Hovingham Bowls Club pulled off a ‘giant killing’ act this week in its 90th anniversary season by winning one of Ryedale’s most prestigious bowling competitions.

The team won the Batagas League Fred Husband Knockout Trophy beating Helmsley Bowling Club by 48 shots to 43 in a tight and thrilling final hosted by Swinton Bowls Club..

Hovingham is one of the smaller clubs in the Batagas Ryedale Bowls League and it competed for the much coveted trophy against clubs that included League Champions Malton, Pickering, Terrington, Kirkbymoorside, Settrington, Swinton and Welham as well as Wiggington and Strensall from the York area.

The Hovingham Club Secretary, John Jefferson said: “It was a wonderful finale to our birthday year to win this trophy and it will give us all a big lift as we continue to do our very best to ensure the sport of bowls in the village not only survives, but prospers too.”

“One of the challenges for a small village club is to be competitive in matches against other clubs from larger communities with more players, so this sort of ‘David and Goliath’ success is very satisfying for all members," he said.

Most Bowls clubs in the Ryedale area are having to work hard to recruit a new generation of bowlers and Hovingham has used its 90th anniversary to raise the profile of the club and attract new players. This season it has welcomed four new members and they are all playing Bowls for the first time.

John added: “We always stress that Bowls is easy to learn and a game for all ages in which women and men compete equally.

“Our pool of players now has a range in age from 29 to 93, which is very encouraging."

Hovingham continues to search for new members and anyone who would like to try bowling should contact the Club via its website; no previous experience of the game is necessary.

For more information go to http://www.hovinghambowlsclub.org/community/hovingham-bowls-club