Buckley’s boys look to up game

BOWLS; GREATER Manchester scraped past South Yorkshire in their opening County Championship fixture of the season and will be looking for an improved performance when taking on Lancashire on Sunday (2pm).

Victory for Manchester would make them hot favourites to secure a place in the semi-finals, so home captain Andy Buckley and away skipper Gary Ellis will demand big performances from their

teams. Manchester have chosen Springhead as their home venue.

Draw (at Springhead, Manchester names first): Darren Griffiths v Billy Speed; Matt Gillies v Peter Consterdine; Andy Buckley (capt) v Neil Bithell; Charlie Roberts v Peter Marrow; Colin Lane v Chris Cooke; Chris Heyes v Dave Twigg; Mike Holden v Carl Glover; Jonathan Copeland v Alan Manuel; Keith McHugh v George Chadwick; Peter Craig v Alan Hill; Mark Dwayre v John Taylor; Alan Hodson v Barry Simm.

At Leigh BC: Andy Cairns v Billy Farrell; David Walker v Nicky Shaw; Chris Haynes v Brian Naylor; Nigel Greenhalgh v Damien Morrison; Steve Copeland v Mark Britton; Jack Hargreaves v Ray Goodhand; Matthew Jones v John Brown; Lee Turner v Phil Boydell; Steve Squire v Allan Broadhurst; Darren Holt v Duncan Watkins; Gareth Gwilliam v Chris Ashton; Gary Ellis (capt) v Steve Brown.



ROYTON will host the home leg of Greater Manchester women’s match against Cheshire on Sunday (2pm).

Local players in action are Diane Bowler (Oldham RU), Alma Tickle, Chris Kewley and Janelle Pertoldi (Springbank), Karen Houlston and Rachel Fish (Delph), Margaret Brooks (Grapes), Michelle Renshaw (Werneth) and Joan Horton (Diggle).



NIMBLE Nook aces Gary Ellis, Darren Griffiths and Jimmy Derby, and Failsworth’s Lee Lawton are in a star-studded line-up for the Alan Wood Memorial Trophy at Ellesmere Bowling Club tomorrow (11am).

Draw: Glynn Cookson v Graeme Wilson; Nicky Shaw v Brian Duncan; Andrew Cairns v Derby; Callum Wraight v Griffiths; Dave Jackson v Lawton; Tommy Johnstone v Danny Baines; Chris Brown v Ellis; Noel Burrows v Scott Fisher.



GREATER Manchester Merit gets under way at Middleton Conservative Club tonight (6.30pm) when the draw is:

N Greenhalgh v K Kirby; Greg Ellis v J Hargreaves, A Mellor v G Smedley, J Hynes v P Fielding; S Copeland v S Mullington; A Lamb v C Chapman, F Warburton v Gary Ellis, B Stapleton v W Usher.

Tomorrow (1pm): M Connolly v K McHugh; J Owen v A Hodson; A Lowe v D Walker; P Bennett v P Heap; J Kelly v M Morrison; R Colson v M Gillies; J Woodward v A Donaldson; I Johnson v M Hodson.



NIMBLE Nook pairs partners Andrew Buckley and Darren Griffiths have qualified for the finals of the Hopwood Unionist Classic, along with Tonge’s Stuart Mort and Chris Hill of Sheffield.

Heats continue tonight (6.30pm) when Nook’s Colin Lane features on a top-class card.

Draw: Andy Cairns v Paul Dudley; Danny Sillitoe v Graeme Wilson; John Woodward v Peter Consterdine; Tommy Johnstone v Chris Brown; John Wade v Lee Lawton; Colin Lane v Chris Jenkins; Lee Bleakley v Malcolm Wensley; Jack Hargreaves v Mark Bramhall.



TONGE maintained their Manchester Premier League title push with an excellent 12.1-1.5 (201-138) victory over Garswood Hall.

Winners for Tonge were Andrew Cairns (21-18), Matt Gillies (21-9), Jimmy Derby (21-7); Laurence Hallett (21-11), Thomas Dobson (21-9), Colin Lane (21-18), Darren Griffiths (21-13), Simon Coupe (21-16) and Gary Ellis (21-16).

Tonge travel to take on Huddersfield outfit Longwood next Wednesday (7.30pm).



THE Royle Summer Classic in Rochdale gets under way tomorrow (6pm) when the players on shows are Andrew Collinge, Peter Craig, Steve Leach, David Jackson, David Gwilliam, Andrew Fergus, Gary Coverdale and Colin Lane.