Ken Adeva (jaykay) THE MORLAIS TAVERN Dowlais Years 1983-1991

THE MORLAIS TAVERN DART TEAMS
DOWLAIS YEARS 1983 to 1991

In October 1983 the Morlais Inn dart team made their debut in the Dowlais League at the Pantyscallog in the John Reddy Cup. It was an unspectacular start to their Dowlais dart league introduction with a 5-2 win over the third division team, who surprised their much vaunted opponents with two single leg wins from Stan Davies and Graham Thomas. This inauspicious start to their Dowlais campaign gave rise to an unprecedented eight consecutive Division won championship victories enjoying a dominance of the Dowlais Dart league only bettered by the legendary Horse and Groom team of the sixties and seventies. The eight years they competed in Dowlais is well documented and although unfortunately ending in a controversial exit in 1992 when they finished as runners up, bares testimony to a considerable achievement of consistency, which will probably never be bettered.
The Morlais first ever squad registered in Dowlais consisted of fourteen players who had mainly come from the Merthyr league with Adrian Thomas who had taken up residence at the Morlais Inn. From the start they looked a formidable outfit and a more than serious challenge to the then champions the Gurnos C.
THE FIRST EVER SQUAD
ADRIAN THOMAS (County Player) An accomplished player who had played extensively in the Dowlais League previously with the Treifor A among others, and had been crowned Singles Champion in 1979 a future ever present in what is regarded as “his” team .Doubles Champion (2) Fours Champion (1)
JOHN GAMBLE (County Player) Later to become a Foursomes winner(1) a Doubles winner(2) and a Division one Champion in all but one of the Morlais teams eight victories when he went AWOL in 1991
JACKO SIMS A very limited career in the Dowlais League as he left for South Africa following the Morlais winning debut season in 1984 but still managed to add a Dowlais Foursomes title to his name
BILLY COOKSEY (County Player) A player who has won more titles than any other player, and another ever present in the Morlais team. His list of championships are, three with Carmarthen C , one with the Labour A and a further eight with the Morlais together with championship victories in Foursome(2) , and Singles.(1)
VINCE LEWIS Leaving the Gurnos Tavern to join the championship winners the Horse and Groom in 1975. He left them the following year to try his luck in Merthyr eventually joining up for a formidable doubles pairing with Peter O,Sullivan who took runners up spot in the Dowlais Doubles final 1990 and Foursomes Champion 3 times.
PETER O,SULLIVAN First made his name with the Horse and Groom in their last ever Championship season in 1976, then secured a second title victory with the Norton A in 1980. He secured his Dowlais Singles title in 1981, following numerous victories in the Dowlais Foursomes. Competition resulting in a record seven foursomes titles.
PETER LOCKE (Welsh International)The record breaking machine who making a start in Dowlais with the Carmarthen C in 1979 went on to win a record breaking four Dowlais Singles Championships gaining County and International caps along the way holds the record for most maximums in a season and most maximums ever in Dowlais,but strangely he never won the Dowlais Doubles title ******* 1 *********
FRED TRICKETT A Merthyr league player who burst on to the Dowlais scene with the championship winning Norton A in 1980 eventually winning County selection and lifting the Dowlais singles crown in 1989 along with three Foursomes wins.
DEREK JAMES An ever present doubles partner for Ron Lloyd who lifted the championship with the Labour A in 1981. Won the Foursomes crown with the Morlais in 1985 and left the team in 1987 .
RON LLOYD (County Player) A Singles champion in 1977 and a prominent member of the Labour A team who were champions in 1981, as well as a foursomes winner in 1985, he to left the Morlais in 1987 never to play again in Dowlais.
CRAIG SIMS Just the one season with the Morlais producing some fine displays saw Craig leave for Merthyr where he was more at home
JIMMY MARTIN Had previously been part of the league championship victories with the Carmarthen C in 1979 and the Norton A in 1980
JOHN SALES Only getting limited appearances John could not break into the very strong Morlais team
ALAN EVANS Another fringe player who could not establish himself in the Morlais first team set up.
**************************************

