We regain the Marshall Shield under very tricky conditions.
- Jeff Jaycock
- Sep 2
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 3
This report (italics) was kindly provided by Gary Preston, Captain of the Marshall Shield squad.
"The Marshall Shield was first introduced as a County men’s competition by the President of our club Major M. H. Marshall. We went on to win the competition twice in the early years in both 1946 and 1948.
We entered again in 2023 after many years of not entering and managed to win the trophy at our first attempt, against Brotton Bowling Club, which triggered a few choruses of “Marshall’s coming home, its coming home”.
We unfortunately lost very narrowly in the first round in 2024, so we started our campaign this year not knowing how we would get on - was winning in 2023 a lucky fluke?
Earlier Rounds in 2025
This year saw a bumper number of entries at 18 teams. Our campaign started at home against Springhead Park, a very strong team within the county with many county players. We managed to win a very close game by just 6 shots, 51-45.
Our next game was at home against York RB&SC, another very strong team. This game went our way convincingly, winning 66-49. This meant we were in the semi-finals again with a chance of getting through to the final and winning the Shield for a second time. The semi-final and final were both to be played on 30th August at Selby Bowls Club.
Finals Day
The Semi-final.
A pre-match photo of our two teams.
The green proved to be very tricky, playing very fast with a strong wind to make it even harder to get the length right.
The semi-final was against Holderness, a team from Hull that we knew very little about. We won all 3 rinks, scoring 56-33.
Everyone finds the conditions challenging.
The sun comes out.
The jack is in the ditch and a difficult measure is needed...
Others relax and are enjoying the day.
The players need to temporarily vacate the rink!
Fantastic. Harrogate is through to the Final.
Heading for the lunchtime break.
The Final.
This took us to the final where we faced Brotton BC (who we defeated in 2023). Again we won all three rinks, scoring 60-36.
It can’t be emphasised enough how tricky the green was to play at Selby. It was nearly declared unplayable by the Selby Captain, Peter Lund. who was in attendance to make sure the day ran smoothly and to award the trophy.
The trial ends are completed and the Final begins.
Two to Brotton.
"Even" after 13 ends.
The first rink to finish and Harrogate comes out ahead.
The other rink is close to finishing.
Recording the scores. It's another win for Harrogate.
Mutual appreciation.
Brotton team members bond in defeat.
A rain shower meant the Marshall Shield was presented in the Selby BC clubhouse.
The Harrogate Captain accepts the Shield on behalf
of his squad and Harrogate Bowling Club.
Special mention must go to our players on the day who managed to master the tricky conditions better than our opponents:
Gary Preston, Mike Littlejohn, Chris Littlefair, Frank Devaney, Ian Brickley, Tom Bielby, Simon Hamer, Les Bentley, Lee Coutts, Paul Morton, Mark Peatman & Douglas McWee...
...with additional support from John Russell, John Drake, Richard O’Halloran, Paul Cornwell & Mick Metson who played in earlier rounds and helped us reach the finals.
It's been an intense day. Time to let off some steam.
We were also helped on the day by our travelling support of Jeff and Caroline, Mick and Monica, Judith and Derek, Pauline, and our wives, Janet, Christine, Fiona & Heather. We are very thankful for the support we get at these matches; it really makes a difference.
Selby Bowling Club have some excellent facilities and we thank them for hosting the finals."
Gary Preston
Photographs, captions and format: Jeff Jaycock.