, raised £700 pounds to help the disabled former Royal Marine Commando, Peter Dunning, in his bid to represent Great Britain at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Next Saturday, June 16, the Wirral Junior Merit Tournament is being played at Cammell Lairds, play gets under way at 11am.

The following day, the Wirral's Parks Senior teams play their second matches of the season: Birkkenhead and District are taking on Warickshire with the home team playing at Royden Hall while Wallasey are playing South Yorkshire with their home game at Manor Road.

The matches start at 2pm and both teams would value as much support as possible to help them clinch victory.