Whist results
Thursday, June 4: top score - Mary Renowden (182); 1st lady - Mabel Whitaker (172); 2nd lady - Olive Frost (168); 1st gent - Joyce Waters (181); 2nd gent - Mary Draper (179); first half winner - Bill Whitaker (99); second half - Jean Salisbury (81); longest sitter - Margaret Hill (10 times); lowest score - Elsie Breadnam; raffles - Mary Draper and Bill Whitaker.
Monday, June 8: top score - Mair Marquiss (191); 1st lady - Mary Renowden (167); 2nd lady - Ann Hunt (167 after cutting cards); 1st gent - Mary Draper (173); 2nd gent - Joyce Waters (168); first half winner - Bill Whitaker (90); second half - Jean Salisbury (79); longest sitter - Olive Frost (seven times); lowest score - Phyllis Jones; raffles - Phyllis Jones and Margaret Hill.
Globetrotters Mabel and Bill Whitaker are off again, this time to Austria to live near their daughters. All at the whist club wish them good luck for their future (hope they find someone to play whist with, probably too busy learning the language).
Bowling Club whist is played twice weekly, Monday and Thursday at 7 pm sharp. New members and visitors are always welcome.
Bonus Ball winners
Wednesday - Mabel Whitaker; Saturday - David Spencer.
Tenby/Arches Ladies
Results of the early games of the season, played in the Pembroke County Ladies Two Rink League, have just been posted and aren't our ladies, the 2008 champions, led by captain Lynn Delabertouche, doing well (see table elsewhere on this page).
Bowls
Marathon
Tenby Bowling Club is holding a 24-hour continuous bowling event in aid of the green machinery replacement fund, coupled with the Help for Heroes charity, for which a magnificent 200-mile cycle ride, Tenby to Cardiff and back, is also being staged.
Sponsorship forms for both events are available in the clubhouse.
Every bowl delivered on the green between 2 pm on Saturday, June 27, and 2 pm on Sunday, June 28, will be recorded.
Members of Tenby town and district, who sponsor the event, will be encouraged to guess the number of bowls that will be rolled in the 24 hours (roughly 4,000 to 7,000). The nearest guess wins £25.
I understand that the weary but jubilant cyclists will be greeted in Tudor Square on their return with a civic reception, Tenby Mayor and all. They will then move to the bowling club to cheer on the bowlers beavering away all through the wee small hours. Could be a very exciting piece of history in the making?
I wonder if ace bowler-cum-cyclist Patrick Currie can manage a couple of hours on the green after the phenomenal feat of cycling 200 miles?
The club is looking forward to the usual generous support of all of our friends and neighbours.
Please contact assistant secretary Lynn Delabertouche for futher information.
Castle 50 (1)
Tenby 105 (13 pts.)
The town of Haverfordwest was the port of call for the Layton and Co Solicitors sponsored Tenby team last Saturday.
The opponents were the second team from Hafat, aptly named Castle.
Tenby, lying second in the league, with games in hand, needed another solid away performance.
Just before the start, the heavens decided to open, so wet conditions were to be another hazard all players had to get to grips with.
Dai Spencer, Joe Richards, Andrew Muskett and skip Phil Carpenter had a right battle on their hands. The Tenby four were always behind from the outset, but managed to edge one shot ahead going into the last end. The Castle rink had other ideas, though, and pinched the shot back on the final end, thus resulting in an honourable draw.
Skip Pat Currie had a more comfortable ride on his rink; he was ably assisted by Neil Dickinson, John Baggott and Craig Guymer. Racing away to an unassailable lead, Pat and his men clinched the contest by an impressive 18-shot margin.
It was much the same on Simon Evans's rink who came away with a 15-shot victory. Gerald Hewitt, Jon Webb and John Roberts all contributed well to ensure the positive outcome of the contest.
Last up were Luke Guymer, Doug Silcox, Peter Day and Paul Diment. Close in the early stages, but the Castle rink only clocked up one-shot in the final 11 ends, seeing Paul rocket away to a well-deserved 20-shot win.
A win by 55 shots overall was the final score, and 13 points, which now sees Tenby move to the top of the table for the first time this season.
This weekend, the Tenby side will face Haverfordwest at home tomorrow (Saturday) and Pembroke Dock away on Sunday, both matches commencing at 2 pm.
Rink scores (Tenby first, Castle skips only) were:
Dai Spencer, Joe Richards, Andrew Muskett, Phil Carpenter 17; K. Thorpe 17.
Neil Dickinson, John Baggott, Craig Guymer, Pat Currie 29; B. Hall 11.
Gerald Hewitt, Jon Webb, John Roberts, Simon Evans 28; B. Absalom 13.
