LOWER HOPTON became the first club from outside the Manchester area to win the Manchester Premier Bowls League, an outstanding achievement.
Although the crack side were defeated 12-4 by St Josephs (Chorley) in their last home game, they had set up the league victory the previous week with a tremendous 12-4 win at Pierpoints & Bryant in Warrington.
Hopton won the title only narrowly, by 1.5 points from Garswood Hall of Wigan.
The title was sealed when captain Graham Hickey beat Stuart Kenyon and rubber stamped when the game’s No1, Graham Wilson, avenged his Waterloo semi-final defeat by beating Lee Heaton.
Longwood BC played their part in securing the title for Hopton when they recovered from six out of seven losers, with the last three winners securing the aggregate by one point in their penultimate fixture at Garswood Hall.
