THE finals of the Richard Evans Memorial 31 Up Tournament were played at Cammell Lairds on Friday and the winner was Tixall’s Matthew Gilmore, writes.

Gilmore beat New Brighton Quarry Vikings’ Chris Barton in a superb final.

On their way to the final both players were involved in some real struggles: Gilmore beat his teammate at Tixall, Mick Andrews, in the quarters before he just got the better of Andy Hayes (31-28), who also plays for Tixall, in his semi-final match.

In his quarter-final match Barton was involved in the tightest of struggles (31-30) against Danny Barwise from Liverpool and he then beat another Liverpool player, Dave Carter, in the semis.

The final was nip and tuck throughout until Gilmore pushed through at the end to clinch a 31-24 win.

The second session of this season’s Winter Flyers was played in glorious sunshine in Birkenhead Park on Sunday and the winner was Paul Roberts from the Hawksbury Club in North Wales who beat Gladstone’s Jason Dermott in the final.

To reach the final Roberts was a little too good for two New Brighton Quarry Vikings players; firstly John Cosgrove and then Eddie Dutton. Meanwhile Dermott had good wins against Magazine's Andy Buchanan and then his teammate at Gladstone, Joe Edwards.

The final was tight throughout and could have gone either way but Roberts just held on for a 21-19 win.

In last week’s final Gladstone's Jamie Smith beat Peter Holian of Cammell Lairds. The local league season finished this last week with the final games in the Birkenhead and Wirral Afternoon Leagues.

In the First Division, Higher Tranmere Vets suffered a somewhat surprising defeat at home to Oxton Cons but they still had enough points to clinch the title.

Tixall beat last year's champions Heswall RBL in their final game and the these two teams finished tied on 181 points.

Upton Victory Hall emulated their evening team by also winning the Second Division and gaining promotion, while Naval Club came second.

Capenhurst 'B' added winning the Third Division to their success in the Centenary Cup.