Barry Athletic's senior triples squad are the new Welsh Lawn Bowls champions after their 19-15 victory over Briton Ferry Steel at Llandrindod Wells.
A late change to the line-up saw Scott Howell forced to withdraw due to health issues - with reserve reserve Geoff Whittaker stepping in to join skip Peter Rogers and Dave Townsend.
The new-look team went onto win four matches, including beating the hot favourites, to take the national title.
For all three, this was their first Welsh championship triumph with previous appearances ending in disappointment. For Rogers, who made his first tournament appearance in 1981, this was the culmination of many years aiming for the top.
“I’ve been going to Llandrindod for a long time now but had lots of gaps in between. But since I’ve been playing with Scott and Dave we’ve been going up there more regularly,” he said.
“That’s a big help as you get to know what’s required. This year all the factors fell into place, and we all played well at the same time.”
Howell, who played in all the qualifying rounds, also missed out with health problems the previous year. “It’s a bit like being top scorer for your side and you get injured for the cup final,” he said.
“But I was delighted the boys were able to win it. It was the best of us in the regional qualifiers, and the best of us in the finals.”
On standby over the weekend, Whittaker’s place in the team confirmed the day prior to the first match. “Geoff has always been a fantastic reserve,” said Rogers. “He’s the fourth member of the team, an absolute weapon on the green.”
Whittaker, who plans to give his medal to Howell, has also played at Llandrindod a few times, “but never got anywhere. I found out I was playing on the Monday. Scott wasn’t well and the boys said I could fill in. Fine. I didn’t expect us to win it, but we knocked out the favourites on the Tuesday, and we played very well as a team.”
Harlequins, who included two players from the Carruthers Shield winning team, were the hot favourites, but they were beaten 19-17 in the second round. “That was the turning point of our tournament,” said Rogers. “Once we beat them, it would have been very disappointing not to have won the whole thing.”
In the first round, Athletic beat Rhiwbina 22-8, and in the semi-final beat Lampeter 22-9, with both morning matches being won after 16 ends. “In the semi-final Dave was giving us a good start and we were always on the front foot,” said Rogers.
For Townsend, victory made up for defeat in a Fours final a year earlier. “We really played well against Harlequins. That was a fantastic game, just unfortunate that Scott wasn’t there. He helped us to get through. I’m pleased for all three of us, and I’m pleased for Scott. We played well every day, and we deserved it.”
In other team results, Jack Killin won his first round match in the under-25s singles 21-19, but was beaten 21-7 in the quarter finals.
Russell Harris was beaten 21-18 in the last 16 of the men's open singles - and lost 21-10 with his partner Nicola Clarke-Squires in the mixed pairs quarter finals. Harris also partnered Paul Swinnick in the men's open pairs, going down 19-11 in the last 16.
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