Young gun wins singles at Thorpdale

Returning champion Grady Edwards and young gun Ben Powell recently competed to be Thorpdale Bowling Club men's singles champion.
The sight of the phalanx of happy spectators was a sight for sore eyes, as they watched the three blue and white figures on the green as two battled out the grand final. The third, marking with panache, was club president David Ferguson.
Grady took the starting lead and jumped ahead with his accurate, steady bowling. Those dark green bowls were seemingly directed by fishing line towards wherever he chose.
By the 15th end, however, he only had the slim margin of three shots as Ben chipped away. Grady led 13/10.
The crowd was worried that Ben would crumble under the pressure, but his spunky new hairstyle seemed to have given the backbone and steadiness needed. He levelled at 15-all by the 19th end.
Slowly and steadily, Ben rolled those memorable blue and white bowls to be just inches away from the jack. Although Grady scored the occasional one or two, Ben maintained the lead to be tantalising within reach of victory at 20/17 on the 26th end.
That victory was well and truly achieved by the 28th end, with Ben cheered in as the 2023 club champion with a resounding win of 26/17.
It was truly a fantastic, steady effort against Grady, a master player who never loses his cool.
The club said it would be wonderful to see a fresh name on its new honour board in the new year.