County finals

Well done to Lynn Delabertouche, Audrey Owens, Helen Baggott and Julia King Thomas on winning the West Wales Ladies Bowling Association's rinks final on Saturday.

Tenby hosted the finals because of course Audrey is county president this year.

Well done also to Ysie White, who won the two-wood singles against Pam Smith, of Haverfordwest.

Good luck also to Ysie for her Welsh Under 25 trial, to be held at Guest Memorial BC on Bank Holiday, Monday, August 30.

National finals

Good luck to the Tenby bowlers competing in the national finals at Llandrindod Wells next week - Phil Carpenter (singles), Andrew Muskett and Phil Carpenter (pairs), John Roberts, John Baggott, Simon Evans and Phil Carpenter (rinks).

Ladies open week

The Ladies Open Pairs Tournament, generously sponsored by Tenby House Hotel, took over the famous Tenby green.   

Although numbers were down on previous years (fairly common in most sporting and social arenas these days),  the enthusiasm of the entrants was undiminished and coupled with interesting results, the early rounds were quite exciting.

The redhot favourites  lost the plot on a very fast and tricky surface, leading to Iris French and Lon Evans  vying with Betty James and Audrey Owens for the Kath Cole Cup.

The final was a little one-sided, as it quite often is, with Betty and Audrey running out champions for 2009, winning the cup, a beautiful glass trophy each and a share of the first prize money. 

Iris and Lon shared the consolation prize money and the pleasure of competing in the final. 

Results of the Tenby Open Mixed Triples Tournament, generously sponsored by the Giltar Hotel, which follows the Open Pairs, will appear in next week's Tenby Observer.     

Friendly matches

September is just around the corner and with it comes a feast of 'friendly' matches. Please make every effort to support club captain Tony Brown and his selection team, who have had a very busy season, hosting well over 20 tourist games, an important source of income to the club and the local community. 

Alan Williams Trophy

Congratulations to Ben Cloake and Luke Rees who put up a terrific performance in the Alan Williams Trophy at Llandrindod Wells on Sunday.

Having qualified for the Welsh Under 16s pairs semi-final last month, the duo continued to chalk up success when they beat Jordan Davies and Ross Owen, of Mid Glamorgan, 15-8, to clinch a place in the final.

Unfortunately, despite a cracking game, the Tenby duo just missed out on the trophy, being beaten by Liam Bouse and Daniel Salmon, of South Glamorgan, 20-13.

The boys had great support for both their games, with a large contingent travelling up to Mid Wales to support them and the Pembrokeshire team who were playing in the county championship final at the same time.

Many thanks to Tenby's Atlantic Hotel, who kindly sponsored shirts for Ben and Luke.

Tenby 98 (12 pts.)

Saundersfoot 58 (2)

Saundersfoot were the visitors to Sutton Street, the home of the Layton and Co Solicitors sponsored Tenby team, in a league fixture last week. This was the start of a run of five games in 11 days which would definitely decide the 2009 league championship.

Rink one saw Cameron White, Tony Brown, John Roberts and Simon Evans in dominant form. Taking an early lead, the Tenby four pushed on confidently to win by a comfortable16 shots.

Neil Dickinson, Doug Silcox, Dai Spencer and Pat Currie were in the same form in their contest. With Dai and Pat adding to the good work of the front end, they eased to a well earned 18-shot victory.

Luke Rees, Ashley Hooper, Mike Jackson and Paul Diment had to battle in their match. The Tenby four were in arrears from the off, but managed to always keep in touch, to no avail though, as they eventually lost out by only three shots.

Gerald Hewitt, Joe Richards, Jon Webb and Peter Day were involved in a high-scoring game. Both teams had a chance to win this one, but Peter and his men managed to pull away over the final few ends to win by nine shots in this 55-shot thriller.

A 40-shot win and 12 points was the final overall match result. The Tenby side slipped up and lost at this stage last year, but no mistakes this time, and it looked like only a matter of time before the league title was secure.

Rink scores (Tenby first, Saundersfoot skips only):

Cameron White, Tony Brown, John Roberts, Simon Evans 24; B. Dennis 8.

Neil Dickinson, Doug Silcox, Dai Spencer, Pat Currie 27; J. Jenkins 9.

Luke Rees, Ashley Hooper, Mike Jackson, Paul Diment 15; S. Dick 18.

Gerald Hewitt, Joe Richards, Jon Webb, Peter Day 32; S. Poole 23.

Tenby 104 (14 pts.)

