ALICIA ORMSBY (Heckmondwike) beat Lyn Wilcox (Crossgates) 21 -18 in the final of the Joyce Winterbottom Memorial Trophy at Meltham BC.

Spectators were left in awe at the quality of the bowling in the final on the immaculately presented but tricky big green.

Both finalists played superbly throughout the nip-and-tuck affair with no more than a few points separating them until the very end of the contest.

It was a game of contrasts with Wilcox opting for fairly long marks as opposed to Alicia, who played short round pegging marks which had been the hallmark of her progress to the final.

At 20-17 up, Ormsby was sitting pretty with two 6in bowls for game, but Wilcox produced a wonderful bowl to count and still have hopes of winning.

Her short lead into the heavy corner was easily beaten by Ormsby and then Wilcox’ final bowl would have won but for running into her first one, a rather sad end after all her efforts.

Earlier, Ormsby also had a terrific battle with Hemplow’s Linda Sykes in the semi-final, coming from 14-10 and 18-17 down. Probably only one slack lead into the corners that Sykes had played so well determined the game, Ormsby creeping in for two to go 19-18 up.

Sykes turned her peg and played through at the final end, finding a miniscule gap between Ormsby’s fine two bowls and the game was over.

Wilcox, in contrast, had a remarkably easy game over Cowcliffe’s Jane Buchan, running out from 8-6 down.

Buchan would have been hoping for better things after a fine win over her Cowcliffe pal Eileen Wooltorton 21-8 in the last eight.

Prizes were presented by Sylvia Pogson, joint sponsor of the competition along with Richard Winterbottom. A charity donation was made from proceeds.

First round – Christine Kaye (Cowcliffe) 16 Linda Sykes 21, Lyn Sunderland (Marsh Utd) 21 Janet McDonagh 10, Alicia Ormsby (Heckmondwike) 21 Natalie Hughes (Crossgates) 10, Toni Agnew (Broad Oak) 18 Sarah Fox (Ossett Flying Horse) 21, Rachel Byram (New Mill) 21 Maureen Cawtheray (Cowcliffe) 15, Heather Dyson (Almondbury) 5 Lyn Wilcox (Crossgates) 21, Eileen Wooltorton (Cowcliffe) 21 Sue Harper (Lockwood Con) 19, Jane Buchan (Cowcliffe) 21 Lyn Carter (Cowcliffe) 20.

Quarter-finals – Linda Sykes 21 Lyn Sunderland 17, Alicia Ormsby 21 Sarah Fox 16, Rachel Byram 14 Lyn Wilcox 21, Eileen Wooltoton 8 Jane Buchan 21.