Tom Apps and Terry Rickets fought for the Harden District Bowling Club Singles Championship on Sunday, with Apps winning 31-27.

It was thought the match would be a close encounter and it turned out that way, with the lead changing on several occasions.

After twenty three ends had been played, Tom held a one shot lead 22/21.  Over the next five ends he increased his lead with four shots to Terry’s one to make the score 26/22.

Terry Ricketts.

The next two ends saw Terry hit back picking up five shots to lead 27/26. The next couple of ends saw Tom claim victory, when he picked up the required five shots for a 31/27 win.

Apps turned 81 a day after claiming the win on Monday and told the Times….

“I Played well I suppose. We both played well, there were only 4 shots in it, 31-27. Terry is a very good bowler and has won title many times before.

I played well in the Semi-final and the Final. I had to beat Rod James to come up against Terry”

Semi Final time. Tom and Rod.

It has been a 40 year love affair for Apps who took the sport up about 10 years after he retired from Rugby League, where he represented Harden in the Golden era of footy, playing Maher Cup during a time of uncompromising physicality.

Tom said “I had some very good bowlers to learn off when I took the game up. The likes of Jack Coddington, Ken Stocks, Geoff Kruger and Jimmy Arthur. Bill Oakes was  a state bowler also. I played a lot with Frank O’Brien and Jimmy Arthur, we won the District Triples, Zone Triples and made it to the last 8 in the state in 1992.”

Apps and O’Brien also won the Coota Pairs. Tom  also teamed up with Eddie Sheldrick and won an Invitation Pairs at the Country Club.

“In 2006 Eddie Sheldrick and I won the South West District Senior Pairs. We went on to win Zone 8 Senior Pairs and went to Sydney.”

Tom has had a long and distinguished career in the world of lawn bowls winning across all formats of the sport, including: Singles, Pairs, Triples, Fours and Mixed Pairs.

Tom on fire.

The Pairs format will continue over the next few weeks at the Bowling Club where Tom will be teaming up with Terry, to see if they can claim the Pairs title.