So it was with these fourteen that the Morlais started their challenge in Dowlais and as can be seen from the following pages they brought a degree of talent that improved the standard of the league considerably resulting in the three consecutive victories over the Merthyr League Select team by Dowlais in the resurrected inter league match for charity.
The secret of their success was I believe, constantly trying to improve their team by attracting who they considered to be the best players of both the Dowlais and Merthyr leagues but most of all keeping a nucleus of their first ever line up who throughout the years have remained solid mates.
It is also true that some of the leagues top players chose not to join the Morlais preferring to take them on as opponents and the following list shows some of the people in this category Ray Phillips, Tony Williams, Lyndon Price, Wayne Ward,
John Davies, Ray Smith, Joe Lang, Denis Phillips, Simon Marks, Vivian Morgan etc.
It is inevitable that the degree of dominance enjoyed by the Morlais would come in for considerable envy, with the majority of league members hoping they would be beaten in the numerous cup final conflicts and league programmes, but at all times the result would be accepted as at least well deserved by a team that in my opinion always displayed a sporting attitude even on the rare occasions that they come unstuck.
It was with these achievements in mind that I decided to collate all the information I had on what I call the Dowlais Years of the Morlais team and hope that it is of interest to not only the players of the Morlais, but also of the many bread and butter players who enjoyed playing in the Dowlais League when it was at its best. **** 2 ****

The Dowlais league format was such that a team could win a maximum of five trophies in any one season. There was the ;
The Divisional Championship
Played on a league basis with the standard two points for a win and one for a draw with the season lasting approximately nine months.
The Rowlands Cup :
The major cup competition involving all registered teams played on a best of eight flying start 501 doubles games.
The Reddy Cup
A competition involving one foursomes leg, two doubles legs, and six single legs drawn from a hat.
The Singles Cup
As the name suggests consisted of eight singles legs of selected order players which if resulted in a draw would be decided by a selected play off player from each team
The Champion of Champions
This Cup involved the first three teams in Division 1 and division two together with the top two teams in Division three.
In addition to the above team honours a further four Individual player honours were available
Singles Championship
An open championship for any Dowlais registered player culminating in the last four playing to the finish on Grand Finals night
Doubles Championship
Again open to any Dowlais player with two players from the same club playing down to the last two pairs who decided the outcome on Grand Finals night
Foursomes Championship
Teams of a maximum of five players who would have to select four on the night they played, with two teams playing for the title on Grand Finals night.

What was always known as the Grand Slam of titles in Dowlais was the five team competitions won in any one season which was only ever achieved in Dowlais by two teams the Carmarthen C in 1979 and the Morlais in 1989.
A further victory in the Fours Doubles and Singles by a player from the team who had also won all five of the titles in the same year would be the "ultimate Grand Slam" which has never been achieved
A further Individual Grand Slam was for one player to win all three individual tournaments ie Fours Doubles and Singles in one season, which again has never been achieved. **************** 3 ********************

1983/84 RECORD
DIVISION 1 Champions
ROWLANDS CUP Finalists.... Lost 2-5 to the Gurnos A
REDDY CUP Finalists..... Lost 2-5 to the Brewers A
SINGLES CUP Finalists...... Lost 2-5 to the Gurnos A
CHAMP OF CHAMP Round 1...... Lost 2-5 to the Gurnos A

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Foursomes Champions
Peter Locke Fred Tricket Billy Cooksey Jacko Sims
Singles Champion...... Peter Locke beat Fred Tricket 3-0
Singles Runner Up .......Fred Tricket

1983/84 Squad (Ton Plus Totals)
Billy Cooksey (3233) Fred Trickett (3022) Peter Locke (2958) Vince Lewis (2489)
Pete O,Sullivan(1591) Jacko Sims (1484) Ron Lloyd (1120) Derek James (940)
John Gamble (835) Adrian Thomas (640) Jimmy Martin (620) Craig Sims (300)
John Sales Alan Evans
180 MAXIMUMS Peter Locke (5) Jimmy Martin (2) Peter O,Sullivan (2) Adrian Thomas (1) Vincent Lewis (4) Fred Trickett (2) Billy Cooksey (1)

