ANDREA BUCKLEY retained the prestigious Yorkshire Ladies Merit crown for a second consecutive year.
The Meltham ace achieved the magnificent feat with a 21-18 victory against Jane Hollingworth, of Almondbury BC, in the all-Huddersfield final at Lund Park, Keighley.
Buckley is only the second lady bowler (equalling the achievements of Mrs D Rothera, of Horton Park, Bradford), to retain the Hyman Morris Trophy since the competition was first staged in 1927.
En-route to her success to a keenly-contested final, Buckley beat Madeline Hildred, of West Park, 21-16 in the quarter-finals, followed by her Meltham clubmate Hazel Rangeley, 21-15, in the semi-finals.
Linda Gledhill, of Marsh United, is aiming for a hat trick of Ladies Afternoon Merit titles when the final takes place at Paddock Cricket and Bowling Club on Wednesday, July 16 (12.45).
If successful, the Marsh United player will equal the record set by Elaine Lunn in 1985, 86 and 87.
The draw for the final, which features a strong contingent from Cowcliffe Liberal is:
First round: C Mizon (Almondbury BC) v J Drury (Almondbury Lib), E Wooltorton (Cowcliffe Lib) v B Berry (Brockholes), H Rangeley (Meltham) v J Muff (Almondbury BC), E Smith (Cowcliffe Lib) v K Cockcroft (Meltham), S O’Melia (Cowcliffe Lib) v L Gledhill (Marsh Utd), C Kaye (Cowcliffe Lib) v N Wood (Almondbury BC), P Turner (Cowcliffe Lib) v M Nicholson (Meltham), G Iredale (Cowcliffe Lib) v S Dillingham (Linthwaite Hall).
Ladies should note that the closing date for the drawn doubles competition is July 16 and entries can be handed in on the Merit final day.
Results from Paddock I and C’s ladies open day:
Quarter-finals: S Clayton and P Dennett 21 B Helyar and J Marshall 17, M Phillips and N Wood 7 S Winterburn and M Beaumont 21, S Livesey and I Crowther 21 A Jennings and A Hinchliffe 16, J McDonagh and R Abbott 10 C Townend and L Bottomley 21.
Semi-finals: Clayton and Dennett 18 Winterburn and Beaumont 21, Livesey and Crowther 21 Townend and Bottomley 20.
Final: Winterburn and Beaumont 21 Livesey and Crowther 14.
S Patterson and S Wallace beat K Dawson and L Griffin 21-12 in the finals of the Waterloo Bowling Club-sponsored ladies pairs competition held at the club.
The losing semi-finalists were A Myers and J Graham and C Carrig and E Neal.
Marsh United have a slender one point lead from Cowcliffe at the top of the Huddersfield Ladies Bowling League:
