My Sporting Life - continued - Page 3

In several seasons at Bowmans works we eventually ended up with four teams playing in the league and one of these was an all ladies team (a rare thing in the league game at the time) made up of secretaries from the office, and only to be repeated some years later at St Michaels Club when Irene and some other females formed an all ladies team in the 5th Division.

Over several years we played our way to the top division with a variety of different players joining our teams. We moved from club to club over the years, wherever we were welcomed and a table was available. After a few years in the top division, we were usually in the top three teams and were a team to beat - but we never managed to win the top trophy, Division One Champions.......Weston Club and the Holland boys came along and made sure we never won it as they proceeded to run away with it every season for many years - nobody could beat them...... but we got close on a few occasions.

I remember well the few occasions when our third player did not turn up for us and Billy Ogburn and I would give away the three games to the opposition and then beat them 7-3 by winning all our games..... The local newspaper reports for the league (written at the time by the inimitable Kevin Higgins) read "USAC’s ‘Dynamic Duo’ sink whole ICI side!" - Oh the good old days.........

From these beginnings reached my pinnacle by representing Widnes B team in the inter-town league and Billy and I played ourselves into the final of the Mens Doubles championship were we lost to the Barna specialists and classy doubles players Bryning and Hughes. The semi final was probably our best ever game game of doubles when we played out of our skins to beat the top seeded pair of Sam Holland and John Kenwright - I wish I could have watched the game as it was quite a match watched by the whole hall and applauded by them - I was concentrating so hard I can't remember how well we played many of the points.

SO that was how I got into the game and have played it since at many clubs in Widnes and with some great characters. I am now entering my 50th year of competitive playing (2011/12) and am eligible to play in the Over 60's Championship competition and after several good finishes in the Halton League in recent years we are now on the verge of winning the 2nd Division title depending on one final result to be played soon...... We are second favourites but you never know !!!! More later.....

PS - We won the title and were promoted to Division 1 only to finish bottom of the Division and be demoted back down.....

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