SUMMARY Coming to Dowlais with a host of star players the Morlais were much fancied to take the top prize and they did not disappoint, dropping seven points on their way to the Division one Championship. The league soon developed into a three horse race with the Brewers A, Gurnos A and Morlais all unbeaten after five matches, but in game six the Gurnos dropped a valuable point to the Morlais B, which they rallied to correct by defeating the Brewers in game seven, and the Gurnos in game eight, to get clear at the top. This was the position right up until the last but one game of the season when in a cracking affair the Morlais piped the Gurnos with a last leg victory. Although the Brewers took both points from their final match with the Morlais, the Gurnos A slipped up with a costly draw at the Pant Club to give the title to the Morlais by a solitary point. However the Morlais cup exploits fell short of their expectations, losing in three finals against the Brewers A, and on two other occasions to arch rivals the Gurnos A. On the individual front Peter Locke finally won his first ever Dowlais Singles Championship beating Fred Tricket 3-0 in the final, while in the Foursomes competition the formidable team of Peter Locke Fred Tricket Billy Cooksey and Jacko Sims proved to be far too good for the Brewers outfit of Wayne Ward, Denis Philips, Tommy Sullivan ,and John Sutton cruising home 3-0.
The Doubles tournament proved fruitless for the Morlais with nobody progressing to the final stages.
***** 4 **************************************************

1984/85 RECORD
DIVISION 1 Champions
ROWLANDS CUP Winners Beat the Labour C 5-0
REDDY CUP Finalists Lost to Gurnos B 3-5
SINGLES CUP Winners Beat the Gurnos A 5-1
CHAMP OF CHAMP Round 2 Lost to Gurnos A 4-5

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Fours Champs
P.Locke R.Lloyd P.O,Sullivan Derek James Vince Lewis
Singles Champion Peter Locke beat Robert Phelps 3-1
Semi Finalists Peter O,Sullivan lost to Peter Locke 1-2
...............................Billy Cooksey lost to Robert Phelps 1-2

1984/85 SQUAD (Ton Plus Totals)
Peter Locke (4025) Billy Cooksey (4012) Ron Lloyd (2891) Fred Trickett (2589)
Derek James (2521 Pete O,Sullivan (2415) Dale Pinch (2195) John Gamble (1940)
Vince Lewis (1613) Peter Davies (436) Adrian Thomas Barry Thomas Jacko Sims
180 MAXIMUMS Peter Locke (6) Dale Pinch (2) John Gamble (2) Fred Trickett (2) Derek James (1) Ron Lloyd (1)

SUMMARY 1984/85....With the departure of Jimmy Martin, Craig Sims, John Sales and Alan Evans, the Morlais needed four replacements so they signed the following players. Dale Pinch came from the Martyrs Club and made an immediate impression keeping his place for the whole of the season when Adrian Thomas because of his business commitments took a back seat. Peter Davies made a few appearances but Barry Thomas could not break into the team even though Jacko Sims made an early exit by emigrating abroad. Using only ten players all season the Morlais dropped their first point to the more than useful Brewers A in game six, and another in a surprising draw with the Iron Horse A in game seven. This left them trailing to the Gurnos A until the last game of the first half of season, when they met in a tremendous battle which involved 28 ton plus scores, a maximum apiece for Tony Williams(Gurnos) and John Gamble (Morlais), and memorable performances from Billy Cooksey, Vince Lewis, Peter Locke and the Gurnos lead man Robert Phelps, before it ended at 4-4..
The second half saw a run of five consecutive victories end with a devastating 2-5 loss to the Gurnos Club B who played well above their lowly league position to leave their more than grateful Gurnos A stablemates clear at the top. With both sides recording just one defeat apiece they met in the last game of the season with the Morlais just one point behind, and with both sides short of their strongest squads, it ended with a tame 5-1 win for the Morlais to become only the third ever team to retain a Division one Championship. The cup runs provided an improvement from the previous year with victories in two of the four competitions. The Singles title was retained by Peter Locke who became the first player to achieve the feat while, the Foursomes Title was also retained by the Morlais team of Peter Locke, Ron Lloyd, Peter O,Sullivan and Derek James. ****** 5 ******


