County set eye place in final

Gary Ellis

BOWLS

A PLACE in the County Championship finals beckons for Greater Manchester, who take on North Midlands on Sunday (2pm).

Having recovered from defeat in the first game of their group programme, Manchester will feel they can play with a degree of freedom in their semi-final showdown.

But it won’t be easy against their opponents, who have chosen the notoriously-difficult Coundon in Coventry as their home venue.

Manchester have a powerful home side at Hopwood Unionist Club, Heywood, including a healthy local contingent.

Draw:

At Hopwood (Manchester names first): Gary Ellis v Darren Plenderleith; Andrew Cairns v Liam Bench; Jimmy Derby v Dane Hopwood; Nicky Brooks v Jordie Baddeley; Darren Griffiths v Rich Burdett; Steve Squire v Carl Wilkins; Matt Gillies v Paul Lamb; Jonathan Copeland v Danny Edkins; Thomas Dobson v Steve Pratt; Mike Holden v Karl Shanks; John Ashton v Alan Belcher; Steve Copeland v Shane Day.

At Coundon: Nigel Greenhalgh v Peter Varney; David Walker v Mark Blackmore; Chris Haynes v Stuart Perry; Charlie Roberts v Matt Horton; Chris Heyes v Jamie Dunn; Jack Holland v Leigh Burdett; Lee Turner v Jim Robertson; Paul Heap v Darren Day; Gareth Gwilliam v Chris Challen; Steve Leach v Roger Taylor; Ben Phillips v Noel Bates; Matt Jones v Stuart Nash.

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