FOR Tixall's Matthew Gilmore, it was a return to normal service as he recorded his third win in four visits to the Flyers Tournament on Sunday.

At the end of a great morning of bowls played in ideal sunny conditions in Birkenhead Park he beat Gladstone's Craig Saville in the final.

Gilmore totally dominated his quarter-final match with Roger Griffiths, over from North Wales, but the semi-final was a totally different story.

John Hignett Snr who plays for Walton Hall in Liverpool, had already beaten last week's winner, your correspondent West Kirby's Bill Atkinson, in an earlier round.

And at 20-19 he actually seemed to be set up for the match with Gilmore; but two superb shots from the Tixall player - one to stave off defeat and one to win the next end - left the veteran Liverpool player a very disappointed man.

Saville had to come through a long quarter-final with Hoylake Central's Tommy Walker before he then beat another Tixall player, Robbie Hall, making his first appearance at the Flyers for some time. Gilmore generally got the better of the exchanges in the final against Saville and he ran out a 21-14 winner in a match that was somewhat easier than the score suggests.

It was an excellent turnout on Sunday with a lot of very good bowlers but Gilmore has totally dominated the last four weeks and the rest of the players are going to have to raise their game.

Results: Quarter-finals: C Saville (Gladstone) 21, T Walker (Hoylake Central) 18; R Hall (Tixall) 21, T Cavanagh (Upton Victory Hall) 08; J Hignett Snr (Walton Hall) 21; D Briscoe (Levers) 17; M Gilmore (Tixall) 21, R Griffiths (Abergele) 07.

Semi-final: Saville 21, Hall 16; Gilmore 21, Hignett 20. Final: Gilmore 21, Saville 14.