SEASON 1985/86 RECORD
DIVISION 1 Champions
ROWLANDS CUP Winners.... beat Brewers A 5-3
REDDY CUP Finalists......... lost to Gurnos A 2-5
SINGLES CUP Finalists...... lost to Gurnos A 3-5
CHAMP OF CHAMP Winners...... beat Brewers A 5-1

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Foursomes Finalists lost to The Gurnos A
Billy Cooksey Fred Trickett Paul Crump John Gamble Peter Davies
Doubles Champions
Billy Cooksey & Adrian Thomas beat Jimmy Daley & Wayne Budding
Singles Finalist....... Peter O,Sullivan lost to Lyndon Price 0-3

1985/86 Squad (Ton Plus Totals)
Fred Trickett (3606) Billy Cooksey (3545) Peter Locke(3267) Pete O,Sullivan (2334)
Ron Lloyd (2187) Paul Crump (2139) John Gamble (1538) Derek James (1145)
Adrian Thomas (440) Vince Lewis (401) Peter Davies John Sales
180 MAXIMUMS
Billy Cooksey (4) Peter O,Sullivan(3) Fred Trickett(2) Peter Locke (2) Paul Crump(1)

SUMMARY 1985/86...With departures by Barry Thomas and the formidable Dale Pinch the Morlais looked to signing Paul Crump from the Cardigan B to fill the void and this he did quite admirably retaining his place throughout the season with some fine displays.
The season started with an uncharacteristic 4-4 draw at the GKN Club in game one and another draw in game six against the Gurnos . This left them trailing the undefeated Gurnos A right up until they met in the last game of the first half of season. The match proved to be yet another titanic affair with the maximums apiece for Peter Locke and rival Tony Williams, a brilliant 13 dart leg by Fred Trickett and Paul Crump and consistently high scoring from Billy Cooksey ending in a superb 5-2 Morlais victory. In what proved to be another two horse race involving the Gurnos A, both teams continued winning until the Gurnos came a cropper against the Labour A in Game fifteen. This gave the Morlais the two point cushion they needed to keep the pole position right up until the very last game of the season. Trailing 3-4 until the final leg when an agonisingly close checkout attempt from Terry Thomas left John Gamble of the Morlais the opportunity to seal the draw and retain the title for a third consecutive time. With two Cup Final wins and two further final defeats at the hands of the Gurnos it ended a more than satisfactory seasons work.
Individual honours relied on a final defeat for Peter O,Sullivan against the rejuvenated Lyndon Price in the Singles. A first ever Morlais win in the Doubles thanks to Billy Cooksey and Adrian Thomas, and the now almost expected Foursomes win through Billy Cooksey, Fred Trickett, Paul Crump, and John Gamble. ****** 6 **********************

SEASON 1986/87 RECORD
DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS
ROWLANDS CUP Winners ........beat the Labour A 5-3
REDDY CUP Winners.............. beat the Labour A 5-2
SINGLES CUP Finalists....... lost to the Labour A 3-5
CHAMP OF CHAMPS Round 2.... lost to the Gurnos A 3-5

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Foursomes Finalists ...lost to the Gurnos A
Billy Cooksey F.Trickett Paul Crump Steve Dunn John Gamble
Doubles Champions... Paul Crump & John Gamble
Doubles Finalists. B. Cooksey & S.Dunn lost to Crump & Gamble
Singles Finalist .......Fred Trickett lost to Ray Smith 2-3
Semi Finalist.......... Paul Crump lost to Fred Trickett 0-2

1986/87 SQUAD (Ton Plus Scores)
Billy Cooksey (4806) Fred Trickett (3167) Ron Lloyd (2576) Peter Locke (2248)
Paul Crump (2227) Peter O,Sullivan (2137) Steve Dunn (1626) Derek James (800)
John Gamble (523) Vince Lewis (309) Adrian Thomas (140) Peter Davies
Gerry Daley Darren Thomas Jimmy Winstone Peter Lloyd
180 MAXIMUMS
Paul Crump (7) Fred Trickett (2) Steve Dunn (2) Billy Cooksey (1) Derek James (1)
Peter Locke (1) Peter O,Sullivan (1)

