Dudley Williams of Copmanthorpe is the singles champion of York Amateur Bowling Association following his 21-16 victory over Keith Ryder (Retreat) in the Persimmon Homes/Ideal Standard final.

It was 14-14 after 20 ends but the experience Williams gained from appearing in last year's final gave him the edge in an excellent game marked by president David Poole (Haxby Road).

Vice-president Geoff Walker (Hull Road Park) marked the consolation singles final which gave Arthur Dunbar (Poppleton Road) the second of a hat-trick of titles with a 21-12 victory over clubmate Geof Dalby.

Dunbar's first win was in the fours with Mick Birkley, Phil and John Emmerson who beat Keith Dibble, Ralph Tiplady, Noel Cammidge and Barry Walker (Hull Road Park) 22-13. A triples win over Phil Reeves, Brian Wilmot, Alan Bruce (Clifton) 18-12 gave Dunbar his third title and a pair for Mick Birkley and John Emmerson.

The Pairs final produced the closest finish, Graham Brooke with Tex Stevens (Holgate), were one shot up playing the last end against Barry Walker and Frank Maxwell (Hull Road Park).

All four bowlers had woods which changed the match position and Stevens, with his last, turned a short wood in for a shot when he was three down. Maxwell's last wood trailed the jack to restore the winning position and secure his fourth YABA Pairs title.

The Hull Road combination of Walker and Maxwell followed up their success by winning the Ron Craven Pairs at Clarence Gardens.

They defeated Brian Arundale and Bill Dillon (Nestl Rowntree) 22-10 in the final.

But the final scoreline does little justice to the runners-up, who recovered from being 5-1 down after six ends to lead 10-8 after 15 of the 21 ends.

However, Walker and Maxwell scored one, three, two and another two to lead 16-10 with two ends to play and put the match beyond reach of Arundale and Dillon with a six at the 20th end.

In their semi-final against Eric and Dennis Sanderson (Shipton), Walker and Maxwell were 8-5 down after seven ends but from then on took control to run out 23-14 winners.

Arundale and Dillon fought out a low-scoring match with Ron Newton and Gary Bunce (Haxby Road) in their semi-final, winning 14-11 in a match which saw no more than two shots scored at any end.

It was Maxwell's second success in the competition, having won the 1984 inaugural event in 1984 with Les Redhead.

The Club and Institute John Smith's Triples competition attracted 28 entries. The final between J Holtby, G Buttle, K Hunt (Post Office) and B Douglas, R Douglas, S Powell (Tang Hall) resulted in a 18-13 victory for the Post Office team.

In the Plate Competition A Thornton, E Leatt, C Sharpley (Poppleton Road) beat E Sanderson, D Sanderson, J Barrie (St Clements).

Poppleton Road Club will host the annual meeting and prize giving on Wednesday, October 6 at 8pm. Holders should ensure that all trophies are returned.

Dunnington 'A', hoping to complete a treble of successes in the York and District Private Clubs Bowls League, saw their hopes disappear on finals day at Copmanthorpe.

Stamford Bridge 'A' showed them no mercy in the final of the Knock Out Competition, winning on all three rinks to win 64-46.

Dunnington 'A', as champions of Section 1, met Riccall, champions of Section 6, in a preliminary game of the Champion of Champions competition.

With two rinks having finished and the third rink playing their last end, Riccall were three shots up overall as the Dunnington skip went to the mat to deliver the last bowl of the end. He delivered a perfect wood which turned the three-shot deficit into a one shot win.

North Duffield 'A', the champions of Section 2, overcame strong opposition from Wigginton 'B', Section 4 champions, in their prelinary game to win 54-47.

In the semi-finals, played at Copmanthorpe, North Duffield 'A' were drawn against Dunnington 'A' while Huby (champions of Section 5) met Dunnington 'B' (champions of Section 3).

All four teams struggled to find the green at first but both Dunnington teams gradually got the better of their opponents, Dunnington 'A' winning 67-43 and Dunnington 'B' succeeding 58-39 to set up an all Dunnington final.

The 'B' team they were unable to put one over the 'A' team and lost 37-60.

Trophies were presented to the winners by Fred Wood, vice-president of the league.

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