FRANK Greenwood, the club’s oldest active player, upset the odds to win the prestigious Griffin Rosebowl.

The club secretary surprised supporters, opponents and himself to complete three 31-up games and take out Steve Hirst 31-20 in the showpiece sponsored by Lockwood & Salford Conservative Club.

Greenwood beat Gary Siswick and Mark Richardson before taking on Hirst, who fell behind in the final before levelling at 15s.

After that, Greenwood never got behind and ended up a comfortable winner – naturally delighted, too, as he had twice previously lost in the final.

He can now look forward to a place in the end-of-season Champion of Champions final.

Hirst, meanwhile, missed out on a hat trick having twice previously won the Rosebowl, one of the top two on the Griffin calendar.

It seems the secret to Greenwood’s success was using different woods, which he described as “better runners”.

At the presentation, club president Alan Hirst thanked kitchen staff Lesley and Mark Wood, greenkeeper Eddie Haigh, measurer Peter Hopkinson and Lockwood & Salford Conservative Club for their generous sponsorship.

Hirst presented the prizes and then the winner’s cheque of £230 and the Rosebowl trophy, congratulating Greenwood on his consistent bowling and being a worthy winner.

Greenwood responded by endorsing all the thanks given by the president and added another to former club member Peter Ramsden, who represented the sponsors and refereed the final.

On Sunday, it’s the preliminaries of the Griffin Pairs, sponsored by Duncan Reeves and starting at 11am.

Draw (with odds in brackets) – Prelims: A) Steve Hirs/Danny Fountain (7) v Mark Bramall/John Ollerenshaw (20), B) Brian Morley/Peter Kain (16) v Ronnie Wormald/Frank Greenwood (6), C) Barry Gibson/Steve Parkin (50) v Chris Davies/Dennis Tattersley (25), D) Alec Byrnes/Danny Radcliffe (40) v Duncan Reeves/Terry Brook (6).

First round – Richard Brook/Harry Ellis (66) v Jack Dyson/Nathan Haigh (7), Tony Marren/Richard Punshon (33) v Ray Whitwam/Donald Rae (12), Mark Wood/Graham Tandy (16) v Gerald Sykes/Alan Hirst (50), Craig Gant/Mark Sykes (7) v George Fellows/Ashley Daykin (12), Alan Crowther/Mark Richardson (16) v Peter Hopkinson/Gary Siswick (20), Roy Sutton/John Ineson (12) v Dave Scott/Keith Midwood (50), Winner A v Winner B, Winner C v Winner D.