Pembrokeshire League Division One
Due to their success in the Carruthers Shield, a number of Tenby's domestic matches have had to be arranged and I would like to thank Mike Gouldingay for his work with this difficult task.
On Tuesday, July 24, Tenby entertained Haverfordwest Castle and enjoyed a comfortable 45-shot win, although this was due to two rinks winning by large margins and only 11 points were secured for the night's work.
With several first team players absent, the junior players had an opportunity to shine and Arron Lloyd was the pick of the bunch, playing superbly for Andrew Muskett.
This reduced the points deficit on Whitland to 11 and the rink scores for that game were as follows:
N. Dickinson, C. White, J. Baggott and P. Day 19; D. Summers 20.
G. Hewitt, A. Lloyd, J. Webb and A. Muskett 32; R. Lewis 6.
D. Spencer, T. Brown, J. Richards and P. Diment 34; B Hall 14.
B. Cloake, A. Hooper, L. Guymer and C. Guymer 21; B. Absalom 21.
Two days later, Tenby entertained Haverfordwest and it was ironic that, although the winning margin was lower than Tuesday night, 28 shots, the maximum 14 points were secured as Tenby won on all four rinks. Arron Lloyd had retained his place in the team due to his performance on the Tuesday evening.
Rink scores:
D. Spencer, J. Richards, P. Day and Paul Diment 24; P. D. S. Jenkins 18.
G. Hewitt, A. Lloyd, J. Webb and A. Muskett 21; A. Wilks 16
L. Rees, M. Jackson, S. Williams and C. Guymer 26; R. Price 17.
N. Dickinson, B. Simmons, J. Baggott and P. Currie 25; R. O'Leary 17.
Now with a lead of three points and still that important game in hand, Tenby were due to field their strong Carruthers side at Whitland, but due to the success of John Roberts in the Saundersfoot Open, Arron Lloyd featured for the third successive game and played with Phil Carpenter.
Always a lively encounter, the Whitland team proved to be hard to break down, but with Tenby knowing that a win would virtually seal the league title for a third successive year, they had a comfortable win by 23 shots and won on three out of the four rinks to clinch a 12-2 victory.
Craig Guymer's rink was always in control against Dan Jenner, the Whitland vice-captain, and took an early 8-0 lead after four ends and finished the match with top rink spoils, 25-12.
Pat Currie always had the edge on Whitland captain, Glyndwr Thomas, and won 21-17, even though losing the last three ends.
The undefeated back end combination of the double PDs, backed up by the ever-impressive front end combination of Spencer and Richards, came up against the top Whitland rink, but were in total control and also ran out comfortable 20-12 winners.
Tenby's sole defeat at the hands of Steve Reese, by two shots, gave some consolation to the Whitland team. Trailing 4-13 after 12 ends, the rink rallied and came back strongly to lead at the 20th end by one, and but for a near miss by Phil Carpenter with the last bowl of the match, victory would have been theirs.
Rink scores:
L. Rees, M. Jackson, L .Guymer and C. Guymer 25; D. Jenner 12.
N. Dickinson, J. Baggott, J. Webb and P. Currie 21; G. Thomas 17.
D. Spencer, J. Richards, P. Day and P. Diment 20; A. Whitehouse 12
G. Hewitt, A. Lloyd, A. Muskett and P. Carpenter 16; S. Reese 18.
Following this victory, Tenby now have a lead of 13 points at the top of the table and still have a game in hand. They have to play Pembroke Dock and Saundersfoot away and Milford Haven at home and require just 15 points to take the title - and that if Whitland win their remaining two games by the maximum margin. With a vast superiority in shot difference, 14 points will be enough.
Congratulations to Whitland for once again pushing the Welsh champions in the domestic league, but Tenby have once again proved to be Pembrokeshire's best and congratulations to them on another successful campaign, barring a huge slip-up.
