CALLUM Sharples lifted the Sam Howarth Trophy after one of the finest days of junior bowling in South Cumbria for years.

Sharples defeated Jordan Park 21-20 in a remarkable final fit for a superb 15th running of the competition at the pristine Walney Park.

Seasoned players and newcomers alike made up a field of 17, with Sharples a late entry on the morning.

He had been due to play in a football tournament at Thornton Cleveleys, but a phone call at midnight telling him the event had been called off due to the bad weather proved to be perfect luck for him.

Despite taking the crown, he nearly did not make it past the first round as he trailed Ben Pullin 18-10 and 20-14 before three doubles and a single took him through by the narrowest of margins.

In a game that produced some stunning bowling from both players, Sharples knocked out Charlie O’Hare 21-11, a scoreline that belittled the closeness of the Roose Cons player’s woods.

In the semi-finals, Sharples trailed 9-4 and 11-9 before taking command to beat 10-year-old West Mount junior Jack Brannon 21-12.

Park had a tough opening match as well, his being against in-form 12-year-old Adam Smith. The eventual runner-up trailed 12-11 before winning 21-14 after some excellent corner bowling.

Rohan Massey Holmes earned his quarter-final clash with Park after some fine bowling to knock out Jack Preston and Shaun Fisher.

He was level at eight-across against Park and never gave up, despite being on the wrong end of the 21-12 scoreline.

Park’s semi final-opponent was 11-year-old Askam player Fraser Rigg, who had dispatched Patrick McCormack, 21-11, and Sam Naylor, 21-17, after trailing 10-4, to get there.

The final looked like being a one-sided affair as Sharples’ length deserted him and Park took a 15-6 lead.

But he slowly clawed himself back into the game to level the scores at 18-across.

Park then scored a double to take him to one point from victory.

Park then bowled a lead wood toucher at the next end, with Sharples’ first wood going four feet past the jack.

Park left a blocker on the land with his second bowl and the trophy looked his.

After a moment of pondering what to do, Sharples changed his peg and struck.

He connected with the head and somehow managed to leave the jack near his own first bowl to claim the point.

Another single from Sharples and it was all-square, with both players needing a point for the match. Sharples bowled an 18-inch lead wood, with Park just off the land when failing to beat it.

Sharples’ last wood was left short, while Park’s final effort ran just past the jack and out to give Sharples the title to add to the Junior Grand Masters he won at the beginning of the month.

Ken Howarth presented trophies and money to the last four competitors. He thanked Walney Park for the use of the green, all the markers and measurers and those who gave the help he received in running the competition.

RESULTS

Round One: Rohan Massey Holmes 21 Jack Preston 13.

Round Two: Massey Holmes 21 Shawn Fisher 12, Jordan Park 21 Adam Smith 14, Sam Naylor 21 Alfie Murray 9, Patrick McCormack 11 Fraser Rigg 21, Ben Pullin 20 Callum Sharples 21, Charlie O’Hare 21 Ryan Smith 17, Harry Preston 20 Jack Brannon 21, Jack Last 21 Alec McCormack 10.

Quarter-finals: Massey Holmes 12 Park 21, Naylor 17 Rigg 21, Sharples 21 O’Hare 11, Brannon 21 Last 10.

Semi Finals: Park 21 Rigg 15, Sharples 21 Brannon 12.

Final: Park 20 Sharples 21.