Neyland 72 (4 pts.) Tenby 75.75 (10)
After last week's tremendous victory against Caerleon, the Tenby team travelled to Neyland to further their goal of retaining the league title against a Neyland team battling against relegation.
After already defeating Neyland away in a Carruthers Shield qualifying match by 55 shots earlier in the season, the Tenby team were in confident mood to pick up more valuable league points. The task was far from easy and the Neyland team were unlucky not to win the encounter.
The Tenby team had to, once again, play with one player short after a late withdrawal and at five ends, the team led by 11 shots.
Neyland fought back to trail by 8.25 at 10 ends and eight shots at 15 ends. Neyland then took the lead at 18 ends, to lead by two shots. A late rally by Tenby saw them win at the close by 3.75 shots and take 10 points to Neyland's four.
Andrew Muskett's rink started well, leading by eight and seven after the fifth and 10th ends, respectively. Neyland, with Alan King in fine form, came back to reduce the deficit to only three shots by the 15th end and took the lead by the 18th to lead by two shots. Tenby tried to rally, but went down by 22-23 at the close after dropping two shots on the last end.
Jonathan Webb played against Gordon Robson, the Neyland captain, and the rink were consistently in front by a couple of shots until the 15th end, when a dropped count of three (shots) followed by a run of four consecutive lost ends saw them 17-20 down by the 19th end. A score of two saw the rink go into the final end down by the solitary one shot. Then, with the team match also in the balance, Jon Webb played a superb bowl to make a count of four shots, to not only win the rink, but also win the match for Tenby. John Baggott was once again excellent and was backed up by the ever-consistent Neil Dickinson.
Paul Diment's rink had a nice start, but by the 11th end, they were 7-12 down. By the 15th end, they were 14-13 up and holding a count of five until a fortuitous shot by the Neyland skip saw them drop a shot and the game was level once more. Down 15-16 going into the last two ends, Tenby, with Gerald Hewitt and Cameron White in great form throughout, took a shot on the 20th end and then, when six down, Peter Day played the shot of the day by driving the 'jack' into the ditch to make two shots and win the rink 18-16.
Due to the late withdrawal of one of our players as already mentioned, the team had to play a 'triple' and, due to this, a penalty of 25 per cent was imposed on the game. Therefore, after five ends, the trio of Luke Rees, Steve Williams and Craig Guymer held a lead of one shot. At 10 ends, the lead was 0.25 and at 15 ends it was 1.5. The triple still held that slender advantage until the last end, when Craig Guymer was very unfortunate not to make shot with his last bowl and the resulting dropped two shots saw a loss of only 0.25 shots (12.75 against 13).
In conclusion, it could have been the maximum 14 points, but it could so easily have been a defeat by the same score and, therefore, the captain was quite happy to take 10 points off a Neyland team who played very well.
I must say that the green played well and it was a pleasure to play on and credit must go to the Neyland greenkeeper and his staff.
Tomorrow (Saturday), the Tenby team, sponsored by Layton and Co solicitors and Chandler Rogers Estate Agents, travel to Morriston for a second round Carruthers Shield clash. This will be a very difficult match and the team know that a huge improvement will have to be made if success is to be achieved in Swansea. The team, however, will welcome back Mike Jackson, Pat Currie and Philip Carpenter.
Rink scores (Tenby first) were as follows:
D. Spencer, J. Richards, J. Roberts, A. Muskett 22; Neyland 23.
N. Dickinson, J. Baggott, L. Guymer, J. Webb 23; Neyland 20.
G. Hewitt, C. White, P. Day, P. Diment 18; Neyland 16.
L. Rees, S. Williams, C. Guymer 12.75; Neyland 13.
County Competitions
Following the semi-finals played at Milford throughout last week, Tenby have representation in all five main competitions.
The singles matches were not played due to the bad weather on Thursday, but with John Roberts playing Peter Day in the second semi-final, we will have two representatives in the blue riband event. after Phil Carpenter beat Richard O'Leary, of Haverfordwest, in the other semi-final.
Pat Currie and Jonathan Webb had an excellent win over former pairs winners Nigel Davies and Steven Reese, of Whitland, and they will play Graham Hughes and Merv Dennis, of Saundersfoot, who defeated the junior international partnership of Luke and Craig Guymer by one shot.
