Bowling: Tait dream comes true for the victor of Dudley

Published on Monday 17 August 2009 09:43

PETER MILLER celebrated his birthday this weekend and the 46-year-old bowls champion of Dudley made it extra special by getting his name etched on the prestigious Tait Trophy – established 121 years ago as the Champion of Champions event of the Edinburgh & Leith Bowling Association.

The final game was something of a marathon affair as it lasted 28 ends at Gorgie Mills yesterday before Miller came from behind to spring a 21-18 surprise on Robert Donaldson, the 34-year-old title favourite from Parkside.

"You'll never believe this but I dreamt earlier on in the week that I was going to win this even to the extent of beating Robert (Donaldson] in the final," said Miller later although he will have to stick with being a duty manager with Travel Lodge for now as those vivid revelations didn't include coming up with Saturday's winning national lottery numbers.

"I am absolutely delighted at becoming the Tait champion and it represents the pinnacle of my achievements in the sport to date and of course because of its status I will now become a cult figure at Dudley," he added.

To reach the final Miller beat Donny Gilbertson of West End 21-17, while Donaldson had to show stamina over 27 ends to end the challenge of Paul O'Donnell of Bainfield, 23, by a score of 21-18.

Under pressure at 18-17 Miller carded a three at the 22nd end to make the win. Donaldson, meanwhile, ultimately tipped the scales in his favour by trailing the jack for a 2 to 20 when facing three against at 18-17.

Miller's Tait Trophy success was the second for his club as Robert Gardner, presently with Parkside, was successful in 1996.

Donaldson had to be the favourite in the final as the Edinburgh fireman has a national junior singles title on his CV and, although a first-time champion at Parkside, is an established Hamilton Trophy player with Edinburgh & Leith.

"I am gutted at losing as I felt I had worked my way into a winning position but it's 21 up that counts and Peter handled the climax better than I did so deserves his win," summed up Donaldson.

The crowd was sparser than it should have been for one of the bowling calendar's showpiece occasions and the final itself was full of scrappy play due in many respects to a troublesome cross-green breeze and a seemingly tricky-to-master rink.

Donaldson won the toss but elected to give the jack away so Miller opted for long only for it to cost him two shots with the Parkside challenger ditching the jack with his third bowl.

It appeared that the formbook was going to be justified when Donaldson added a hat-trick of singles to lead 5-0 but, having changed to short jacks, Miller switched back to long and got himself off the mark with a single.

Good stuff – a rare commodity at the time – on end six from Miller yielded a double to three then Donaldson edged a single on an umpire's measure to set up a purple patch for him, scoring 2, 2, 1 and one that left Miller with a 9-6 lead.

The breeze, and the rink, continued to be the main stars of the match. Miller did not let that bother him unduly, though, and he managed the conditions sufficiently to push ahead to 13-7.

End 16 was Donaldson's best yet, quality-wise, and he followed up his three-shot reward with a single to close to 13-11. He then held shot at the next but lost a two to Miller's last-bowl conversion.

A brighter sky and a calming of the breeze benefited Donaldson most with improved consistency producing closer heads and a six-end run that put 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 and one on the card, thrusting him into the driving seat at 18-15.

"I thought at this stage my sweet dream was going to turn into a nightmare," Miller admitted later.

But Miller arrested his slide with a single to 16 then a Donaldson strike that went awry left him with a poor result with his opponent counting two to 18.

It was at this stage that the Parksider's bubble burst with Miller going on to hit 21 with a one and two finish.