County team dodge a bullet

BOWLS:

GREATER Manchester’s bowlers considered themselves fortunate to escape with a narrow victory over South Yorkshire in their opening County Championship match of the season.

The gamble to use the Chadderton Cot artificial surface as a home venue backfired as they went down by 11 chalks.

But the away team did the business, winning by 20 to give Manchester a nine-chalks success.

Debutants Charlie Roberts (Springbank) and Matt O’Neill (Springbank) both won at Cot, while skipper Alan Hodson (Springbank) hit back from 14-6 down to win 21-19 and teenager Jonathan Copeland (Nimble Nook) defeated the highly-rated Chris Brown 21-16.

There were also wins for Nook’s Colin Lane and Waterloo’s Chris Heyes.

The away leg at Woodland Park saw Manchester produce some fine performances, most notably from Matt Jones and Jack Hargreaves, who both won 21-9.

Nimble Nook’s Andy Buckley and Gary Ellis were also in the winner’s enclosure, along with Andrew Cairns, Lee Turner and Chris Haynes.