Adam Wallace created a little bit of history when he became the first Sabden Bowling Club player to win the prestigious Sabden Open Singles floodlight bowling competition. The tournament, which is played for annually over a period of four weeks and attracts players from a wide area, involves eight qualifying nights before the concluding rounds are completed on ‘Finals night’.

Previous winners have included county stars Lee Heaton, John Metters and Blackburn's Paul Sutcliffe.

This year’s finals attracted a large and knowledgeable crowd and conditions both weatherwise and on the green were ideal, and the crowd was treated to some superb bowling and some close finishes.

None more so than the semi-final between Sabden’s own Tom Connell and Rishton’s Pocket Rocket, Michael Burns which ebbed and flowed in the early stages before Connell, playing some excellent bowls opened up a 17-11 lead.

It was then that Burns found his form and using all his experience against his younger opponent pulled the game back to level at 19-19.

However Connell, playing two loose balls, gave Burns the chance to score the two needed for victory and a place in the final.

Wallace, having beaten team-mate Joe Boyle in a nail-biting encounter and disposed of Hoghton’s Michael Coupe in the quarters, had a more straightforward semi-final victory over Dave Sullivan holding the upper-hand throughout before running out a 21-12 winner.

The final between Wallace from Clitheroe and Burns proved, as expected, to be a close fight with both bowlers playing bowls of a consistently high quality which was fitting for the final.

And Wallace eventually taking control and running out a 21-14 winner and so taking the title and collecting the first prize money. A thoroughly deserved victory having played well throughout the competition – a view echoed by many of the spectators!

The prizes were presented by retiring club president Pauline Stansfield who thanked all the competitors and all the club members who had helped in any way in supporting the event and after the presentations the winner, Wallace, thanked the kitchen staff and praised the groundstaff for preparing such a wonderful surface on which to play – a sentiment echoed by everyone who took part.