Fishguard 56 (0)

This was the last home game of the 2009 season for the Layton and Co Solicitors sponsored Tenby team. The visitors had to make the long mid-week journey from Fishguard, who were desperate for points to keep them in the top tier for another year.

Gerald Hewitt, Joe Richards, Craig Guymer and John Roberts always had the advantage in this tie. With John comfortably stepping up to skip, the Tenby four easily ran out eight-shot winners.

Luke Guymer, Cameron White, Jon Webb and skip Peter Day were on rink two. All-square at the halfway stage, but then the Tenby foursome picked up a seven, which definitely contributed to the final 10-shot win.

Neil Dickinson, Doug Silcox, Dai Spencer and Pat Currie had to really battle in their contest. Against a strong Fishguard rink, Pat had to pull on all of his experience to guide the Tenby lads to a very close three-shot victory.

Mike Jackson, Bert Barnikel, John Baggott and Simon Evans finished up as top rink in their encounter. With all four Tenby men in fine form, they romped away to a more than convincing 27-shot annihilation of the opposition.

Another maximum 14 league points put the Tenby side even nearer to their second successive league title.

Rink scores (Tenby first, Fishguard skips only):

Gerald Hewitt, Joe Richards, Craig Guymer, John Roberts 21; B. Williams 13.

Luke Guymer, Cameron White, Jon Webb, Peter Day 26; D. Hughes 16.

Neil Dickinson, Doug Silcox, Dai Spencer, Pat Currie 21; T. Jones 18.

Mike Jackson, Bert Barnikel, John Baggott, Simon Evans 36; J. Sinnott 9.

Haverfordwest 46 (0)

Tenby 100 (14 pts.)

The Layton and Co Solicitors sponsored Tenby team travelled to Haverfordwest for their third league match in four days last week. With the Hafod lads in second place, Tenby would have to go all out to defend their unbeaten run.

Neil Dickinson, Doug Silcox, John Baggott and Pat Currie were first up. The rink, which is aptly named the 'senior rink', once again showed their experience, dominating the encounter to close out the contest by a 13-shot margin.

Luke Guymer, Mike Jackson, Jon Webb and Peter Day also had a stroll in the park. Picking up two fives and one four along the way, Peter and his rink easily won by 18 shots.

Cameron White, Dai Spencer, John Roberts and Simon Evans were drawn on rink five. The Tenby rink got off to a flyer, racing away to a 19-shot lead, but the second half saw the opposition peg a couple of shots back, but Simon and his men still finished 15 shots the better.

Gerald Hewitt, Joe Richards, Craig Guymer and Phil Carpenter finished off a job well done. Racing away to an unassailable lead, they took their foot off the gas a little in the latter stages, but still emerged eight-shot winners.

An unexpected, relatively easy 14 points for captain Dai Spencer and his side meant that the Tenby team would only need a couple of points more to secure the league title.

Rink scores (Tenby first, Haverfordwest skips only):

Neil Dickinson, Doug Silcox, John Baggott, Pat Currie 22; R. Price 9.

Luke Guymer, Mike Jackson, Jon Webb, Peter Day 28; R. O'Leary 10.

Cameron White, Dai Spencer, John Roberts, Simon Evans 27; P. Jenkins 12.

Gerald Hewitt, Joe Richards, Craig Guymer, Phil Carpenter 23; P.D.S. Jenkins 15.

SA BRAIN CUP FINAL

PEMBROKE DOCK MARINERS 59 FIVE ARCHES 94

It was a triumphant Five Arches side that accepted the SA Brain Cup from county president Arthur Jarvis after beating Pembroke Dock Mariners in the final held on their own green last Saturday.

With league division two championship ambitions now unrealistic for the two teams, this was the cup that both sides wanted to win to salvage something from their season.

The winning margin of 35 shots does not translate into how well the Arches played across all four rinks. The Mariners had a large vociferous crowd of supporters encouraging their players from their vantage point overlooking the green that could well have unsettled some players, but this encouragement was equalled if not bettered by the six Five Arches supporters who applauded every shot.

This was a great team performance, but with due respect to all of the Arches players, praise must go to the two young team members, Cameron White and the 'wizard' Ben Cloake for how well they played and for the way they handled the pressure of a cup final.

The 35-shot margin looked a comfortable win, but this was not the case, the Mariners are a good side, having graced the first division last year, and at the midway point of the game were trailing by just five shots. Two Arches rinks were down and two up, but it was Lee Richards's rink that was setting the pace that the others were to follow later, with a 10-shot lead.

