Tenby 96 (14 pts.)
Whitland 59 (0)
Whitland were the visitors to Tenby for a league encounter on Saturday.
High-flying Whitland, second in the league, arrived with the intention of consolidating their impressive start to their campaign.
Prior to the match, captain Pat Currie was presented with new Tenby shirts from sponsor, Matthew Evans from Coastal Cottages.
Maybe the new sponsor and shirts would inspire the Tenby team to an impressive display.
First up was captain Pat and his rink of Sam McNeilly, Steve Taylor and Jon Webb. Pat and his men were always behind right up until the 13th end, but they managed to lift themselves just when required to ease to a four-shot win.
Luke Guymer, evergreen Bill Bailey, Terry Preston and skip Simon Evans were always in the ascendancy in their match.
The main damage was done in the first half with steady performances throughout the rink racing them into a 10-shot lead.
The Whitland rink did come back at them in the last few ends, but the Tenby foursome hung on to a four-shot victory.
Top rink of the day was skip Andrew Muskett and his supporting cast of Gerald Hewitt, Harry Meads and Craig Guymer.
Andrew is really firing on all cylinders this year and ended up a massive 23-shot winner. Gerald, who had an impressive game at lead, was heard to comment, "we worked well together as a unit, all playing for the team!"
Last up was Dai Spencer, Ted Brutnell, Peter Day and skip Terry Howells, who were victorious by six shots.
The performance was very similar to Simon's rink, racing into an early lead and just stepping off the gas slightly towards the end. All in all, a good rink performance, especially from the back two.
The Tenby team were delighted with the result and captain Pat was upbeat in his post-match speech, again thanking players who have had to step up from the Goscar team.
This week's thanks go to Ted Brutnell, Harry Meads and Steve Taylor, and also new sponsor Coastal Cottages.
Tomorrow (Saturday), Tenby will be travelling for what looks like another tough fixture at Pembroke Dock, with a 2.30 pm start.
Rink scores (Tenby first, Whitland skips only) were:
Gerald Hewitt, Harry Meads, Craig Guymer, Andrew Muskett 32; T. Thomas 9.
Luke Guymer, Bill Bailey, Terry Preston, Simon Evans 21; C. Court 17.
Sam McNeilly, Steve Taylor, Jon Webb, Pat Currie 18; P. Wills 14.
Dai Spencer, Ted Brutnell, Peter Day, Terry Howells 25; G. Thomas 19.
SAUNDERSFOOT 83 (12 pts) FIVE ARCHES 71 (2)
The Arches met an in-form Saundersfoot, the league leaders and favourites, on their own green on Saturday, and came away with a very creditable defeat by only 12 shots, picking up two points into the bargain.
The Arches had several key players unavailable and with such a small, though dedicated squad, had to re-arrange their rinks and call upon the services of Goscar players.
Two of these substitutes had really excellent games and deserve to be regular Arches players, namely Haydn Guy and Lewis Hilling, 'The Golden Oldies'!
On rink two, Ray Holly, with a much-changed rink, met former Tenby player, Mal Bishop. Outbowled up front and 12 shots down after 11 ends, Ray had a tremendous game and did well to keep the final deficit down to 11 shots.
Next rink along, Mike Crockford met another of the recent Saundersfoot imports, Phil Carpenter. All four Arches members played high quality bowls, not giving their opposition any leeway, working as a team and encouraging each other.
Their 12-shot win was one of the highlights of the day. Haydn Guy, coming in as second on this rink, had a brilliant game, almost back to his form of years ago.
Roy Powling's unchanged rink struggled early on, being 11 shots down after only eight ends and 13 down after 14, but a fighting finish over the final third of the match saw them finish only seven shots adrift. Roy again had a good game.
A reversal of fortune on Dave King-Thomas's rink, who started with a bang, being nine nine shots to nil up after four ends. Still seven shots to the good after 12 ends, the wheels really fell off the bandwagon and they ended up six shots adrift of a very strong rink skipped by David Poole. Dave King-Thomas had an outstanding game and in the second half saved innumerable shots to keep the score down to a reasonable level.
Five Arches have been drawn away against Milford Haven in the first round of the R. F. Diment Cup. The game has been arranged for Monday, June 21, at 6 pm. All Arches games are sponsored by Stena Line.
Rink scores (Five Arches first, Saundersfoot skips only):
G. Hill, J. Best, A. Grimbaldeston, R. Holly 14; M. Bishop 25.
N. Dickinson, H. Guy, B. Barnikel, M. Crockford 22; P. Carpenter 10.
R. Hurlow, T. Powling, G. Beynon, R. Powling 19; S. Poole 26.
M. Donoghue, L. Hilling, D. Silcox, D. King-Thomas 16; D. Poole 22.
GOSCAR 79 (2 pts)
ST. BRIDE'S 81 (12)
After losing a couple of matches earlier in the season by very small margins, Goscar travelled the short distance to play St. Bride's in this local derby.
They were full of confidence that they could turn things around and win their first game of the season.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. With one winning rink and three rinks going down narrowly, the team lost the game by the narrowest margin so far - just two shots.
