Regan confirms winter bowls dominance by lifting Brough Memorial Trophy

Mark Regan with the Geoff Brough Trophy.

Some of the best bowlers from across the north of England have been competing in a series of qualifying tournaments since October and the top 16 secured a place in the final.

Fantastic weather greeted finals day, which incorporated the Geoff Brough Trophy and Supplementary Cup and attracted a very large crowd of spectators.

Geoff Brough was a long standing member at Spen, not only a good bowler, but the greenkeeper as well as doing many hours of other work around the club.

His widow, Iris Brough, presented the prizes after another excellent day of bowling.

Regan had finished top of the points table after 16 weeks of qualifiers and battled his way through the early rounds before overcoming South Yorkshire bowler Danny Sillitoe 21-13 in the semi-final.

Local bowler Chris Mordue had finished second overall but having been unbeatable in the final few weeks of qualifying, he suffered a 21-20 defeat in the first round to Halifax man Gareth Coates.

Leeds bowler Marc Armitage overcame Coates 21-10 in the other semi but it was Regan who prevailed to maintain his consistant form and scoop the top prize when he won the final 21-13.

In the consolation competition, for the next best 16 bowlers after 16 rounds of qualifying, Manchester’s Chris Bly beat Leeds man Duncan Reeves 21-13 in the final.

Reeves previously edged past Colin Scorah 21-19 in his semi-final, while Bly defeated Warren Wilson 21-6.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable 17 weeks of winter bowling and many of the bowlers who took part have already committed themselves to next year’s competition, which begins again in October.

Spen Winter Sweep

Geoff Brough Memorial Trophy

Semi finals: Mark Regan (Halifax) 21, Danny Sillitoe (South Yorks) 13; Marc Armitage (Leeds) 21, Gareth Coates (Halifax) 10.

Final: Mark Regan 21, Marc Armitage 13.

Supplementary Cup

Semi-finals: Chris Bly (Manchester) 21, Warren Wilson (Leeds) 6; Duncan Reeves (Leeds) 21, Colin Scorah (Leeds) 19.

Final: Chris Bly 21, Duncan Reeves 13.