The 2026 Winter Cup quarter-finalists

Winter League

The Round of the Last 28 sorted out the eight qualifiers that progress through to Finals Day in our premier individual knock-out competition, the Winter Cup. The Last 28 were treated to a typical Winter League weather day as the rain started to come down as the first jacks were bowled and didn't relent over the next three hours and in fact got progressively heavier.

Huddersfield RUFC was the club staging our 5th holding of this competition and none of the previous four winners were still in contention this time around. So we already knew that a new name is to be added to the trophy generously donated by Kirkheaton Con bowlers Tony Butterfield and Garry Senior. But which name will it be?

The two remaining Division 1 bowlers left in the competition were always going to be the prime candidates to threaten a takeover but they were drawn against each in the Last 28 after both started the day with byes. Graham Hirst of Lower Hopton and Andy Lumb of Kirkheaton Con A went head-to-head and after a 'nip and tuck' affair it was Graham who sprinted away from a 16-across scoreline with a run of five straight points to go straight through to Finals Day with a 21-16 success.

New Winter League team Skel Windmill A enjoyed their first experience of this knock-out competition with three A team members involved. Losing captain Kevin Booth in the Round of 16 by 7-21 to homester Nigel Roebuck, after an earlier success over Division 2 bowler Barry Gibson by 21-19. Interestingly Nigel is the only bowler left in the competition that also reached the quarter-finals last year. That left Skel Windmill teammates Jamal Kelly and Sam Seargeant both in the bottom half of the Quarter-Final line-up. There are also two RUFC bowlers left in the running, Nigel Roebuck and Joanna Birch, and one of them is guaranteed a Semi-final place as they meet each other in the Quarter-Finals.

The other three bowlers to win two games to reach Finals Day are Paul Booth (Marsh Lib A), Michael Wood (Denby Dale) and Geoff Pearson (Kirkheaton C&BC C). All bowlers are reminded that we will be enforcing the BCGBA dress code on Finals Day. This means that all bowlers are expected to be wearing black trousers and collared shirts. That new name to be engraved on the Cup will be decided on Finals Day to be held at RUFC at 11.00am on Sunday 12 April. It will probably rain again but that is Winter League bowling for you.

FINALS DAY LINE-UP 11.00am Sunday 12 April at Huddersfield RUFC