Luke Guymer, Doug Silcox, Peter Day, Paul Diment 31; D. Summers 11.
SA BRAIN CUP
FIVE ARCHES 77 (2 pts.) BORDERERS 69 (0)
The Five Arches team entertained the Borderers, who are the holders of the SA Brain Cup, last Wednesday, in the first of three games in Group B. The winners of this group then go on to play the winners of Group A to decide an overall winner.
As cup holders, the Borderers took to the green with a stronger side than the one that lost to the Arches a week previously.
The setting was perfect, it was a beautiful bright sunny evening when the game started, with supporters of both teams sitting around the green and later encouraging their teams from the clubhouse balcony.
The Five Arches team got off to a great start and after seven ends were 21 shots up, with all rinks ahead. As this competition is decided on total shots scored, this was an important start.
Lee Richards's rink was leading the way with a 16-shot advantage. After 14 ends, the Arches had stretched their lead to 25 shots, but the confidence of the Borderers team was rising and so was the tension.
With seven ends remaining, the Borderers raised their game and came back at the Arches, taking shots off them on all rinks. The game had now swung towards the Borderers and with the light fading fast, the game was poised for an exciting finish, but some tight bowling from the Stena Line sponsored Arches team saw them hold on in near darkness to win by eight shots and gain two valuable points in their quest to win the SA Brain Cup this year.
Tony Brown's rink of Eamonn Maher, Clive Webb and Ashley Hooper were always out in front and the game looked won when they picked up six shots on the 11th end, but the Borderers fought back well in the last third to get to within one of Tony's side.
Skip Roy Powling was unfortunate to draw the dreaded rink three for the second game running, but his team of Cameron White, Tony Powling and Gwyn Beynon were up for the challenge.
This game was extremely tight, with the lead changing several times. Going into the last end, the Arches were two shots down, but fought back with some good bowling to secure a draw.
Jon Hubbard's rink of Ben Cloake, Neil Hensman and Mike Gouldingay were always out in front until the last end and looked to have won the game until the end was 'killed' by the Borderers. The final end began again with Jonno and his team four shots ahead, but in virtual darkness, they lost this lead to finally draw the game.
All the action was happening on the outside rink skipped by Lee Richards. His team of Ken Lloyd, Aaron Lloyd and Graham Hill were 16 shots up at the halfway stage and looked good for a big win, but this was not going to be the case. The Borderers fought back well and got to within seven shots of Lee's rink at the end.
Rink scores (Five Arches first, Borderers skips only) were as follows:
E. Maher, C. Webb, A. Hooper, T. Brown 19; D. Ford 18.
C. White, T. Powling, G. Beynon, R. Powling 17; D. Jenner 17.
B. Cloake, N. Hensman, M. Gouldingay, J. Hubbard 18; P. Williams 18.
K. Lloyd, A. Lloyd, G. Hill, L. Richards 23; J. Hammond 16.
ST. THOMAS 85 (14 pts.) FIVE ARCHES 69 (0)
The Stena Line sponsored Five Arches team had a reality check last Sunday, losing on all four rinks to a strong St. Thomas's team.
The Arches had their chances during the game, but lost shot counts at critical moments. To come away from Haverfordwest with no points was disappointing, but on the day St. Thomas outbowled the Arches side on their own green.
Roy Powling's rink had an uneasy start to the game and found themselves 12 shots down at the midway stage, but fought back well to win five of the last seven ends, only to finally lose out by seven shots.
Skip Lee Richards had gone through the season undefeated, but this was to change. His rink, after a poor start, were in with a chance up to the very last end, but dropped four shots when chasing the game to eventually go down by six.
Tony Brown's four were never behind in their game until the very last end. On the penultimate end, St. Thomas scored two shots to make the game a tie at 15-apiece. The game could now have gone either way, but it was the Haverfordwest side that got the deciding winning shot.
The look on Ashley's face told a story of bitter disappointment, to have led for so long, only to be defeated at the very end.
Skip Jon Hubbard and his squad also got off to a poor start, but forced their way back into the game to lead by 10 shots on the 13th end. It was unlucky 13 for Jonno and his boys as they quickly went from 10 up to lose the game by two shots.
The disappointment of losing has to be set aside as tougher challenges still lay ahead.
Rink scores (Five Arches first, St. Thomas skips only) were as follows:
J. Taylor, T. Powling, G. Beynon, R. Powling 16; R. Lewis 23.
K. Lloyd, A. Lloyd, G. Hill, L. Richards 15; R. Harries 21.
E. Maher, C. White, A. Hooper, T. Brown 15; T. Harries 16.
S. Askew, N. Hensman, M. Gouldingay, J. Hubbard 23; N. Brown 25.