junior triples
Sunday, February 1, saw the two junior teams of triples from Heatherton make the journey up to Port Talbot for the third round of the national junior triples.
It was an early trip for Ysie White, Joe Richards and Ryan Thomas, and thanks go to Joe for stepping in at the last minute as a replacement for Liam Price. They were up against one of the favourites for this championship, a team from Rhondda skipped by Jarrad Breen, already a full international.
All three of the Heatherton bowlers put in good bowls, but were thwarted by some good final woods from Jarrad Breen. Even when holding a four, the final bowl went against them; it was just not their day and the eventual score of 15-5 against them did not tell the full story.
The other Heatherton triple of Cameron White, Gemma Amos and skip Joe Dennis were also up against a strong skip in Thomas Holmes from Llanelli IBC. They struggled at first to get the run of the rink and even though only giving one away, the ends soon go.
At nine shots to one down, they began to find the green and pulled back to nine shots to six with the last end to play.
Both Cameron and Gemma put in good bowls, then Thomas Holmes drew the shot. Joe needed to take out the shot bowl for a possible four, and this he did, but unfortunately the jack rolled out of play and left no time for another end.
These are the matches the Heatherton teams can learn from and they still have the rinks on February 21.
INTERNATIONAL STAR
Fifteen-year-old Heatherton Indoor Bowls Club member, Ysie White (pictured), has just returned from her first junior international series in Belfast.
Ysie, who was named as reserve for the Under 25 squad, was delighted to gain her first Welsh cap when she was called off the bench for the second game.
And she took her chance on the big stage eagerly, retaining her spot in the team for the final match.
A pupil of Ysgol Dyffryn Taf, Whitland, Ysie, played second in the rink skipped by Rebecca Shore, of Cynon Valley, in the game against Scotland in which Wales were just beaten by a measure!
Ysie, who bowls outdoors at Tenby, then kept her place in the team for the last match against England.
At one point, Wales were 14 shots down overall, but they fought back to lose only narrowly on the last end.
Scotland won the series for the first time ever, with England second, Wales third and the hosts, Ireland, fourth.
The officials were also all very proud of Ysie qualifying for the champion of champions which will be held at Bodelwyddan in April and announced that she was the youngest to have ever qualified for the competition, which is an achievement in itself.