As mentioned last week, Gerald Hewitt, Aaron Lloyd and Joe Richards had already made it through to the triples final and they will play Peter Day, Andrew Muskett and Paul Diment.
The defending rinks champions John Baggott, John Roberts and Phil Carpenter, this year with Mike Jackson, will play against Alan Whitehouse, Nigel Davies, Colin Wynn and Steve Reese, of Whitland, in what will be a very hard match and a repeat of the 2008 final.
Finally, Craig Guymer will play against the defending champion, Ryan Thomas from Haverfordwest, in the under 25s final - a repeat of last year's final.
St. Katherines 66 Five Arches 90
Another glorious afternoon greeted us at Milford for this second division game against St. Katherines.
After our comprehensive win in the Brains Cup, the team was in a confident mood to pull out another good result.
With usual skip Lee missing, experienced campaigner Roy Powling took over the reins on rink two. The rink, which included Eamonn, John and Ben, as well as Roy, had a solid game; they were never behind and finished well to run out 20-15 winners.
Rink three saw the Five Arches quartet of Ken, Ken, Clive and Mike in a closely-fought battle.
After a bright start, they were overhauled and were four shots down at tea. There was a slight recovery in the second half, but they could never get on level terms and finished losing by five shots.
Ashley's rink of Dai, Tony and Gwyn continued their winning ways of recent weeks. Eight shots up at tea, they pulled away afterwards with counts of five and seven to run out winners by 15 shots.
On rink five, Tony, with his dynamic young duo of Aaron and Ben at lead and second, superbly supported by Ray at third, had another comfortable victory. Winning 12 of the 21 ends, they achieved a fine 22-13 result.
Overall, another good performance by the Five Arches, with 12 more points to consolidate our second position in the league. With runaway leaders Pendine still to come to Tenby, there is still hope of an interesting finish to division two.
Next game is away to the Pembroke Dock Mariners on Sunday.
Rink scores (Five Arches first, St. Katherines skips only):
Aaron Lloyd, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor, Tony Brown 22; S. Slade 13.
Eamonn Maher, John Hubbard, Ben Cloake, Roy Powling 20; D. Mathias 15.
Dai Rees, Tony Powling, Gwyn Beynon, Ashley Hooper 30; D. Hastings 15.
Ken Lloyd, Ken Williams, Clive Webb, Mike Gouldingay 18; D. Smith 23.
TENBY GOSCAR 22 FISHGUARD DINAS 21
Goscar entertained the Fishguard Dinas team last Wednesday afternoon. It was perfect weather for a game of bowls and the green was in tip-top condition.
The teams were evenly matched and the game was a nail-biting affair, each team being in front at different stages of the game.
On the last end, with the teams equal, it came down to a measure. This was too close to call, so in the end a judge was called in to measure the final wood, and Goscar just scraped in by a whisker.
Both teams played the game in an excellent spirit.
Team: Ray Hine, Brian Winstone, Jim Taylor, skip Harold Ebdon.
Whist results
Whist drives are held at our special room in Sutton Street. New members and visitors are always welcome to join us every Monday and Thursday at 7 pm.
Results, Thursday, July 1: top score - Gladys Irvne, 176; 1st lady - Muriel Griffiths, 171; 2nd lady - Jean Salisbury, 168; 1st gent - Elsie Breadnam, 171; 2nd gent - Bert Barnikel, 163; first half winner - Sandra Milward, 92; second half winner - Mair Marquiss, 84; longest sitter Mary Renowden, eight sits; lowest score - Margaret Hill; raffles - Elsie Breadnam and Sandra Milward.
Monday, July 5: top score - Gladys Irvine, 178; 1st lady - Ginnie Beeken, 173; 2nd lady - Pauline Barnikel, 168; 1st gent - Vi Roberts, 163; 2nd gent - Elsie Breadnam, 162; first half winner - Mair Marquiss, 88; second half winner - Bert Barnikel, 80; longest sitter - Mary Draper, six sits; lowest score - Olive Frost; raffles - Mary Draper and Mair Marquiss.