DKT spoils the party
On the eve of the county finals, Tenby had their full side out save for the working Joe Richards. However, with Ben Cloake as sub, the team aren't missing out on any class.
On rink one, Cameron White found himself once again on his favourite rink and was quickly into his stride, this time being backed up by Dai Spencer who has played in every rink so far this year. With Pat Currie and Peter Day supporting, this rink came out of the blocks quickly against the rink skipped by Stuart King-Thomas racing into a 9-0 lead. However, the boys from Pendine showed great resilience and determination in bringing the game back to 10-7 after 10 ends. But then the Tenby rink moved very through the gears and in the second half they made short work of their opposition, putting them to the sword by winning nine of the last 11 ends before finally posting a score of 28-11.
It was much the same story on rink two with 'Wigan's Warriors'. With Cloakey leading and G-Unit backing him up, the rink was again off to a flyer and similarly to rink one they found themselves 9-3 up after seven ends. What happened over the next couple of ends will truly by un-recordable, not for anything to do with the play, but the score keeping by both skips. This year, the powers that be have ordered that all skips must keep the card, now we have to remember that most skips have been playing back-end for donkeys years and haven't kept score for that long too, leaving it up to the lowly seconds to sort out. Well this causes difficulty when one skip messes the card up, but when one contrives to lose the card and Mal Evans's card turns out to be a better piece of fiction than anything Wilber Smith ever wrote, then you get the feeling a few shots may have been missed out. Still with the noble assistance of Noel Thomas, Mal was eventually put right, scores agreed (sort of) and the game continued. Fortunately, the delay affected the Pendine boys more than the Tenby lot and almost mirroring rink one, they took eight of the last 11 ends and ending up comfortable winners 33-14.
Rink three was a much more sedate affair and to be fair to the Pendine rink they could have snatched a victory as the match was all square at 10-all ('Who to?') after 14 ends. But Craig Guymer and his fellow Welsh junior trialist, brother Luke and Luke Rees, together with the next day's county pairs and rinks winner, Mike Jackson, are a tried and tested combination, they kept their heads and picked up 14 shots to one over the last third, winning 24-11.
Unfortunately, a certain Dave King-Thomas spoilt Tenby's perfect evening. This match was one that Tenby should have really had in the bag. From the outset, the rink skipped by John Roberts were in control and were 14-5 up at tea. But fair play to Dai and his rink they never gave up and battled to the last. With only four ends left to play, the Tenby rink still held onto a six-shot lead, but after dropping a three and two singles, the Tenby rink held a precarious one shot lead going into the last end. Again all looked good for Tenby, holding shot as the skips came to bowl. With only a bowl each left for the two skips, Tenby held on still by the narrowest of margins, but with his last wood of the game in came DKT to draw the shot for Pendine, a fantastic wood. Sadly, John Roberts wasn't quite able to reply in the manner he would have liked and so in the end the rink had to settle for the draw.
So the blue machine rolled on in the league, remaining undefeated and racking up a considerable shots average. This 13-1 win and 49 shots the league title remains firmly in our sights.
The perfect 10
With an away fixture to Havelock Park in the offing at the weekend, the Tenby side travelled down to Milford Haven for a tough test which would prove good practice for the boys in blue.
Milford has always been one of my favourite places to play; the ground nestles in behind St. Katherine's Church, the Rectory garden over-laden with crab-apples, the distant sight of Chevron's massive chimneys and dull rumble of powerful tug boat engines.
Usually as the green is such a sun trap you can often top up the 'bowlers tan', complete with tanned face, v-neck, and arms, leaving white upper arms, body legs and watch strap marks - lovely!
Sadly, last Wednesday was none of these, the weather started off well and sun glasses were donned for the first time on a while, in fact it was that warm John Roberts only wore three layers! But that soon changed and the weather resumed its usually dull overcast expression that has summed up the summer so far.
Thankfully, the bowling from the Tenby side was not on a par with the weather as Tenby gained a maximum 14 points.
The game over the first two rinks, in this case two and three, were tight affairs.
