As Lucy Beere became the only woman to win 10 consecutive individual crowns, extending her record title tally to 14, the Priaulx family became the first to have both father and son’s names engraved on the Elliott Men’s Singles trophy.
This came through Peter Priaulx winning his first title to back up the multiple previous successes of son Todd.
Both the Elliott and De Putron Women’s Singles finals unfolded concurrently at Corbet Field on Saturday afternoon, at which point the programme was running behind from the morning’s downpour, while strong winds swept the venue.
The Northern Bowling Association’s Priaulx defied the formidable local knowledge of Vale Rec greenkeeper and president Don Ogier in a drawn-out contest, ultimately winning 21-13.
The man in blue raced to a 4-0 lead but spent most of the match gradually chipping away at his opponent.
A mid-match resurgence had his opponent cutting the deficit to just two shots, but Priaulx bounced back well to emulate his son and land the trophy.
‘I’m proud to have won the title,’ he said.
‘The effort I put in is the concentration.
‘There’s always friendly rivalries between myself and my son, anyway, and I never thought I’d get to the standard that he would be, but with effort and concentration, and the encouragement he gives me as well, it gets us to the level that we need.
‘I do play it to enjoy it, win, lose or draw. It’s you against the conditions more than against your opponent.’
Being only in her second season of bowls and best known for her past glory in the adrenaline-soaked discipline of powerboating, Sue Cosgrave faced the unenviable task of going up against the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist in the women’s final.
Cosgrave had entered with the ambition of simply taking one shot out of her daunting opponent.
In reality, the Beau Sejour bowler played some superb bowls to win the second end and then the fourth, after which the deficit was a modest 5-3.
Vale Rec’s own Beere picked it up from there, and while Cosgrave had moments showing her promise as a player, the direction of the title was clear.
Beere triumphed 21-5 and underlined that these titles still mean a lot to her, especially after reaching the milestone of 10 in a row.
‘I’m quite surprised,’ she said.
‘I always love breaking records. That’s what I’m about now.
‘I’ve been around the block now and every title is special.’
Beere praised her opponent, who beat her personal target, and admitted that newer players can be surprisingly challenging.
‘They’re the hard ones to play against,’ she added.
‘You never know what they’re going to do.
‘They’ve got nothing to lose. Sue did some fantastic bowling and the score did not reflect the game.’
Beere’s season has been about putting the heartache of the latest Commonwealth Games selection process behind her, but she had to praise Alison Merrien for carrying on the medal momentum at Glasgow 2026.
‘It was disappointing. But great for Guernsey to bring home another medal with Alison getting the silver.
‘It keeps Guernsey up there and flying.’
Beere now has her own international ambitions to fulfil, being now less than three weeks away from the European Bowls Championships.
‘I feel like I’ve prepared as well as I can for it.’