SUMMARY 1986/87... Steve Dunn became a welcome addition to the squad and quickly became a regular. The Labour Club A proved to be the main challenge for the Morlais this year with some sterling performances from Ray Phillips, Graham Hughes, Paul Odell, Wayne Titcombe, Robert Lloyd, Wayne Budding, Reg Newbury and Jimmy Daley keeping them unbeaten at the top of the league for the whole season until the final game. The Labour Club set a terrific pace beating the Morlais 5-3 in game 6 and accounting for the Gurnos A in game 7 with a 5-1 score line.
At the halfway turn around the Labour A led the league unbeaten, two points clear of the Morlais, with the Gurnos another point behind, and the two point deficit continued right up until both teams met in game 15 The Morlais looked done for, trailing 2-4 at half time, but in a dramatic turn around they managed to snatch a life-saving draw from the Labour men, who would later learn that this match would cost them the championship. With a difficult match against the Gurnos A in the last but one game, and just one point off the leaders the Morlais could not afford a slip up. Again the Morlais trailed their opponents with a 1-4 score line but yet again they scrambled a draw to keep their slender hopes of a fourth consecutive title win. The only way the Morlais could pull off another championship win was if the Labour A faltered and dropped a point against the useful Pant Club A team and in a night full of high tension the unbeaten Labour Club fell apart losing 3-5 and handing victory to the Morlais, who in winning 5-1 at the Martyrs Club appeared at the top of the league only once through the season, when it mattered most. Two from four cup wins proved the norm for the Morlais again this year, while they recorded their second Doubles Championship through Adrian Thomas and John Gamble. ********* 7 ********

SEASON 1987/1988 RECORD
DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS
ROWLANDS CUP..... Winners beat the Penydarren Club 5-0
REDDY CUP Winners... beat the Gurnos Club A 5-3
SINGLES CUP Winners.... beat the Gurnos Club A 5-3
CHAMP OF CHAMP Finalists.... lost to the Pant Club A 3-5

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Foursomes Champions
Peter Locke Graham Hughes Dale Pinch P. O,Sullivan Vince Lewis
Singles Champion....... Peter Locke beat Lyndon Price 3-1

1987/88 SQUAD (Ton Plus Totals)
Peter Locke (4392) Fred Trickett (3795) Billy Cooksey (2935) Graham Hughes(2640)
Paul Crump (1828) Peter O,Sullivan(1765) (John Gamble (1687) Dale Pinch (1383)
Steve Dunn (1265) Vince Lewis (321) Peter Davies (120) Ron Lloyd Derek James Adrian Thomas Jack Mahoney Clive Evans
180 MAXIMUMS
Peter Locke (3) P O,Sullivan (3) Billy Cooksey (2) J Mahoney (2)
Fred Trickett (1) Paul Crump (1) Dale Pinch (1)

SUMMARY 1987/88... With Ron Lloyd, Derek James, Jack Mahoney, and Adrian Thomas all signing but not throwing a dart all season, the Morlais attempted their fifth consecutive title challenge with a depleted squad of just ten men.
It was once again the Gurnos Club who were their main rivals and looked to be finally going one better than their usual runners up position by leading the division right up until game twelve when they crashed to a Lyndon Price inspired Penydarren Club.
This was all the Morlais needed to take over the top spot and when the Gurnos once again faltered in their very next game to the Labour Club it left the Morlais men four points clear with five games to go.
It looked a formality when in the penultimate game of the season the Morlais turned on the class with 24 ton plus scores against the Labour Club in a scintillating 5-2 win which gave them their cherished championship crown yet again.
The Gurnos club dropped another point in a draw with the Pant Club and although five points behind they salvaged some pride by inflicting the heaviest defeat over the Morlais in their five year Dowlais existence. Although the Morlais had lost the services of four top players they almost pulled off the Grand Slam, winning four cups but going down in a last leg defeat at the hands of the Pant Club.
Individually they took what was fast becoming a regular Foursomes title with an all Morlais final yet again. Peter Locke and Fred Trickett played very well in the Doubles final but could only applaud the efforts of Tony Williams and Wayne Thomas of the Gurnos club who were that little shade better. There was to be no mistake in the Singles final with Peter Locke sailing through with victories over Tony Williams(semi) and Lyndon Price in the final. ********** 8 *************************************************

