Ryan Smith became the 19th winner of the Sam Haworth Trophy competition after defeating Ethan Lowden 21-13 in a final between two of the best junior bowlers in the Furness area.

Played in beautiful sunny conditions on a well prepared Walney Park Bowling Club Green, the ten competitors were split into two groups of five, with each player playing the other four in their group.

Group One was a tough group to win, as it comprised of Ryan Smith, Adam Smith, Fraser Rigg, Daniel Thompson and Holly MacPake.

Ryan Smith beat Adam Smith 21-16 then lost 19-21 to Fraser Rigg, who in turn lost 15-21 to Adam Smith, as the group turned out to be as competitive as expected.

With all three beating Daniel Thompson and Holly MacPake, they finished with three wins and a loss each, but with Ryan Smith’s aggregate of 1.262 being slightly better than Adam Smith’s 1.234 and Rigg’s 1.114 took him into the final.

Group Two paired Ethan Lowden, Jack Brannon, Jack Last, Reuben MacPake and Ben Thompson together.

After three games, Lowden and Brannon both had a 100 per cent record so it was a winner-take-all final group match between the two, which Lowden comfortably won 21-10 to go through.

After 13 ends in the final, Ryan Smith led 12-5 and although Lowden closed the gap to 14-10, he could not prevent Smith from winning the trophy for a third consecutive time.

Ken Howarth would like to thank Walney Park for the use of the green, along with Matt McKellar, Jeff McDougal, Ian Fairclough and Lee Smith for the refreshments and measuring.

Group 1: R Smith 21 A Smith 16, F Rigg 21 D Thompson 16, R Smith 21 D Thompson 14, A Smith 21 H MacPake 16, A Smith 21 F Rigg 15, H MacPake 14 R Smith 21, F Rigg 21 H MacPake 14, D Thompson 12 A Smith 21, H MacPake 10 D Thompson 21, R Smith 19 F Rigg 21

Group 2:- J Brannon 21 R MacPake 15, E Lowden 21 B Thompson 13, J Brannon 21 B Thompson 16, R MacPake 13 J Last 21, R MacPake 7 E Lowden 21, J Last 17 J Brannon 21, E Lowden 21 J Last 9, B Thompson 21 R MacPake 20, J Last 21 B Thompson 10, J Brannon 10 E Lowden 21

Final: Ryan Smith 21 Ethan Lowden 13