On rink one, skip Tony Brown just edged the first half, but turned in an excellent second half performance to win by 14 shots. Such was the dominance of Cameron White, Clive Webb and Ashley Hooper, supported by Tony, that they lost just two ends and scored 16 shots to four after tea.

Graham Hill's rink of Eamonn Maher, Ben Cloake and Mike Gouldingay had an outstanding end to their game. At 16 ends, it was all-square at 13-apiece, but then they went into overdrive, picking up 15 shots and conceding none. It was these 15 shots that won the game for Graham and his team.

After 11 ends, skip Lee Richards and his team of Ken Lloyd, Ken Williams and Jon Hubbard looked to be in an unassailable position, leading 21-7, but failed to score after that. It was not as if the Arches rink were playing badly, it was quite the reverse, the Mariners lifted their game, but it was not enough to prevent the Arches' rink from holding on to win by four shots.

Skip Roy Powling and his team of Ron Hurlow, Tony Powling and Gwyn Beyon had a real battle on their hands. They were behind for most of the game until they picked up five shots on the 16th end to tie the match, but then lost the next two ends by four shots and were in trouble again. However, it was their experience that won through in the end, winning the last three ends to secure a two shots win.

This was a great team performance by the Stena Line sponsored Five Arches side.

Rink scores (Five Arches first, Pembroke Dock Mariners skips only) were as follows:

C. White, C. Webb, A. Hooper, T. Brown 24; G. Gelderblum 10.

E. Maher, B. Cloake, M. Gouldingay, G. Hill 28; G. Roberts 13.

K. Lloyd, K. Williams, J. Hubbard, L. Richards 21; G. Thomas 17.

R. Hurlow, T. Powling, G. Beynon, R. Powling 21; G Bann 19.

FIVE ARCHES 75 (2 pts.) WHITLAND

BORDERERS 79 (12)

This mid-week rearranged game was scheduled to have been played on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, but due to the Borderers failure to raise sufficient players to fulfil the fixture, the game was postponed.

With green availability at a premium on the remaining weekends of the season, it was decided to replay the game on an evening during the week, which given the result, worked in favour of the Borderers team.

With the nights already drawing in, the game got off to a later start than planned. At the midway stage, the Arches side were up on two rinks, with an overall lead of just three shots. At the 19th end and with the light fading, the home side had increased their lead to seven shots and were now up on three rinks.

It was now visibly dark, with the lights from the clubhouse illuminating just one side of the green, but with two ends to go an Arches victory looked a possibility, but the Borderers fought back with a late surge, picking up 13 shots to win on three rinks and secure a 12 points league win.

The only winning Arches rink was skipped by Tony Brown, supported by Ben Simmons, Clive Webb and Ashley Hooper, who were never behind against a strong Borderers rink with Dave Jenner at the helm.

This was a disappointing result for the Stena Line sponsored Arches side who were in with an outside chance of promotion before the start of this game, but this has now vanished, as the light did on the Tenby green last Thursday.

Rink scores (Five Arches first, Borderers skips only) were as follows:

B. Simmons, C. Webb, A. Hooper, T. Brown 26; D. Jenner 17.

E. Maher, C. White, M. Gouldingay, G. Hill 13; J. Hammond 21.

R. Hurlow, T. Powling, G. Beynon, R. Powling 18; A. Reese 20.

K. Lloyd, B. Cloake, J. Hubbard, L. Richards 18; D. Ford 21.

Whist results

Thursday, August 13: top score - Bert Barnikel, 186; 1st lady - Pauline Barnikel, 168; 2nd lady - Mair Marquiss, 164; 1st gent - Gladys Irvine, 176; 2nd gent - Elsie Breadnam, 168; first half winner - Phyllis Jones, 98; second half - Muriel Griffiths, 83; longest sitter - Margaret Hill, 10; lowest score - Jean Salisbury; raffles - Phyllis Jones and Mary Draper.  

Monday, August 17: top score - Gladys Irvine, 177;  1st lady - Mair Marquiss, 175; 2nd lady - Muriel Griffiths, 169; 1st gent - Bert Barnikel, 172; 2nd gent - Pauline Barnikel, 164; first half winner - Phyllis Jones, 91; second half - Olive Frost, 81;  longest sitter - Mary Draper, 7; lowest score - Vera Burrows; raffles - Bert Barnikel and Muriel Griffiths.

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, August 12 -Gwyneth Preston; Saturday, August 15 - Pauline Barnikel.

 

Club competitions

Members who are still in contention in the club's competitions are advised that the end of the quarter-final 'time slot' is rapidly approaching. Do not miss the boat!