Barry Athletic triumph in dramatic, dusk‑lit triples final to secure second county title

Barry Athletic Bowls Club clinched a second county title in a keenly contested Ladies Triples final against Penylan, their 21-17 victory being secured on the last end as the match finished in darkness.

Carmen Brookes, Jude Howell and Nicola Clarke-Squires are the Glamorgan County Women’s Bowling Association triples champions, adding the honour to Nicola’s 4-wood singles title won a few days earlier.

Both finals were originally scheduled to be played at Kenfig Hill and Pyle, but bad weather saw the singles switched to Cardiff on the day, and the triples played several days later at Millwood in the evening, with the last couple of ends being played in the dark.

“I’ve never played bowls in such dark conditions before,” said Carmen. “We were a bit late starting after a heavy downpour, and patchy rain throughout made for a tricky green. We got off to a good start, and were leading comfortably, but dropping a six midway through brought Penylan back into the game.”

But Athletic’s trio, who have been playing together over the past five years, responded well, “and we went into the last end two up. With us holding game on the last end I didn’t need to play my last bowl.”

They were competing against Penylan’s Karen Lewis, Chloe Jackson-Getliffe, Olivia Jackson, all of whom have played for Wales, and were part of the team that beat Athletic narrowly in the semi-final of the fours. “We were keen not to let that happen in the triples,” said Carmen.

A close game which could have gone either way was Jude’s verdict. “We lost the fours in the semi-final where we were winning up until the tenth end, and then it all went pear-shaped and we lost by three.”

At Millwood the match followed a similar pattern. “We were leading up until about ten ends. Then we dropped shots which didn’t help. Then it was 16-16 and it got dark. I think we all dug deep, and just about managed to win.”

Nicola was able to celebrate double success, winning a second title in less than a week. “I’m really happy with it, it’s been a good season. We started earlier to try to avoid playing in the dark, but it seemed to be quite a slow game, so for the last two or three ends the light was really poor.

“For the last couple of ends you were literally asking someone to stand in the green where I needed to bowl to.”

Jude Howell was in the Glamorgan County over-55s who beat South Wales and Monmouthshire 79-60 at Llandrindod Wells to win the Senior Savegar Cup, the national Ladies’ county championship, for the first time.

“That was a really tough game. The green was absolutely flying. We lost two rinks and won two. The rink I was on lost by one shot, but it was a really enjoyable game,” said Jude, who played in two of the three previous rounds.

“The county selectors were there when we played our fours, and I was thinking ‘please let me get picked’. I was really chuffed to be picked for that.”