Harrogate crown green bowlers enter county competition for the first time

The Hickson Trophy is a Yorkshire-wide competition that was this year held in Halifax. Drawn in a tough group alongside defending champions Sheffield and Skipton, the Harrogate team found themselves up against it, playing on an unfamiliar green at Hove Edge in Brighouse.

In their first fixture against Sheffield, Harrogate suffered defeat 234 to 174 chalks, but notable victories from Barrie Sugden (Wayside) 21-18, Chris Rigby (Wayside) 21-10 and Alan Whitaker (Black Swan) 21-17 provided some promise of better things to ahead of their showdown with Skipton.

Sadly, Harrogate got off to a poor start in that contest, losing the first four games before Dave Rowson (Black Swan) produced a 21-12 victory, then Steve Cochrane (Wayside) re-dressed the balance with a 21-16 success.

Skipton then fought back to win the next three games before a rearguard action from Dave Spilsbury (Low Harrogate) 21-12 and the two undefeated players on the day, Whitaker( 21-15) and Rigby (21-15) brought a bit of respectability to the score.

In the end, Harrogate ended up losing the match by a 38-chalk margin.

Later in the day, Sheffield went on to beat Skipton to top the group and claim their place in the competition’s semi-finals.

Having enjoyed the experience despite the two defeats, Harrogate plan to enter a team once again next year.