SEASON 1988/89 RECORD
DIVISION 1 Champions
ROWLANDS CUP Finalists..... Lost to the Horse and Groom A 4-5
REDDY CUP Round 3................... Lost to the Penydarren Club 2-5
SINGLES CUP Finalists................Lost to the Pant Club A 3-5
CHAMP OF CHAMP Winners .....Beat the Martyrs Club 5-2

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Foursomes Champions
Peter Locke Peter O,Sullivan Steve Dunn G.Hughes, Vince Lewis
Doubles Champions .....Steve Dunn Graham Hughes
Singles Champion..........Fred Trickett beat Simon Marks 3-0
Singles Semi Finals .............Peter Locke lost to Simon Marks 2-1

1988/89 SQUAD (Ton Plus Totals)
Peter Locke(4389) Steve Dunn(2198) Peter O,Sullivan(1801) Billy Cooksey(1716)
Graham Hughes(1366) Fred Trickett(1197) Jack Mahoney (867) Adrian Thomas (602) John Gamble (553) Vince Lewis (546) Paul Crump (200) Peter Davies Peter Lloyd
180 MAXIMUMS
Peter Locke (2)Paul Crump (2)Billy Cooksey Graham Hughes (1)

SUMMARY 1988/89..With the departure of just one player Dale Pinch, it was business as usual for the Morlais in the reformed eight team first division. Dropping four points on the same night with defeats by the Penydarren Club, and the Carmarthen B, the Morlais looked to have blown it following a run of 13 league games without defeat, and seven months since they last were beaten. Playing without Peter Locke and Graham Hughes on that fateful night, they had to win their last match of the season with the Horse and Groom to chalk up their sixth league title. Their nearest challengers looked home and dry at 2-0 but with their usual determination the Morlais clawed back the vital legs, to set up a last leg cliff-hanger which with a little more than being lucky allowed them to pinch the decision, and once again retain top billing. The Cup performances were by far their worst to date with the solitary cup win in the Champion of Champions over second division Martyrs Club their only success.
However it was a more predictable story in the individual events with an all Morlais Foursomes final, and an all Morlais Doubles Final, between Steve Dunn and Graham Hughes, and Peter Locke and Fred Trickett. . The singles competition also had two men at the Grand final stage with Peter Locke taking a shock tumble to a brilliant Simon Marks performance, while Fred Trickett was hardly troubled in accounting for Graeme Thomas. The final saw Fred Trickett prove to be a touch too good for the unfortunate Simon Marks who failed to produce the kind of form that saw him topple the Welsh International Peter Locke. ******* 9 *******
SEASON 1989/90 RECORD
DIVISION 1 Champions
ROWLANDS CUP Winners .....beat the Horse & Groom 5-2
REDDY CUP Winners ..............beat the Gurnos Tavern 5-2
SINGLES CUP Winners.......... beat the Morlais B 5-1
CHAMP OF CHAMPS Winners.... beat the Iron Horse 5-1

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Foursomes Champions
Peter Locke Peter O,Sullivan Vince Lewis Steve Dunn
Singles Champ.... John Gamble lost to Vivian Morgan 1-3
Singles semi finals.......... Billy Cooksey lost to John Gamble 1-2

1989/90 SQUAD (Total Ton Plus)
Peter Locke (3211) Fred Trickett (2376) Billy Cooksey (2192) Steve Dunn (2116)
Vince Lewis (2006) Peter O,Sullivan(1509) Rhodri Phelps (738) Jack Mahoney(423)
John Gamble(312) Peter Davies (140) Dennis Hall (100) Adrian Thomas (200) Graham Hughes Alan Evans Peter Lloyd
180 MAXIMUMS
Steve Dunn (2) Peter O,Sullivan (1) Peter Locke (1) Jack Mahoney (1)

