IT'S come home!
The Star Masters Trophy finally returned to St Helens on Saturday night.
Brown Edge ace Paul Gartside clinched the coveted trophy with a display of pinpoint accuracy and determined concentration.
And it ended the domination by Wigan bowlers over the past few years.
Gartside's title-winning display came before a shirt-sleeved crowd of about 250 enthusiasts at the Gerard Arms, Dentons Green.
The Jackson Street-based paramedic opened his assault with a 21-13 defeat of Mere Brow's Harvey Birch.
And in the semi-final the 40-year-old father-of-three found himself up against the formidable Alan Shacklady (Ormskirk), who had just seen off Carl Gregson (Skelmersdale) 21-2.
But Paul was in no mood to budged from his target as he ran out a worthy 21-17 winner.
In the other half of the draw, the talented Ron Belshaw (Garswood) defeated Greenalls' John Daniels.
And Clitheroe's Malcolm Wensley, in ominous form, defeated two-times winner Terry Kelly.
Wensley went on to beat Belshaw in the semi-final to set up a titanic confrontation with Paul Gartside, this year's winner of the St Helens Bowling League's Dodd Trophy.
Wensley proved a dogged opponent, but in the end Paul's class shone through as the county star took the title 21-16.
Afterwards Paul thanked sponsors, David's Confectioners and Guardsman Industries.
He said: "Without them we wouldn't have competitions like this."
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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