On rink two, Peter was again in charge of his crèche of Cammo, Joe and the rosy-cheeked Gnome (I love that nickname). Playing against the age-less Peter Collins, the boys were involved in a tough affair, but they stuck to their task well and ended up winners by three shots.
On rink three, there was a similar tough game between John Roberts and former Gold Cup and Silver Bowl semi-finalist Roy Thomas. As a left hander, our deliveries always look a little suspect, but Roy has one of the most unique deliveries I've ever seen, holding the bowl and a 45 degree angle, he launches himself off the mat send the bowl on its way. However, as different as the delivery may be, sadly the end result is all too similar with bowl after bowl ending up on or near to the jack. John Roberts knew that he was therefore involved in a tough battle as so it was the case, right up to the 20th end when a count of five secured the victory. A tough battle against one of the county's most under-rated bowlers.
On rink four, the twins had the pleasure of playing against Donny Griffiths, one of the nicest characters in Pembrokeshire bowls. Donny has been there, seen and done it all. Skipping county winning rinks in '89 and '90, county triples in '97, '94 and as far back as '79, pairs in '84 and '81 and the singles back in 1976, if you ever want to know who has been one of the most consistent players in Pembrokeshire over the last fours decades, here's your man. Sadly nowadays Donny's not longer in his pomp, the knees are shot and a stick is needed, but with all that experience and the ability to still deliver a telling wood, Donny still finds himself skipping for Milford. He was up against however a rink full of confidence. Mike Jackson had won the county rinks and pairs, Luke Rees the county U18s, Craig Guymer the county U25s and Luke Guymer won the raffle! So it was that youth won out over experience on the night. Some great drawing woods by the front ends and solid play by the twins left Donny in a bit of a pickle.
Rink five was one of the toughest rinks to play on that night. One hand virtually straight and the other being almost un-playable. But if you want a man for a tough green then there's none better than Spencer. He loves a tricky rink and this was right up his alley. Starting off on the first end, Dai didn't have more than five bad woods all game, even drawing a back toucher. However, if he was good, G-Unit was better. In inspired form, Gerald was up and down the green like a yo-yo, drawing shot, playing bowls out, calling the skips shots, it was literally the Gerald Hewitt show. Ably supported by Webbie and Wigan, the rink again finished up top rink.
Apologies for not having any scores, but the scorecards find themselves in the bottom of my bag and having to receipt three matches from memory is proving a step to far. I do know however that we won 14-0 and that's all that counts.
Havelocked out of the Carruthers
The dream is sadly over for another year as Tenby were knocked out of the Carruthers Shield at the last 16 stage by Havelock Park from Llanelli.
Having beaten Milford away on the Wednesday night, the green looked a similar surface and so it was.
With this in mind the Tenby boys, buoyed by the sun finally sneaking out to play were full of confidence as they stepped on the green. When all finally did get on the green!
Rink one saw the Guymer twins facing Robbie Byrne. This was a tough encounter during the early stages, some good play by both Luke Guymer and Luke Rees keeping the Tenby side in the game. In the second half however the boys rallied and built up a comfortable lead. In fact, going into the last end nine shots up and holding two, the boys looked like securing a decent win. More importantly, as the fact that as the Carruthers is a 'shots only' competition as opposed to points for rinks, the two slender shots they were holding would have brought the Tenby team back to all-square. But with his last wood, Robbie Byrne somehow managed to send his bowl down the tightest line of the afternoon and the bowl seemed to hold its line to the jack and pull it through for four shots, a turn around of six shots at such a crucial stage.
Rink two saw John Roberts taking on former Texaco pairs winner Ritchie Hughes. This too was a tight affair. End after end Paul Diment or John would make shot only to see Ritchie spoil the party with some tremendous bowls. The game itself was a tight affair with there never being more than three or four shots in it either way. Sadly, however, in the last two ends, as the rink was the last on the green they dropped a three and a four.
The scoreline however did not give a true reflection of the game. Tenby lost by 10 in the end by as I say, when chasing the game in the last two ends, dropping a three and a four is sometimes inevitable.
