On Tuesday 26 September, the Mel Higham Welsh Vets Club Championship was played at Argoed BC. WCGBA Officials were, once again, there to support and run the event. Referees Arthur Peake and Alan Davies – having dried out from Sunday –  were joined by Peter Hughes. The four teams to qualify this year were Gresford Colliery – the 2022 winners, Coed Talon, Criccieth and Rhos Park.

The pairing of Coed Talon with Rhos Park for one section of the competition saw a few more successes for Coed Talon especially Richie Jamieson 21-12 over Wynne Evans, John Bonatti’s 21-16 over Ronnie Wilkinson and Mike Chamberlasin’s 21-11 win over Ally Pitman. Coed Talon scored 146 and Rhos Park 138.

In the second section, a strong Gresford Colliery team left Criccieth in no doubt about the outcome. Criccieth’s best performance was a 21-13 win by Dafydd Hughes over Dave Meal. Criccieth’s final score was 111 and Gresford Colliery 160.

And so to the Final. This was to be a close run event. Coed Talon started well with the first two winners, Richie Jamieson 21-18 over Graham Bennett and John Bonatti’s win 21-11 over Amanda Nicholas. Richie and Graham’s game was quite a marathon and they were still battling it out as the second lot of games were well underway. Gresford Colliery then took the next three games. At the midway stage, Coed Talon were a mere 5 points in front. With the final three games going to Coed Talon, the end scores were Coed Talon 154 and Gresford Colliery 143. Coed Talon were duly crowned winners of the Vet’s Club Championship for 2023.