Hinton bowing out after Merit victory
Trophy successes 60 years apart have helped convince Shropshire bowls stalwart Mike Hinton that the time is right to retire from the game.
The Sir John Bayley man won the Mid Shropshire Senior Citizens League’s Over-75s Merit for the third year in a row last week at Horsehay, beating Jim Lister 21-14 in the final.
And that will be the last title success for the 78-year-old, who will give up the sport at the end of the current season to care for his wife Joy at their Wellington home.
“It was in 1959 that I won the County Father & Son with my dad (Les) at Greenfields at the age of 18,” said a proud Hinton.
“And now this 60 years later – I can’t believe it!
“I’d lost 21-17 to Jim Lister at White Horse (HUSC) in the league a couple of weeks before, but he said to me ‘you’ve got your own back for that’.
“I wanted to get to 80 still playing but I have got to make Joy my No.1 priority now.
“I still enjoy playing, but it’s only in the afternoons with the seniors these days, but I’m going to give it up because I don’t want to leave Joy any more.”
Hinton was a key member of Shropshire’s first-time Crosfield Cup winning team in 1974, having enjoyed his best individual season in1970 when he won the County Merit at Rolls Royce and lost to county team-mate Tony Dowley in the British Merit final at M&B in Birmingham.
His longevity in terms of playing the sport was combined with official roles, including two terms as county president and 12 years as a popular president of the Shropshire Premier League.
Hinton’s success was part of a big title double for the Bayley as Pat Minton won the league’s Merit crown thanks to a 21-10 victory over team-mate John Nash in the final at Hadley USC.
But the Bayley’s hopes of an eighth Division One championship in a row in the Peter Morris Car-sponsored league hang by a thread as St Georges are pushing them hard.
Reg Reese and John Griffiths dusted off the cobwebs to win the Salop Leisure Shrewsbury Senior Citizens League’s one-day doubles.
Both had played just one league game before pairing up for the annual competition at Meole Brace, which now looks safe after attracting an excellent turnout of 25 pairs.
League chief Chris Kershaw said: “Reg Reese (Greenfields) and John Griffiths (Old Shrewsbury) beat Roger Lem and Ted Rogers (Shelton) 21-7 (in the final).
“The winners of the consolation competition were Roger Whitfield and Pete Drury (Battlefield), who beat Kath Hughes and Hugo Jones (Meole Brace) 21-9.”
