ANDY Hilliard and Kevin Haslam are the inaugural winners of the £600 Fogarty's Doubles bowls competition held at Lower Darwen URC.

The Darwen pair beat Paul Sutcliffe and Paul Brett 21-11 in final to clinch the £200 first place prize fund in front of a large crowd who gathered to support the first event sponsored by Fogarty's Insurance.

It was the culmination of a day of top class bowls with some of the best bowlers in the area taking part.

Hilliard and Haslam's march to the title was not without a few scares along the way.

The pair beat the Howards 21-17 in the quarter final and were pushed ever harder in the last four, eventually getting the better of Colin Crompton and Barbara Horman, winning 21-18.

Sutcliffe and Brett beat Oakland and Whittle 21-14 in their quarter final before their never-say-die attitude saw them fight back from 18-10 down against Pat Briggs and Colin Oates to win 21-18 in the semi final.

In the final, Haslam lead superbly throughout and the pair raced to a 7-1 and then 11-4 lead with Hilliard supporting well.

When Sutcliffe and Brett cut the gap from 17-6 to 17-11, another fightback looked on the cards but a four at the last end saw Haslam and Hilliard take the trophy which was presented by Pat and Phil Fogarty.

Results

Quarter finals: Oakland/Whittle 14-21 Sutcliffe/Brett, Briggs/Oates 21-9 Schofield/Haslam, Crompton/Horman 21-17 Barratt/Finn, Hilliard/Haslam 21-17 Howard/Howard.

Semi finals: Sutcliffe 21-18 Briggs, Crompton 18-21 Hilliard.

Final: Hilliard/ Haslam 21-11 Sutcliffe/ Brett.