Sadly, the damage was done on rink three on Saturday afternoon. A combination of short bowls, a loss of concentration in the middle half and sublime skipping by Howard Griffiths, of Havelock, was enough to send Peter Day and his men back to changing rooms having lost only their second game of the season. The rink didn't get off to a great start, the front end still in the corner shop when the speeches finished, and a further six ends past before all the combined food offerings were digested, by which stage Peter was 9-0 down. However, a rally brought them back into the game but sadly that 9-11 shot difference that built up over the first few ends remained in place for the rest of the afternoon. Try and the boys might, everything they threw at the Havelock rink was swiped away with a better more telling bowl by the opposition who all played well to a man. Sadly, a few ends in the middle when there was a collective minor loss of concentration didn't help and Peter found himself counts down on consecutive ends. Again the boys dug deep, Pat and Joseph really coming to the fore with touchers galore, only to see the opposition take the game from them. Every time we seemed to be close we'd miss, but with them it was always a hit! So after a valiant effort from that rink the deficit that was there at the start remained at the end.
Rink four saw the captains face each other as 'Wigan's Warriors' took on the family rink of Gwynn and Mark Williams. Again a tremendous display of leading was provided by Dai Spencer. Since reverting back to his usual position of lead, Dai's been on his best form since he led Tenby to the Carruthers in 2009. Ably support by Gerald and with some telling bowls by Webbie and Wigan, this rink was always in front from the off. They could never however shake off the Havelock rink and every time a precious lead was built up a sloppy end followed and a three or four was dropped. In the second half there was more of the same with the Tenby boys pushing hard, but a superb effort by the Havelock captain and skip who produced some fine shots to keep his team in the game and stop the rink from potentially winning the game for the team. In the end, a decent final last end by the Havelock front end and that four on the twins rink lead to the side chasing the game a little with ends running out. A dropped two on the last end didn't help the team score and it was scant consolation that the rink won by two.
So all told a decent effort by the boys in what can be seen as a re-building year. The youngsters will have gained huge experience from the campaign and the whole side will come back better and stronger next year.
Five Arches 96 Pembroke Dock Mariners 53
After a two week layoff, the Five Arches were back to action on a pleasant Wednesday evening. The other teams had played their games in hand and we had slipped down the league into third place. So we needed a good win to get back into the mix as any one of five teams could win this league. The Mariners had taken over as leaders and were also very keen to achieve a good result.
On rink one, Tony and his rink of Aaron, John and Peter continued their recent good form. Scoring five shots on the second end, they eased to a 11 shots to seven lead at tea. Afterwards they accelerated, winning eight of the remaining 10 ends to win comfortably by 25 shots to 14.
Rink two saw Ray skipping John, Steve and Ben to yet another resounding success. Such was their dominance, they won 16 of the 21 ends to win by 31 shots to nine.
Ashley and his rink of Dai, Dewi and Tony had a much closer game. Leading by four shots at tea, the game continued in a similar vein for the remaining 10 ends. Eventually the Five Arches quartet edged it by 20 shots to 16.
Lee, ably supported by Harold, Stuart and Clive had a good game out on rink five. Good bowling from all four in a high class game enabled them to lead by 11 shots to five at tea. Picking up counts of three and four, they eventually won by 20 shots to 14.
An important win for the Five Arches which puts us in a good position for the remaining four games of the season.
Rink scores (Five Arches first, Mariners skips only):
Aaron Lloyd, John Hubbard, Peter Hooper, Tony Brown 25 G. Bann 14.
John Rees, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor 31 G. Thomas 9.
Dai Rees, Dewi McGhee, Tony Powling, Ashley Hooper 20 D. Halward 16.
Stuart Askew, Harold Ebdon, Clive Webb, Lee Richards 20 G. Roberts 14.
Five Arches 111 Borderers 59
After beating the table topping Mariners in our last match, the Five Arches were hoping to continue their winning ways against the Borderers team from Whitland.
Rink one certainly had a bright start picking up seven shots in the first two ends. Tony, admirably supported by Aaron, John and Peter, all had a storming game. Leading comfortably by 15 shots to five at tea , they pulled further ahead in the second half to run out handsome winners by 34 shots to 10.
Lee and his rink of Stuart, Ken and Clive also had a very good game. With a handy lead of four at tea, they went from strength to strength to end up runaway winners by 29 shots to 13.