Tenby v Glyncorrwg - Welsh Club Championship Quarter-Final
Tomorrow (Saturday), at 3 pm, the Tenby team entertain one of the top sides in Welsh bowls, Glyncorrwg, another team from the Afan Valley.
The path to the quarter-finals has seen the Valley side having a bye in the first round, while Tenby easily defeated Caerleon away from their Sutton Street headquarters.
In the second round, Tenby travelled to Morriston, who had earlier defeated former winners, Victoria (Swansea) and Old Landorians (Swansea).
Although on paper this was a very tough test for the 'Sharks', they came away with a comfortable 29-shot win.
Glyncorrwg accounted for Brynhyfryd (Llanelli), former four times winners, by 13 shots away from home (79-66), which shows that they can produce performances away from their home greeen.
Tenby produced the performance of the round in round three (last 16), beating the most successful side in the history of the competition, Pontrhydyfen, by a huge 43 shots and winning on all four rinks.
Not to be outdone, Glyncorrwg defeated a very strong RTB Ebbw Vale side, which included several current Welsh internationals, including one of their former players and current Welsh international skip, Jonathan Tomlinson. Also in the Ebbw Vale side was the World indoor singles finalist, Stewart Anderson, which proves that the result, especially away from home for the second consecutive round, was no fluke and indicates that the Afan Valley side mean business and are a very big threat to Tenby's hold on the shield.
Stars of the Glyncorrwg side include Ross Tomlinson, who together with Geoff Simon and Neil Taylor, won the British Isles Triples only a few months ago, and Ross's father, John Tomlinson, a former Welsh national singles winner.
However, this side has great players in all positions and Tenby have their work cut out if they are to make their second successive appearance in Llandrindod Wells.
The match has been sponsored by BetFred Bookmakers, and the Tenby club are very grateful for their support and the club welcomes local supporters, who I am sure will witness a great match between two evenly-matched teams.
Note: There is a team practice scheduled for Friday night and every player who has not featured in Gold Cup week is expected to attend.
Strumble 28
Goscar 20
Goscar travelled to Fishguard to play the Fishguard Strumble side last Tuesday. On a sunny afternoon ideal for bowls, Goscar encountered a strong Strumble rink which proved too good for Goscar.
Goscar started off badly being 17-3 down after six ends, however, they pulled back to 20-18 on the 18th end, but could not catch up.
This has dented Goscar's challenge for the top of the table, but they still have games in hand and hopefully they can get back to their winning ways.
Team: E. Maher, B. Winstone, R. Hine skip G. Beynon.
Pater 16
Tenby Goscar 16
Goscar travelled to Pembroke Dock Bowling Club for their game with the Pater rink. This was a nailbiting game throughout, with only a couple of shots separating the teams.
Ray and Brian found the green difficult to read, putting pressure on Jim and Harold to hold the Goscar game together.
The Pater rink all played well and pushed Goscar all the way. Goscar were lucky to share the points in the end.
Team: R. Hine, B. Winstone, J. Taylor and skip H. Ebdon.
Whist results
Our club has been holding their famous annual bowling week for many years. The first week in August takes pride in many ways to entertain the many visiting players and in the company of their many families. All of the whist players were glad to encourage our visitors, during the Bowling Week. Whist as usual continues to the delight of the regular whisters. The twice weekly feature, every Monday and Thursday, commences 7 pm. New members and visitors are always welcome!
They played on Thursday, July 29, and it proved to be an exceptional scoring occasion. Results: top score - Gladys Irvine produced a total of 191 points (approximately 100 more than usual!); 1st lady - Jean Salisbury, 176; 2nd lady - Olive Frost, 166; 1st gent -Elsie Breadnam, 188; 2nd gent - Sandra Milward, 171; first half - Ginnie Beeken, 84; second half - Mair Marquiss, 85; longest sitter - Vi Roberts, with seven sits; lowest score - Margaret Hill; raffles - Jean Salisbury and Margaret Hill.