SUMMARY1989/90... With Graham Hughes and Paul Crump deciding to have a rest from the trials of Dowlais league darts the Morlais looked to signing two replacements. Denis Hall from the Labour Club A team and Rhodri Phelps of the Labour C, who had been impressing everyone in Division 3, joined in an effort to retain the title for a record seventh consecutive time. Contrary to expectations the Morlais started in their usual barn storming way winning their first five league games until they come unstuck at the Labour Club, going down 3-5. This proved to be their only defeat of the whole season, with a draw with the Cardigan B the only other blot on what would have been a perfect season of results.
They eventually won the Championship eight points clear of their nearest challengers the Rugby Club, which is yet another record in the Dowlais league. Further to this they became only the second team ever to win a Grand slam of League and four Cup Final victories since the Carmarthen C achieved it in 1979.
What at first looked likely to be a struggle for the somewhat less than their best squad they romped home on all fronts to cap yet another glorious season with a stack of honours and record breaking achievements.
Individually the Morlais were on for a clean sweep of all Foursomes, Doubles, and Singles titles but just fell short, with the usual Foursomes win from Peter Locke Peter O,Sullivan, Vince Lewis, and Steve Dunn, their only success.
A grand final defeat for Peter O,Sullivan and Vince Lewis in the Doubles, to Mark and Lyndon Price, and a 1-3 loss for John Gamble against Vivian Morgan left the Morlais wondering what might have been. ******* 10 ********

SEASON 1990/1991
DIVISION 1 Champions
ROWLANDS CUP Round 1... lost to the Gurnos A 2-5
REDDY CUP Winners ....beat the Gurnos A 5-3
SINGLES CUP Winners.... beat the Gurnos A 5-3
CHAMP OF CHAMPS ........Winners beat the Pant Club 5-0

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS
Foursomes Champions
Peter Locke Peter O,Sullivan Adrian Thomas Steve Dunn Vince Lewis
Singles Champion.......Peter Locke beat Mark Williams

1990/91 SQUAD (Ton Plus Scores)
Peter Locke 2310) Mark Williams (2574) Steve Dunn (1767) Gerry Daley (1265
Vince Lewis (1121) Billy Cooksey(1083) Adrian Thomas (1014) Peter O,Sullivan(960) Rhodri Phelps (658) Jack Mahoney (551) Graham Hughes Peter Davies Peter Lloyd
Derek Gabb
180 MAXIMUMS..... Mark Williams(4) Peter Locke(1) Billy Cooksey(1)

SUMMARY 1990/91....The retirement of Fred Trickett and loss of John Gamble was countered by the return of Graham Hughes although he did not play frequently, and Mark Williams, who had been a top performer with the Cardigan B.
This coincided with the reforming of the Gurnos Club A who for years had been the only serious challenge to the Morlais adding ex Morlais man Paul Crump to their considerable line up.
It was to no avail as the reigning champions stormed ahead with eleven consecutive wins before losing 3-5 to the Pant Club. This proved to be a minor inconvenience as they stormed on three points ahead of their nearest challengers the Gurnos club and although losing their last game of the season to the Cardigan B they finished in their customary number one spot for a record breaking eight consecutive championships.
Individually Peter Locke marked up his fourth Singles win which is another Dowlais record beating team-mate Mark Williams 3-1, but partnered by Graham Hughes lost in the Doubles final to Tony Williams and John Davies of the Gurnos Club. In passing it seems strange that having a number of different partners Peter Locke never won the Dowlais doubles crown. no such problem in the Foursomes as together with Peter O,Sullivan, Steve Dunn, and Adrian Thomas he won his sixth Foursomes title only bettered by Peter O,Sullivan who has won seven.
The Morlais continued in the Dowlais League during season 1991/1992 but unfortunately having retired as secretary I have no records of that fateful season. The fact that they finished as runners up following the deduction of points over a rule irregularity ended their championship run and indeed prompted them to sever their connections with the Dowlais league joining Merthyr for the 1992/93 season. *********************** ***** 11 ******


SEASONS APPEARANCES and TOTAL MAXIMUMS
8 SEASONS
Peter Locke Bill Cooksey, Peter O,Sullivan, VinceLewis,
..(21 x 180).......(10 x 180)......(10 x 180)..... (4 x 180
Adrian Thomas
..(3 x 180)