To complete a trio of fine performances, Ray and his rink of John, Steve and Ben continue on their merry way. The Tiger also had a handy four-shot lead at the half-way stage, but then went into overdrive, scoring freely in the remaining ends, including a seven on the last, to ease to a 38 shots to 14 win.
Unfortunately, Ashley and his rink of Dai, Dewi and Tony were not at their best only managing to win six of the 21 ends as they succumbed to a 22 shots to 10 defeat.
Next match is at home to St. Katherines tomorrow (Saturday).
Rink scores (Five Arches first, Borderers skips only):
Aaron Lloyd, John Hubbard, Peter Hooper, Tony Brown 34 T. Davies 10.
Stuart Askew, Ken Lloyd, Clive Webb, Lee Richards 29 J. Addison 13.
John Rees, Steve Davies, Ben Simmons, Ray Taylor 38 J. Hammond 14.
Dai Rees, Dewi McGhee, Tony Powling, Ashley Hooper 10 D. Lewis 22.
TENBY ARCHES 36
ST. ISSELL'S 49
On Friday evening, Tenby Arches (sponsored by The Fourcroft Hotel) played host to St. Issell's.
Rink five saw Alison and co 12-8 up at teatime, but Ceris and co found the green after tea to finish with a win for the away side 17-23.
On rink six, Julia and co were 5-16 down to Ann and her rink at tea. On the 17th end, they were 12-26 down. They won the last four ends to finish 19-26 down.
Rink scores (Tenby first St. Issell's skips only):
L. Delabertouche, A. Owens, H. Baggott, A. Redman 17 C. Hewlings 23.
M. Skyrme, G. Beeken, R. Silcox, J. King-Thomas 19 A. Lewis 26.
TENBY ARCHES 64 MILFORD 26
On Saturday afternoon, the home side (sponsored by The Fourcroft Hotel) were host to Milford. The weather was very kind, warm with a cooling breeze.
Rink five, skipped by Alison, saw the Tenby side 28-5 up at tea. They finished the game 38-17.
Rink six, skipped by Julia, were 14-4 up at tea and they finished the game 26-9 up.
Rink scores (Tenby first Milford skips only):
L. Delabertouche, A. Owens, H. Baggott, A. Redman 38 J. Collins 17.
R. Silcox, G. Beeken, M. Marquiss, J. King-Thomas 26 P. Davies 9.
PEMBROKE DOCK 53 TENBY ARCHES 30
On Monday afternoon, the ladies (sponsored by The Fourcroft Hotel) travelled away to Pembroke Dock.
Rink five saw the Tenby Arches, skipped by Alison Redman, 11-10 down at teatime. By the 15th end, Pembroke Dock were 19-11 up. The game finished with the score 20-17 to Pembroke Dock.
Rink six, skipped by Rene Silcox, saw the home side 20-8 up at tea. The home side kept up the pressure and finished 33-13 winners.
Rink scores (Tenby team first, Pembroke Dock skips only):
L. Delabertouche, A. Owens, H. Baggott, A. Redman 17 D. Davies 20.
Rink 6 M. Skyrme , G. Beeken, L. Evans, R. Silcox 13 B. James 33.
Whist results
Monday, July 11: top - Ginnie Beeken, 173; 1st lady -Mair Marquiss, 164; 2nd lady Olive Frost, 161; 1st gent -Margaret Hill, 170; 2nd gent -Vi Roberts, 164; highest first half - Elsie Breadman, 89; highest second half - Phyllis Jones, 81; longest sitter - Gladys Irvine, 5; raffles - Mair Marquiss and Vi Roberts.
Monday, July 18: top -Pauline Barnikel, 178; 1st Lady - Jean Salisbury, 169; 2nd lady - Phyllis Jones, 168; 1st gent - Margaret Hill, 171; 2nd gent - Gladys Irvine, 167; highest first half - Pearl Thomas, 89; highest second half - Olive Frost, 84; longest sitter - Mary Draper, 10; lowest score - Elsie Breadman, 149; raffles - Margaret Hill and Pauline Barnikel.
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