JOLYON Partridge claimed the Burway bragging rights against club-mate Len Lewis at the Ludlow & District Bowls League Individual Competition held at Craven Arms.

It would have been an entirely different final had Craven Arms duo Ben Foxall and Lee Wilding not been forced to take two-point handicaps in their semi-finals with both men prevented from getting over the winning line by the measure designed to wipe out any home advantage.

Some 40 players took part on a day of changeable weather but it was at the last-four stage that things began to hot up.

Firstly, Foxall seemed set to make light work of his disadvantage by sailing into a 10-2 lead but Lewis refused to accept defeat and racked up seven points without reply to get back into the contest.

The pendulum dramatically shifted again with Foxall forging 17-11 ahead only for Lewis to level matters at 17-17 with Foxall then moving to within one point of victory before Lewis’s unanswered four-point haul won the match 21-20.

Wilding also defied his penalty to lead 9-5 but as soon as Partridge won his block back, the Burway man moved 13-9 in front.

Once again, the momentum shifted with Wilding establishing a slender 19-18 lead that Partridge wiped out with three match-winning shots of his own.

There was to be no such drama in the decider, however, with Partridge cruising into an early five-point lead.

The closest Lewis got to his rival was 9-7 but Partridge’s long sweeping mark up the crown settled matters and the match was over within the next nine ends with a final score of 21-7.

Partridge has also qualified for next month’s Midlands Masters finals.