7 seasons Fred Trickett... John Gamble... Peter Davies
.......................(9 x 180)........... (3 x 180)...........(0 x 180)
5 seasons Ron Lloyd.... Derek James... Steve Dunn
.....(1 x 180)........ (2 x 180)........ (2 x 180)
4 seasons Paul Crump .....Jack Mahoney..... Peter Lloyd
.....................(11 x 180)............ (2 x 180)......... (0 x 180)
3 seasons Graham Hughes
........................(1 x 180)
2 Dale Pinch G Daley Rod Phelps J Sims Alan Evans John Sales
.....(3 x 180)
1 season.. Jimmy Martin...... Mark Williams
.........................(2 x 180)............. (4 x 180)
....................Craig Sims Barry Thomas Dennis Hall Clive Evans
.....................Darren Thomas Jimmy Winstone Derek Gabb
12

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS

Peter Locke...................... Billy Cooksey
4 Singles Champion..................1 Singles Champion
0 Singles Runner up ................2 Singles Runner up
0 Doubles Champion................ 2 Doubles Champion
6 Fours Champion ....................2 Fours Champion
21 Maxis in 8 seasons............. 10 Maxis in 8 seasons
1 Masters Champion

Peter O,Sullivan................Adrian Thomas.
1 Singles Champion...................1 Singles Champion
1 Singles runner Up.................. 0 Singles runner U/p
0 Doubles Champion................. 2 Doubles Champion
7 Fours Champion..................... 1 Fours Champion
10 maxis in 8 seasons............... 3 maxis in 8 seasons
1 Masters Champion................. 1 Masters Champion

Fred Trickett.....................Steve Dunn
1 Singles Champion...................0 Singles Champion
2 Singles runner up................... 1 Singles runner/up
0 Doubles Champion................. 1 Doubles Champion
2 Fours Champion..................... 3 Fours Champion
9 maxis in 7 seasons.................. 2 maxis in 5 seasons
1 Masters champion.................. 2 Masters Champion

Paul Crump....................... Ron Lloyd
0 Singles Champion.................. 1 Singles Champion
0 Singles Runner/up..................2 Singles Runner /up
1 Doubles Champion.................. 0 Doubles Champion
0 Fours Champion..................... 1 Fours Champion
11 maxis in 4 seasons................ 1 maxi in 5 seasons
2 Masters Champion

Vince Lewis...................... John Gamble
0 Singles Champion................. 0 Singles Champion
0 Singles Runner/Up............... 1 Singles Runner/up
0 Doubles Champion................ 2 Doubles Champion
3 Fours Champion.................... 0 Fours Champion
4 maxis in 8 seasons................. 3 maxis in 7 seasons

Derek James......................Peter Davies
0 Singles Champion...................0 Singles Champion
0 Singles Runner/up................ 0 Singles Runner/up
0 Doubles Champion................ 0 Doubles Champion
1 Fours Champion..................... 1 Fours Champion
2 maxis in 5 seasons................. 0 maxis in 7 seasons
*** 13 ***

Jack Mahoney....................Graham Hughes
0 Singles Champion................... 0 Singles Champion
1 Singles Runner/up.................. 0 Singles Runner/up
0 Doubles Champion.................. 1 Doubles Champion
0 Fours Champion...................... 1 Fours Champion
2 maxis in 4 seasons................... 1 maxi in 3 seasons

Dale Pinch........................ Mark Williams
0 Singles Champion.....................0 Singles Champion
0 Singles Runner/up.................. 1 Singles Runner/up
0 Doubles Champion...................0 Doubles Champion
2 Fours Champion ......................0 Fours Champion
3 maxis in 4 seasons................... 4 maxis in 1 season

Jimmy Martin.................... Jacko Sims
0 Singles Champion....................0 Singles Champion
0 Singles Runner/up.................. 0 Singles Runner/up
0 Doubles Champion.................. 0 Doubles Champion
0 Fours Champion...................... 1 Fours Champion
2 maxis in 1 seasons....................0 maxis in 2 seasons

ACHIEVEMENTS

Most Single Championship wins.. 4 occasions Peter Locke
Most Div Championship wins.....12 occasions Billy Cooksey
Most Maximums in a season............. 8 times Peter Locke
Most Maximums up to 1993 ................21 times Peter Locke
All three Singles, Doubles, Fours, Champ.Adrian Thomas
Most Masters Championship wins....... (twice) Steve Dunn

****** 14 ******