Away-day misery final straw for county

BOWLS: GREATER Manchester’ s bowlers suffered an unexpected and heavy loss in their final Endsleigh County Championship group match against Cumbria.

Defeat spelled the end of their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, so the county’s wait to end a title drought dating back to 2008 goes on. Manchester could manage only a 20-point victory at the home venue of AEU Openshaw, where Dave Walker was their best winner with 21-11.

But the real damage was done at the away venue of Lindal-In-Furness, a fast and tricky green which posed the visitors all sorts of problems.

Furthermore, the hosts contained ex-homesters who knew the green well, so the 82-chalks margin of defeat for Manchester in Cumbria could have been predicted in hindsight.

Steve Copeland, who the previous night had won the Green Final Handicap at Royton, maintained his fine form with a 21-19

So Manchester’s 2015 campaign has ended at the opening hurdle after the selectors tried a couple of new home venues in an attempt to improve results.

Their selection of Waterloo and Taunton for their second group match certainly proved a hit, but it seems other counties have amazingly-difficult go-to greens with which they can produce top results when they need them most.

Manchester’s think tank will clearly be trying to identify some different venues of their own.