Still, with the great spirit running throughout the team, I am sure it won't be long before they start winning games.
Rink one gave Lewis Hilling his first start of the season at skip. Lewis and his rink of John King, Alan Rootes and Arthur Grimbaldeston took control of their game from the start, with one shot being the closest the home side got to the Goscar lads, who all produced some good bowling and ran out comfortable winners by 11 shots.
On the adjoining rink, Harry Meads found himself trailing by nine shots at the 17th end, but with a good pick-up of six shots on the next end, they closed the gap to just three.
At the end it could have gone either way, the telling factor being some good shots from the St. Bride's back end when it mattered, which saw them close out victory by six shots.
The rink led by Jonathan Hubbard started very slowly on rink three; at one time they were 14-5 down.
A change of tactics from Jonathan by shortening the jack length gave them a boost in which a total of 11 shots were gained and saw them go into a 16-14 lead.
A slight loss of concentration in the closing stages eventually saw St. Bride's edge home by just three shots.
With Eric Dorling coming in as a late substitute and Steve Taylor enjoying his first experience at skip, a total of 13 shots, including two 4s in four ends, were picked up by the Goscar lads to ease them into a 15-13 lead.
From there, St. Bride's took command for the rest of the match, including a four on the last end to finish with a six-shot victory.
Rink scores (Goscar first, St. Bride's skips only) were:
J. King, A Rootes, A. Grimbaldeston, L. Hilling 23; S. Arris 11.
S. Askew, R. Hine, J. Lester, H. Meads 17; R. Prince 17.
T. Brutnell, C. Roberts, D. Watkins, J Hubbard 18; L. Davies 21.
A. Vincent, E. Dorling, A. Redman, S. Taylor 21; G. Davies 27.
GOSCAR 43
PENDINE 105 (14 pts)
In hot, sunny weather, Goscar played Pendine on Sunday.
After losing by two shots in their previous game, they were eager to get going and again found themselves arriving first with the green still locked!
They always knew it was going to be hard against the division two leaders and especially on their tricky green.
And so it turned out, with Pendine winning on all four rinks and by a total of 62 shots.
Nevertheless, everyone enjoyed the game and the spirit was still high afterwards. Better luck next time lads!
Rink two saw five shots on the first two ends for skip Arthur Grimbaldeston and his rink.
This was the best period for the away side as a run of 20 unanswered shots before tea for Pendine gave them total control.
A bit of a fight-back afterwards gave Goscar some respect, but they were never really in contention, with Pendine running away by 12 shots.
Rink three saw Harry Meads and his men being totally outplayed throughout the game.
No-one could get to grips with the tricky green conditions until it was too late and only scoring on five ends out of 21, gave them a 26-shot deficit.
The rink again skipped by Steve Taylor stepped out to a 6-3 lead after six ends, but Pendine then started to click into gear after that and never gave Steve and his men a look in. With some good steady bowling by the Pendine foursome, they ended the match 14-shot victors.
Best rink on the day was Jonathan Hubbard. Good performances by Ted Brutnell and new bowler Ashley Hooper gave them a steady start up front.
Jonathan and his men could not score any more than ones, though it was enough to trail just 10-9 after 14 ends. After that, the experience of the home side and the knowledge of their own green saw them win by 10 shots.
Rink scores (Goscar first, Pendine skips only) were:
R. Hine, A. Vincent, D. King Thomas A. Grimbaldeston 16; R. James 28.
G. Hewitt, C. Roberts, J. Lester, H. Meads 6; J. Griffiths 32.
S. Askew, A. Rootes, T. Preston, S. Taylor 11; M. Thomas 25.
T. Brutnell, A. Hooper, D. Watkins, J. Hubbard 10; S. King Thomas 20.
TENBY ARCHES 60
PENDINE 25
Tenby Five Arches played Pendine on Tuesday and once again the weather was kind.
Alison's rink started well and with the help of the evergreen Gladys they went well ahead and won by 24 shots.
Vera's rink had to work harder, but managed to win.
Rink scores (Tenby Arches first, Pendine skips only):
I. Silcox, G. Gray, A. Owens, A. Redman 37; M. Stevens 13.
B. Russell, P. Best, J. Dorling, V. Williams 23; B. Pickersgill 12.
Whist results
Monday, May 31: top score -Gladys Cleaton; 1st lady - Joan Dorling; 2nd lady - Gerry Meaney; 1st gent - Jill Groom; 2nd gent - Vera Burrows; first half winner - Elsie Breadnam; second half - Robert Irvine; longest sitter - Lelgarde McCartney; raffles - Jill Groom and and Gerry Meaney.
Thursday, June 3: top score -Joan Dorling; 1st lady - Gladys Cleaton; 2nd lady - Mair Marquiss; 1st gent - Robert Irvine; 2nd - Vera Burrows; first half winner - Bert Barnikel; second half - Elsie Breadnam; longest sitter - Gerry Meaney; raffle winners - Joan Dorling and Gerry Meaney.
EMERGENCY MEETING
An emergency meeting will be held next Thursday, June 17, at 7.30 pm, to discuss some important issues. All members are asked to attend.